Demanda Tension was one of the defining personalities of the 2026 Outsider Festival: Missing Time. Beyond hosting NOT YOUR MOTHERS RUNWAY, Demanda unveiled their now-infamous Fishnet Fashion collection—affectionately referred to behind their back as DRAGNET—while also contributing artwork to the Missing Time exhibition at the Provincetown Commons and the Provincetown Tarot Deck at Spiritus. But what impressed us most wasn’t what happened under the spotlight. From setup to breakdown, before, during, and after the festival, Demanda remained in the trenches with us, bringing creativity, humor, generosity, and an unwavering commitment to the spirit of Camp Provincetown. That’s the person we wanted to sit down with.
Camp Provincetown: The Interview: Demanda Tension
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: For those meeting you for the first time, who is Demanda Tension?
Demanda Tension: Demanda Tension is a reincarnated Lemurian who has walked this earth and swum these waters for thousands of years—an artist, hardcore rocker, and humble servant of nature, here to illuminate the masses.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: When did you first realize that fashion, performance, and identity could become one art form?
Demanda Tension: I have always seen clothes as an art form—as costumes of status and class, sexuality and revolution. I see how many of the masses choose to look exactly alike and fear those who choose to dress as individuals. What they fear is freedom from the herd mentality and the false sense of safety and security that conforming promises but never provides. I enjoy dressing like a piece of art to inspire people to be themselves and love one another.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: Provincetown has always celebrated reinvention. What does this town allow you to express that other places don’t?
Demanda Tension: Provincetown is in a world of its own—a magical place where the unexpected is expected and respected. The land is beautiful. Rolling waves of sand dunes meet the ocean waters. A place where the sky, the land, and the ocean become one. Welcome to the beginning and the end of the world.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: Missing Time explored transformation, memory, and alternate realities. Did that theme resonate with you?
Demanda Tension: Of course. I am a time traveler.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: Your work is theatrical, glamorous, funny, and fearless. What do you hope people feel when they see you walk into a room?
Demanda Tension: When I walk into a room, I want all the attention on me—so I can give it all away and make everyone feel welcome.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: Is there a look or performance that changed your life?
Demanda Tension: Iggy Pop.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN:What part of Provincetown’s creative spirit should never disappear?
Demanda Tension: The spirit of anarchy.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: If you could leave one outfit in the Provincetown 300 Time Capsule, what would it be—and why?
Demanda Tension: One of my recycled dresses with fishnets printed on it—to raise recycling to an art form, honor Ada “Tiny” Worthington and her fishnet fashions, include all the hardworking fishing men and women, and respect the fish.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: What advice would you give someone who’s afraid to be completely themselves?
Demanda Tension: Time is short. Time is of the essence. Your time in this lifetime is short, so don’t waste it being something you’re not. Start today. Be yourself.
CAMP PROVINCETOWN: Finish this sentence: “The outsider inside us all…”
Demanda Tension: …is for all of us!
