CARNIVAL OF MIRRORS Carnival of Mirrors [PDF]

Man 2015 g n i n r Bu

Carnival of Mirrors HONORARIA

Burning Man 2015 al of Mirrors • Honorari v i n r a Ca

introduction The Playa is a tabula rasa, a blank canvas upon which many a fantastic vision has been realized. Submarines, gigantic ducks, swimmers, fire-breathing thistles, serpents, chandeliers, grandfather clocks and balsa wood temples have emerged from the Playa. The projects featured in this guide were selected as Honorarium projects for 2015. Every year Burning Man allocates a percentage of its revenue from ticket sales to funding select art projects that are collaborative, community-oriented and interactive. We do this in order to support the Burning Man art community, and to facilitate the creation of outstanding art for Black Rock City. The vast majority of art installations on the playa, however, are not funded. In 2015, a percentage of your hard-earned ticket money helped to fund the following art installations, for all Burning Man participants to enjoy. Note: all pieces in this guide are Honorarium, but not all Honorarium are featured here. This guide was lovingly put together by volunteers using available information on the Web and reference materials that originate from the artists’ websites, fundraising projects and press. Photos used are also from these sources and may not credit the original photographer (please forgive us for that!). We hope this guide will illuminate the artists’ vision, and illustrate the immense amount of work that goes into bringing their magic cargo to the playa. Come visit the ARTery in BRC at 6:25 and Esplanade to pick up self-guided tour maps that make a great companion to this guide.

Guide materials gathered by the totally fabulous ARTery volunteers: Kyle Kosup, Mary “Mosey” Kirmo, and Terry “Moxie” Penn. Layout designed and produced by KitKat (blame her for any typos, omissions, etc.!).

Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 2

Contents 2015 Art Theme: Carnival of Mirrors . . 5

Loquacious and Lovely . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Arbour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

LOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Axayacoatl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Love Tester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Bannerline Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Lumiphonic Creature Choir . . . . . . . . 97

Becoming Human . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Mars Molecule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Bismuth Bivouac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Mazu Goddess of the Empty Sea . . 101

Black Rock Observatory . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Mechateuthis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Blunderwood Portable . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Medusa Madness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Bone Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Neverwas Haul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Brainchild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Own Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Brickhead EARTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Pavilion Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Charnival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Penny the Goose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

City of Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Pentamonium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Colossal Skeletal Marionette . . . . . . . . 37

Playaquarium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Compound Eye/“I” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Prairie Wind Chapel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Coup de Foudre Project . . . . . . . . . . . 42

R-Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Dancing Serpent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Dragon Masters Presents “Wicked Art Piazza” . . . . . . 46

Reflective Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Dragon Smelter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Rube Awakening - Magic Bike Rack Transformation Station . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Dreamland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Serpent Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

EMPIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Simon Fire Edition 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Fire Helix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Storied Haven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Firmament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Temple of Promise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Giant Kaleidoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Temple of Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Hall of Mirrors Arcade . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Totem of Confessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow . . . . . . . 64

Toxic Bloom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

HYBYCOZO - Deep Thought . . . . . . . 66

Tree of Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Illumacanth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

TrEeD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

The Infinity Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

True Reflections Palace . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Inflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Twisted Bristles 2x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Kinetic Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Well of Darkness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

King of Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Wheel of Self Reflection . . . . . . . . . . 153

Krewe of the Dusty Playa . . . . . . . . . . 79

Wooden Nickel Carnival . . . . . . . . . . 155

Laffing Sal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Word of the Burning Bramble . . . . . 157

Life Cube Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

WTF?? What, the Fork?? . . . . . . . . . .158

Lightstriker Trial of Strength . . . . . . . 86

You Are Who? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Lil Al . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 3



2015 Art Theme: Carnival of Mirrors Theme and text by Larry Harvey and Stuart Mangrum.

Photo by Franco Folini, original art by Nina Kempf

“The spectacle is not a collection of images; it is a social relation that is mediated by images.” – Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle This year’s theme is about mirrors and masks, mazes and merger. It will be a kind of magic show that takes the form of an old-fashioned carnival. This Carnival of Mirrors asks three essential questions: within our media-saturated world, where products and people, consumption and communion morph into an endlessly diverting spectacle, who is the trickster, who is being tricked, and how might we discover who we really are? Classic carnivals, as theaters of illusion, upheld a very strict dividing line that separated carnies, cast as showmen, from members of a naïve public who were labeled chumps and suckers, marks and rubes. Our carnival, however, will perform an even more subversive trick — its motto is Include the Rube. The wall dividing the observer from observed will disappear, as by an act of magic; through the alchemy of interaction, everyone at once can be the carny and the fool. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 5

“If there is anything that can be said about dreams and longings, it is that they… are hard to express. It is difficult to transmit into words the oddness of an image, the comic-grotesque distortions of inner time and space, the weird amalgams of feeling that leave people perhaps a little more aware of their deepest responses to life and a little more unsure of the artifice with which they so often cover themselves.” – Donald Spoto, The Dark Side of Genius

The Midway Old-fashioned carnivals were dominated by an all-pervading hucksterism; midways featured barkers, shills, rigged games of chance and skill, and not infrequently defrauded customers — “short change” is a carny term. They also featured titillating freak shows, geek acts and museums of the outré and forbidden. Our midway, on the other hand, will satirize deception while inviting all participants to summon up their inner geek, that secret freak who hides behind the mask of what is called normality. We will turn grifting into gifting; otherness becomes creative self-expression.

2015 Burning Man Carnival of Mirrors Man base design by Larry Harvey and Andrew Johnstone. Illustration by Andrew Johnstone with Hugh D’Andrade.

The Funhouse From the looking glass to the selfie, people seek answers to the riddle of identity in their own reflections. Yet even the most perfect mirror shows only the persona, not the person. This year a funhouse at the center of our carnival will contemplate the puzzle of self-consciousness. Many kinds of masks and mirrors will line the corridors and chambers of this interactive maze. Here people will confront a shuffled deck of selves: the me they want to be (but aren’t), the me they repudiate (but are), the me they can’t imagine (but might be). At the heart of this disorienting maze, a final passage will reveal a courtyard that surrounds the Burning Man. Photo booths will here record the faces of participants, merging them into a swirling stream that will envelop the entire body of the Man. The brittle mirror and the occulting mask will melt away, and at this point there’ll be no gag, no swag, no souvenir of self; the show will be you.


The Midway In 2015 we have again invited our Regional communities and artist collectives from around the world to help create an interactive, collaborative art environment at the base of the Man, based on this year’s art theme, Carnival of Mirrors. THE MIDWAY The Midway will house a panoply of strange and enchanting wonders. Mindreaders, fortune-tellers, and vendors of patent medicines will vie with every form of all-too-human oddity for public attention; barkers will of course be everywhere. Artists and builders will create unorthodox carnival attractions and interactive experiences, and we will fashion stages to host performance art. See the list of booths to get your imagination flowing. THE CARNY CORRAL The Carny Corral will serve as a Welcome Center for the Midway as well as a logistics center for all the Midway artists, Man Watch, and Rangers assigned to the Man. Volunteers for the Carny Corral will engage and inspire participants in the various Midway booths, which will not be staffed full-time and whose teams will need some support from incoming eager volunteers. We want to empower people who come through the Carny Corral to help staff booths and to have fun with their posts. The Carny Corral volunteers will take a more direct and spontaneous approach to getting people into the playful Midway spirit. We see the Carnies as street theater — they’ll escort visitors playfully to the various booths and let them run with it! Carny Corral volunteers can be barkers, enablers, provocateurs, social engineers … whatever form engages you and makes you feel aligned with the concept. The Carny Corral is a hub of activity!

Participation In 2015, our regional communities will help create an interactive space, a midway that will house a panoply of strange and enchanting wonders. Mind readers, fortune-tellers and vendors of patent medicines will vie with every form of all-too-human oddity for public attention; barkers will of course be everywhere. There will be room within the midway and the maze for many kinds of installations. We invite artists and builders to create unorthodox carnival attractions and interactive experiences, and we will fashion stages to host performance art.




Arbour By Josh Haywood Surbiton, England

Project: Emerging from the study of geometry in sacred architecture, this artwork has been inspired by the dendritic forms of medieval vaulting. Medieval architects used the arched geometry of ribs and vaulted ceilings to achieve a soaring lightness and elevate the spirit; the architecture had a spiritual function. We have digitized these geometries and manipulated them in parametric models to design a contemporary structure that achieves the same objective. The Arbour celebrates life through geometry, which underlies the structure of so many life-forms.. The Arbour creates the illusion of forest as cathedral. Its soaring ribs are intended to draw our gaze heavenwards and uplift the soul. Burners will


be transformed from spectators to participants, not an audience but a congregation. We hope they will respond spontaneously to the architecture by creating their own unique rituals and personal ceremonies in the shaded heart of this parametric forest. Emerging from the continued study of the geometry of sacred architecture, this artwork has been inspired by the dendritic forms of medieval vaulting. Medieval architects used the arched geometry of ribs and vaulted ceilings to achieve a soaring lightness and elevate the spirit; the architecture had a spiritual function.

Artist Josh is a designer and artist based in London but working internationally. Architecturally trained at London’s Westminster University Josh has a multidisciplinary approach to art and design. His design of the Hayam Sun Temple was part of an assignment for his University studies.

Previous Works 2014 Hayam Sun Temple

Contact http://www.josh-haywood.com/ http://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/02/hayam-temple-by-josh-haywood-forburning-man-festival/ https://instagram.com/lifeofjosh/ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1188258724/build-the-arbour-at-burningman-2015?ref=discovery https://twitter.com/JHaywood_ Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 10


Axayacoatl By Capra J’neva, Firebulb South San Francisco, CA

Project: Axayacoatl (pronounced: ah-shy-ah-co-ah-tul, meaning: serpent mask) is a 20’ tall, 13’ wide copper effigy of Quetzalcoatl’s mask with a translucent copper screen warrior in his mouth. Flame effects and interactive LED lighting allow participants “behind the curtain” to put on an impressive display to those approaching. Large physical levers and wheels form the interface for participants who want to play “wizard” to those approaching the mask. Participants may climb his stair stepped tongue, enter the room created by the swallowed warrior’s head and look out through his eyes.

Artists Capra J’neva is an artist, designer and inventor who began exhibiting large-scale sculptural installations in 1992. She created 2010 honorarium work Aeolian Pyrophonic Hall with a crew of 50 volunteers, and served as a key crew member for Pentangle in 2011. She is the recipient of numerous artistic awards and several patents. She works at Autodesk doing R&D for the development of 3d printing technology. Through Firebulb, she brings together a dedicated crew of designers to create larger works. Firebulb is a San Francisco based design team Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 11

Previous Works: 2010 The Portal

Contact [email protected] http://firebulb.com/axayacoatl/ https://vimeo.com/121430781 https://www.linkedin.com/pub/capra-j-neva/4/366/256 http://firebulb.com/team.shtml


Bannerline Project By Rex Norman

Project Welcome to the Coney Island of the Mind! Surrounding the Funhouse Maze structure this year, is an interpretation of traditional sideshow banners from the 1930s to the 1950s. Often hawking the lurid, morbid or the taboo, banners lured the carnival “peeps” to spend their nickles to see the forbidden exhibits “on the inside”. Billed as “ALIVE!- SHOCKING!- AMAZING!”- and brightly colored, sideshow banners were the alluring bait that made the sideshow a fixture of the carnival culture for more than a century. In recent years, sideshow art has gone from being nearly forgotten, to being recognized as a uniquely American cultural art form. Step right up! Stop! Look through he doorway!! It’s all on the inside!


Artist Rex Norman is a freelance artist, illustrator, cartoonist and custom fabricator from Carson City, Nevada with more than 35 years of experience. His skills include graphic design, 2D digital painting, cartoon arts, hand typography, line work, book illustration and painting– including acrylics and watercolor, sign painting, murals, theatrical prop fabrication and custom costume work. His stylespecialty includes interpretations of classic sideshow and circus art including canvas banners. In 2008, Killbuck became the editorial cartoonist for the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza newspaper and a contributing cartoonist for the Nevada Appeal, Tahoe Daily Tribune and the Sierra Sun newspapers. In 2009, Killbuck was recognized by awards from the National Newspaper Association and the Nevada Press Association for his editorial cartoons. In the fall of 2010, Killbuck began teaching cartooning as a faculty instructor for the E.L. Cord Museum School, Nevada Museum of Art.

Contact 775-220-4220 [email protected] http://sideshow2015.weebly.com/bannerline-project-bm-2015.html http://carsonist.com/artist/rex_norman/ http://nevadamagazine.com/home/2015/02/11/circus-circus-reno-24-hour-mural-marathon/



Becoming Human By Christian Ristow From El Prado, NM

Project: Becoming Human is a 30-foot tall sculpture of a robot, which occasionally smells the flower in its right hand. The sculpture hopes to inspire viewers to ask questions about technology and nature, and the value of slowing down. Becoming Human was inspired by cartoon images of robots that I was drawing for my son at a certain point in time, and also by the children’s book “Ferdinand,” which tells the story of a bull in Spain who would rather smell the flowers than fight the other bulls. By putting the flower into the hand of a robot, additional themes and meanings are conveyed. Among these are the interplay between technology and nature, the rapid humanizing of robots, and the importance of slowing down to appreciate the little things.


Physical Description Becoming Human is a 30 foot tall steel sculpture of a humanoid robot. Its proportions are reminiscent of the archetypal cartoon robot, as seen in various comic books and movies through they years. It is painted red. Each of its feet incorporates 2 benches, for a total of 4 benches which invite the public to sit and rest for a while. The feet also invite climbing, and although ascending further than the feet is quite difficult, the feet are usually covered in people. In its right hand, the robot holds a flower. Every 30 minutes, the robot slowly lifts the flower to its face and “smells” it. The proportions of the robot, as well as its overall look, fall somewhere between friendly and menacing. In this way, Becoming Human can evoke a wide range of human emotional reactions which is similar to the range of reactions we feel to technology itself.

Interactivity Because of its size, and seating capacity, Becoming Human acts as a natural meeting place. In this very basic and literal way, the sculpture invites interactivity in the act of sitting, meeting, and relaxing. Previous exhibitions have demonstrated it’s popularity in this regard. I believe it also invites a more contemplative type of interactivity, in that it raises contemporary and topical themes and questions about humanity’s relationship to technology in general, and robots in particular, in the minds of its viewers. The deliberately ambiguous look of the sculpture, which some people may interpret as friendly and inviting, and others might interpret as authoritarian and scary (this interpretation is certainly strengthened by the size of the piece), intentionally evokes a complex of reactions. I believe that this aspect of the sculpture has the power to cause people to have potentially significant “conversations” with themselves as they investigate their own feelings about the piece. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 16

And lastly, the mechanism that causes the motion of the “smelling” action is visible through an opening in the chest. This invites observant, mechanicallyminded people to investigate and understand the “heart” of the sculpture.

Artist Christian Ristow started doing robotic performance art in 1993 with Survival Research Laboratories in San Francisco. He has previously contributed art pieces to Cochella and Burning Man. In 1997 he relocated to Los Angeles where he started Robochrist Industries.

Previous Works 1995 Drunken Master 1996 Subjugator 2006 Necropod, Six-Legged Walker 2008 Hand of Man (Burningman) 2011 Face Forward (Burningman) 2012 GarraPlata 2014 Fledgling (Burningman) 2015 Earth Mover (Coachella)

Contact [email protected] Hand of Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3P1KcGFogE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaEsge9awg4 Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robochrist_Industries Website http://christianristow.com/


Bismuth Bivouac By Jonathan Leung, WeWantToLearn.net From London, England

Project Inspired by the geometry from the crystalline growth pattern of the element Bismuth (Bi), the Bismuth Bivouac is a playful pavilion celebrating the orthogonal geometries that exist in natural Bismuth crystals to form an intriguing cubic structure, with spiralling disruptions on each face, governed by the golden ratio. From a distance, it appears as a solid cube but intricate spaces can be discovered when you get closer. The beautiful iridescent colours of crystal are to be translated into the proposal through coloured LED strip lighting, built into the simple dimensional lumber structure of the pavilion, so at night the Bismuth Bivouac gives has the same visually mesmerizing, colourful effect of the bismuth crystals in nature. The project aims to play with the participants perception of depth and scale in this mirroring structure – from afar, the structure will appear as a dense cube that sits on the playa, but as the participants move towards the structure, they will begin to be able to see through parts of the structure due to the stepped nature of the geometry and holes formed from spiral disruptions. The structure provides sheltered from harsh desert sun, but also provides a plaything for the sun to casts its shadows during the day, and for people to cast their own shadows with their own illuminations at night.


Artist Graduating from Oxford Brookes in 2012, Jon Leung is an architecture student currently working on his MArch at Westminster University. He developed a reasoned and logical approach to explorative design based around specific environments; both Second and Third year projects dealt with issues of changes in water level and flooding. His final year project centred around a public promenade intertwined with a floating screen of flower beds in the river Tiber, Rome. He has worked in a number of practices in the UK and overseas, in both residential and commercial sectors, and scaling from single flat refurbishments to multi-story apartment blocks. He is one of three students at Dipoloma Studio 10 at Westminster to receive an honorarium grant in 2015.

Contact [email protected] http://www.jon-leung.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IR4k4Gu7-c https://wewanttolearn.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/burning-man-festival-bismuth-bivouac/



Black Rock Observatory

By Gregg Fleishman, Tom Varden, Scott Parenteau and the Desert Wizards of Mars From: Lancaster, CA

Project Black Rock Observatory is a mobile astronomical observatory dedicated to the celebration of the nexus between art and science. Showing the universe as art is an admission that the truth is sufficiently beautiful and that it deserves our attention. A tourist office for the rest of the universe; a series of wooden domes derived from the Small Rhombicuboctahedron and designed by architect Gregg Fleishman, where the secrets of the universe are revealed by powerful mirrors, optics, experiments, art, performances and interactive exhibits. The sphere is the universe’s answer to the form problem. Orbs above; orbs below. Echoes of the outer planets, the domes lie in a remote space requiring skills, effort and patience to reach. Eyeballs and color coded lasers fondle the planets overhead while ‘zards, ‘nauts and ‘bots conduct experiments below. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 20

Artists Gregg Fleishman – Architect/designer/artist/inventor Gregg Fleishman’s work is informed by geometry and functionality. He received his Architectural degree in 1970 from USC. His acclaimed futuristic innovative iconic SCULPT CHAIRS are in collections and museums. He coined the term “Rhombicube,” a diamond panel form distilled out of a 3-D checkerboard of cubes, which forms the geometrical basis for his Shelter Systems. His patented designs obviate the need for screws or fasteners, using integral slots and notches in plywood, employing wood springs and hinges. Gregg’s mission is to continue developing ways to make building easier. Gregg has designed major art installations at Burning Man 2011, 2012 and the Temple of Whollyness in 2013. “Major Tom” Varden – Artist When I was young, I built a pinhole projector to record a solar eclipse and they let me out of elementary school as long as I reported on it. I inherited a love of space travel from my parents who took me to see 3 Space Shuttle Launches and many landings. My love of photography and the planets led me to take 30,000 photos of the red planet in 2003 where I recorded the receding sublimating Northern polar ice cap of Mars. My first burn was Rites of Passage in 2011. I fell in love. I decided to bring an observatory the following year in 2012, but I did not have the network to pull it off. I put the project on hold until I met the Mars Rover Art Car crew and the Desert Wizards of Mars. This year, we’re making it happen together. When not being a father, I take photographs. I received my degree in Fine Art and Photography in 2013. The Desert Wizards of Mars is a burning man theme camp and home to several aerospace engineers from Southern California. http://desertwizards.com


Previous Works 2012 The Human Spirit (LA Decompression) 2013 Dustiny/Mars Rover Art Car 2014/2015 Black Rock Observatory 2015 Interstellar Emissary

Contact [email protected] http://www.blackrockobservatory.com https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marsroverartcar/black-rock-observatory-2015 http://www.dailybreeze.com/lifestyle/20140825/burning-man-2014-southern-california-aerospace-engineers-build-massive-telescope-at-desert-festival


Blunderwood Portable By The Cat and The Cockroach Collective From Boston, MA

Project A giant, climbable typewriter with a shaded hangout space. The keys have sensors that drive projections of letters on a “paper” screen. Each day we will place a new physical poem, 16’ wide by 40’ long, next to the typewriter. It will meld poetry, sculpture, light, projections, and sound. The larger-than-life project is a 24-to1-scale model of a 1927 Underwood Standard Portable typewriter — one that’s big enough to climb on. The concept for the giant typewriter derived from a New York Evening Sun column that ran in the 1920s, called Archy and Mehitabel . It featured


a poet who was reincarnated as a cockroach and wrote about his adventures with his alley cat sidekick. The author of the columns wrote as though he put paper in his typewriter and the cockroach would come out and jump key-to-key and write a poem, or a story, or witty insights about life. It was sarcastic and funny and political Now, people will be the cockroaches, jumping from key-to-key on the art installation.

Artists The Cat and Cockroach Collection is a Boston based collection of artists and ne’er do wells lead by Jason Turgeon.

Contact http://www.jasonturgeon.net/projects/blunderwood http://www.huffingtonpost. com/2015/06/01/burning-man-typewriter_n_7464358.html http://www.bostonglobe.com/ metro/2015/05/28/giant-typewriter-sculpture-coming-rose-kennedy-greenway-boston/6kb0zDpk8SPou8EL1dYnaO/story.html



Bone Tree

by: Dana Albany, Michael Hopkins, Pheonix Firestarter, Melissa Syn Barron, Joe, Chaos, Michael Christen

Project: In 1999, the Burning Man annual theme, the Wheel of Time, included a procession into the coming millennium. Searching for an appropriate icon, Larry Harvey asked the artists to create a central sculpture for that event. Dana writes: Larry talked about “something” that would travel into the past and future. Originally he considered DNA as a representative symbol, but I’d been thinking about a bone sculpture for several years and proposed instead a tree made of bones. Working in the desert where cattle grazed nearby, I had access to all the bones I needed. I wanted to use an artifact of death to create a tree, as a way of paying homage to the existence of all life. To create this structure, I designed and constructed a mobile, interactive sculpture I named The Bone Tree, which consisted of a 27-ft steel frame tower mounted on five wheels like the base of an office chair, allowing it to be freely pushed around the Wheel of Time. The tower was completely covered with thousands of cattle bones. It also contained a lighting system for night illumination, an audio system and a generator. It looked very eerie sitting on the playa, biding its time, knowing that sooner or later all living creatures turn to bone and that metaphorically all the bones would come to it. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 25

you hear about the Bone Tree?” She told me that the wind storm blew the Bone Tree across the playa, pushing it so far out that it was at least a mile from camp. What is especially interesting is that all of the extra bones stored under the Bone Tree’s frame had been shaken loose, leaving a trail of bones behind it the whole length of its journey. I thought this was amazing because I had always envisioned the Bone Tree out on the playa and felt it was meant to return to the desert, and it did.

Artists

The Bone Tree served several purposes. It was a tribute to the passage of time in which living animals transform from flesh to bone, a final reminder of their presence on earth. It was also an interactive sculpture in that its mobility was derived from participants who pushed it in a sweeping circle around the Wheel of Time installations. This clockwise orbiting of the Bone Tree around the Wheel of Time acted as a magnet in drawing passersby to follow it and in turn be introduced to the various installations that were featured in sequence that evening. The third aspect of the Bone Tree was performance as it included a miniature stage where Father Time appeared with his acolytes who danced in front of him. The Bone Tree came to a very fitting end in the desert that year. After a ferocious wind storm, one of my friends walked up to me and said, “Did

Dana Albany is a long-time contributor to Burning Man and the festival has grown because of her creative genius. In 1999, she was asked by Burning Man founder Larry Harvey to create the art centerpiece for the festival. The theme that year was “The Wheel of Time.” Dana thought about the desert, about DNA, about the march of time, and she created the piece of art, “The Bone Tree.” Melissa “Syn” Barron (and Lightning Clearwater III aka Terry Gross) are inspired to motivate and create art in order to assist social justice causes, environmental movements and experimental communities. Burning Man art installations: Crowning Glory, 2007; Otic Oasis 2011; Otic Oasis 2012; Man Base Pistil 2012

Contact http://www.leonardo.info/gallery/ burningman/albany.html https://twitter.com/pfirestarter http://qgeekbooks.tumblr.com/ post/95835285757/5-creativegeniuses-behind-burning-man



Brainchild by: Michael Christian Berkeley, CA

Project: Brainchild embodies two of the elements of creative exploration I love most – celebrating the inquisitive spirit of play and exploring the plurarlity of fomrs that can be expressed through biologically inspired shapes and patterns found in nature. The branching head area of the sculpture serves as a playful interactive space where participants can become lieteral neurotransmitters providing the necessary synaptic activation for the piece to come alive. Lighting elements with proximity awareness sensors responding to the movements of participants as they move through the piece will add an additional element to the piece at nite. The sculpture as a whole emanates a contemplative yet engaging quality. Our hope is to create a safe environment for participants to engage in a playful and intimate experience.


Artists Michael Christian – San Francisco Bay area artist who builds large, interactive, and playful sculptures. Some of Christian’s sculptures have permanent homes here or abroad, and others travel extensively, moving from place to place. His work has found a home for nearly 17 years in the Black Rock Desert for the Burning Man event. You’ll find more of his sculptures in city centers, music festivals, and private collections across the globe. All of Christian’s work, though, has a common origin, coming from the inspiration of daily drawings and sketches. “I’m inspired by the genius of nature and what’s possible. I attempt to use the simplest language and smallest words possible. Life is big and complex enough as it is. “

Previous Works 2014 ePOD XXXX Drifts 2014 Tentacles 2011 Cadelaphyte, Coachella 2010 Home 2009 Key Note 2009 Successful Houseplants, Coachella 2008 Elevation 2007 Koilos 2005 I.T.

Contact [email protected] www.michaelchristian.com https://vimeo.com/118324214

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/epod


Brickhead EARTH by: James Tyler from: Haverstraw, NY

Project: Colossal ceramic brick human head reminiscent of the temple carvings of Angkor Wat or the great Olmec heads of Central America, a contemporary relic of a civilations not yet past. Ambient natural sounds are incorporated into the artwork ie birdsongs start the day; insects buzz and give way to crickets, frogs, and night peepers as the sun goes down. Interludes of gentle rain echo intermittently in a full and continually changing 24 hours of life on Earch. At night, flickering mirrored interior lights emanate from the gaps between the assembled blocks. The sculpture is created from 8000 pounds of high fire terra cotta clay cut into individual blocks. Each block is fired individually to create a unique variation in color. Monumental personifications of place and entity, the Brickhead Sculptures are representations of humanity; reflections of ourselves. The sculptures are homage to the improbable constructs of our collective past, yet they are clearly of the contemporary world incorporating a variety of new technologies including lights and interactive sound components. Each site specific artwork strives to create a dialog for thoughtful reflection about life on Earth in the twenty first century.


Artist James Tyler received his MFA from Hampshire College, Massachussetts in 1975. Previously, he studied at Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. As a sculptor he is best known for his Brickhead series. Tyler uses architectural red clay or buff stoneware, common materials outside ornamentation. The bricks have a natural ceramic finish and variation in color occurs only during the firing process. Tyler’s work has been exhibited across the United States. In 2006 he was appointed the first Executive Director of the GAGA Arts Center.

Contact http://www.brickheadearth.com [email protected]


Charnival by: Site 3 Fire Arts from: Toronto, Canada

2pir

By Ardent Heavy Industries 2πr is a blisteringly interactive large-scale fire toy. It is a central stage surrounded by a larger ring of inconspicuous flame effects – completely innocuous to onlookers – until a participant makes it come alive. It consists of two concentric rings: The inner ring is a 3ft tall circular platform, 6ft in diameter. Around the edge of this platform are 32 infrared proximity sensors placed at regular intervals. Each sensor is linked to a corresponding flame effect in the outer ring, which is 50ft in diameter. When the IR sensor detects an object passing over the emitter, a corresponding flame effect is triggered, producing a large burst of fire.

Clown Teabagging Eruption by: Dave McKay from: Toronto, AL

Sometimes clowning is a mouthful. A mouthful of teabags in this case. Play this Charnival game to test your skill in teabagging clowns. If you can pull it off in time then you make the clown head erupt.

FaIRE Hockey

by: Marc Reeve-Newson from: Toronto, Canada For those who like fire, air hockey, and music this is a chance to combine all three. Players will get to shoot the puck around on a Reuben’s table. Center ice will be on fire, so players are strongly encouraged to keep their hands on their side of the table.

Fire In Balance By Poetic Kinetics from: Los Angeles, CA

Expanding on the success of their similar honorarium piece Holding Flame 2009, Fire In Balance is an installation made up of an inverted fire box suspended within a pagoda-like steel structural frame surrounded by a series of fire dishes and fire towers. The entire structure will be clad in a laser cut façade creating a mysterious and engaging aesthetic with a safe, comfortable, unique environment inside for people to gather and experience the extraordinary beauty of inverted fire.

Fire Tetris

by: Jody McIntyre from: Montréal, QB, Canada Fire Tetris is a large scale (20’ high x 10’ wide) game board that lets participants play the classic video


game tetris, with all the pieces made of fire. This is done using 200 flame heads working together, which together will light up the night sky with glorious flames.

Flack in the Box by: emile daigle

Flaming Hookers by: TJ Kozma from: Scarborough, ME

Part of the Charnival Midway, Flaming Hookers is a 12-foot-tall flaming ringtoss game that encourages participants to get hookin’.

Francis the Fantastic

by: Michael Everson and Trish Lamanna from: Toronto, Canada Francis the Fantastic, a fire spewing Zoltar fortune teller, made up of touch capacitors, arduinos, flame controllers and a human sized cat puppet. Controlled by a crystal ball, notes play into a Ruben’s tube and manipulate flames. When the song is finished, a fire poof goes off, and a fortune is distributed.

Hell Blazer

by: Site 3 Fire Arts from: Toronto, ON Hell Blazer the fire infused strength tester Charnival game. An eight foot pitch fork hand crafted by the devil for Earthly access to Hell Fire. This pitchfork spits fire when a human tests their strength to activate LEDs and blasts high above the Playa.

Last Flamethrower by: Matisse Enzer from: San Francisco, CA

Modeled after “County Fair”style shooting galleries, the Last Flamethrower provides a flaming twist on a long-standing American tradition and pokes gentle fun at the American fascination with firearms and personal power, along with the Burning Man fascination with fire and “radical self expression” by allowing and encouraging participants to safely play with intense fire, in the form of streams of pressurized burning gasoline.

Mirror Blaze

by: Sarah Nason from: Toronto, Canada The Mirror Blaze is a hall of mirrors with a secret hidden inside: a single flame effect, shielded by quartz glass and two-way security mirrors. The effect fires intermittently, filling the maze with its reflections. Participants enter via an opening on one side of the maze, then feel their way through in near-darkness – the ground level will be lit with LEDs – punctuated with fire.

Molotov et Immolato: Les Bouffons Brillant du Ciel by: Douglas Ruuska from: Brighton, MA

Two nondescript, bulbous shapes rotate slowly & serenely around a central, illuminated tower. One drops, the other rises, at the top of its arc, fire illuminates surface cutouts revealing Immolato or Molotov, flaming apparitions of the restless Burning Clowns of the Night Sky. One good, the other evil, both aspects of the human senses of humor & amusement. Things are funny that


are bad & things are funny that are good. This strong cross-over is unique among the emotions. It is damn near inexplicable to understand why one thing is humorous for one group of people, but falls flat for another. Ponder the mysteries of the funnybone while enjoying the visceral attrraction of fire in the sky above you.

Pyrokinesis

by: Site 3 Fire Arts from: Toronto, Canada An eight headed flame effect connected to a wireless EEG sensor, visualizing your brain’s electric activity with fire.

Reflections of a Fire Sprite

by: Anton Viditz-Ward, Deep Creek Experimental from: Telluride, CO Reflections of a Fire Sprite is a steel/ wood structure made to rise and fall while set on fire. This segmented piece will be kept under tension via a spring-loaded base. A hand ratcheting mechanism will be used to drop the sculpture to the ground as well as erect it from a pile of burning debris. The project will be re-clad in wood and set on fire each night.

Riskee Ball

by: Site 3 Fire Arts from: Toronto, Canada The center of the Charnival will feature Riskee Ball, our bank of 10 fireerupting skee ball machines.

Sound and Fury

by: Trevyn Watson from: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada While most organs are majestic installations integrated into the monumental buildings in which they are played, Sound and Fury takes a more minimal approach and includes only the functional components to make music. Trading grandeur for spectacle, a fire organ adds a visual and physical component to what is normally an auditory experience. Sound and Fury comprises a single rank of 37 pipes (three octaves) and a piano keyboard. The piece functions as a harmonium or reed organ, using propane as the working gas in place of air. Participants will play the keyboard which will send MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) commands to the controller to open the valve for the corresponding note, resulting in musical jets of flame. The flame effects controller understands a commonly used protocol for electronic instruments so there is also an opportunity for participants to bring their own compatible devices to plug in and play with fire.

Toxic Bloom

by: Ethan Garner from: Cambridge, MA Toxic bloom stands about 4 feet high, made of repuposed steel, and appears as a mechanical, rigid flower, with the petals opening up, exposing its stamen to the air. The piece was built in a manner to evoke both biological and mechanical elements, and is modeled as a hybrid between a Phage (the viruses that infect bacteria) and a plant. The stamen emits the pollen of bloom, a 3-5 foot jet of colored fire, with fast switching between bright red, green, and yellow colors. As toxic bloom


fires, it emits a howl from the venturi, a natural cry to its breeding partners as it emits its gametes.

Word of the Burning Bramble by: Michael Dewberry from: Somerville, MA

The Burning Bramble, a flowering, trailing plant of steel, brass, and copper, arcs nine feet into the air, hears participants’ questions or earnest desires for prophecy, and delivers its Word through flame.



City of Lights by: gary long from: Los Angeles, CA

project THE CITY OF LIGHTS PROJECT BRINGS ILLUMINATED ART TO THE DARK STREETS OF BLACK ROCK CITY IN 2015 FOR THE 5TH YEAR! Black Rock City has over 200 utilitarian street signs to identify the roads and pedestrian walkways. The street signs are useful in navigating the city by day, but at night these sign posts are a hazard for being un-lit, especially in a whiteout dust storm when you are lost. By installing solar light artwork on the sign posts, the City of Lights creates distinctive artistic landmarks in the day meanwhile illuminating street signs at night. This is both an impressive and functional project. The team provides artists with a basic solar light fixture and stand to create their own light sculptures with their own materials. These sculptures are then mounted on the BRC’s sign posts. Workshops during the event will provide battery lights for folks to incorporate into their own gear. At night, the street signs in the darker corners of the city are much easier to read, and the solar light artworks make creative meeting places for the citizens of Black Rock City. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 35

City of Lights Project installs the solar light artwork on street signs around Black Rock City by international creative participants. This allows people who cannot attend Burning Man in person to participate globally with over 90 artists from 12 countries. Art can be reclaimed at the end of the burn and you can take it home, and bring it back next year. Or you can leave it with us and we will reinstall next year. Also the City of Lights travels to regionals, so you can see your art all year long!

artist Burner since 1998, I believe in the evolution of the artist as an artist and as a person. That we can evolve by encouraging the evolution of others. Enrolling and encourage artists and non-artist to becoming better artists and better people is my goal. Just a friendly reminder “DON’T STEAL STREET SIGNS” BE A GOOD CITIZEN OF BLACK ROCK CITY Emergency Services rely upon street signs to navigate our city to respond to emergencies and participants count on them to help find their way around. All signs need to remain in place through the Temple burn on Sunday night. City of Lights installs art on the street signs. If you did steal/borrow a street sign and a piece of art, you can return the art to the City of Lights camp and we can reinstall, and thank you!

contact City of Lights 2015 Installation Team is located in The Palace of Balunsia. Gary Long, “Shady” • Los Angeles, CA • [email protected] Ruvi • Phoenix, AZ • [email protected] Princess Trooper • Portland, OR • [email protected] Lisa “Evil” • Vancouver, BC • [email protected] Malin Bobeck “Wheels” • Borås, Sweden • [email protected] http://cityoflights.com/



Colossal Skeletal Marionette by: Christian Breeden from: Charlottesville, VA

Project The Colossal Skeletal Marionette is a collection of rusty bones sourced from the desert and the mountains. It dances with the concepts of death and whimsy. You dance under the shadows of the Man. He will fall again. You are haunted by the ghosts of your ancestors. They beg you to play with them. Nosce Te Ipsum: Know Thyself. These represent big old bones from which we came and to which we shall return. This is a 18’ tall metal puppet. It’ll be dancing in the shadow of the man this year and you can be his puppeteer.


artist Christian Breeden follows in his father’s footsteps as the studio manager of the Biscuit Run Studios. He has taught classes in stone sculpture and metal fabrication. His own career has slowly veered away from stone and is currently centered on welding metal. He makes giant mechanized pyrotechnic neocarnival art, which he takes on the festival circuit.

contact http://www.biscuitrun.com [email protected]

Compound Eye/“I” by: Berg, Kirsten from: Newark, CA

The concept is inspired by Buddhist perspectives of interconnectedness, seeing our individual “small’ selves” as facets/nodes of the collective “Self”, i.e consciousness. Here it represented as a compound eye, with its many convexmirror lenses reflecting and framing multiple perspectives that comprise one big picture - of us and collective creativity. Compound I” challenges our sense of separation from art and the world at large, from “other”, as boundaries blur between inner/outer and self/collective. As we circle around “Compound I”, reflected points of light follow us… as if we are being watched. Looking into the shifting centers of the glistening lenses, we meet our own gaze. As we realize it is our sight and form that animates these pupils, our sense of separate-ness from the art is challenged.. Stepping away, we see our image simultaneously contract and overlap with everyone else’ onto the mosaic globes before us, in a composite of shared reflection. The eye: an instrument of reflection, the ‘I’ an object of reflection – boundaries blur between perspectives of inner and outer, personal and collective, to convey a picture of interconnectedness –with us as facets of a compound” I “/eye. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 39

(The sculpture silhouette also mimics the form of the Buddha’s head and the Mandelbrot fractal. There’s also literally a ‘jeweled net of Indra’ that envelops us in the interior space.) VISUAL NEWS INTERVIEW WITH KIRSTEN BERG

Interview with Burning Man Artist Kirsten Berg ON OCTOBER 11, 2014 BY SHAWN SALEME

Kirsten Berg is one of the most well known yogis in the Ashtanga world, with people flying all over the globe to attend her classes in Thailand, Bali and the States, yet for 3 months of the year, she commits her time and energy to gifting amazing art installations at Burning Man. “ I don’t think of my art as truly ‘mine,’ but as an admixture of ‘my’ thoughts and inspirations coupled with non-personal imagery that presents itself to me during spaces of clarity, either in meditation, or while out in nature. I resonate with the Buddhist perspective that while “I” don’t ultimately exist, I briefly reflect a facet of its creative complexity, as we all do. I enjoy reflecting that reflection through art. Reflective surfaces give a flexible platform upon which to play with what inspires me: Vision, inner and outer; the human illusion of identification as individuals and being ‘separate’; the literal and metaphoric elevation that light provides; the blurring of thresholds between our infinite imagination the finite frame of the body; our ability to shift perspective, the non-locality of flashes of insight and inspiration. I want to express ALL of this simultaneously through the art! “


You are based on the other side of the world in Asia. Has this been a challenge at times in preparing and building art for Burning Man? “This presents challenges every step of the way. In the designing stages from December to June, I’m always trying to figure out answers to structural questions. We’re living off the beaten track there, so there’s no artists’ community to tap into; I can’t have a chat with someone about welding something, because there aren’t any welders, or installation artists, anywhere in my vicinity. Those kinds of meetings and conversations just can’t be replaced by email conversations, so I have to wait until I’m back in the US to find the right people with the right experience to help answer practical-but-obscure questions. Logistically, living in Asia but creating art in the USA adds another set of challenges. Most Burning Man artists are US-based, so they have a home and vehicle already. We come to the USA specifically to create the art; this means that while we (my partner and I) take time away from our livelihood and home, we have to rely on the generosity of friends and community to house us, lend us cars, tools, backyards and all of the other essentials to prepare the art and ourselves for Burning Man. All of my sculptures and tools are in storage in one town, all our gear in another, and we stay in yet another. It’s quite the added logistical twist!” Compound eye/”I” went directly from Burning Man 2012 into the Nevada Discovery Museum in Reno and will remain there until it moves to Burning Man 2015.

artist Kirsten Berg is a self-taught American artist based in Southeast Asia. Since 2010, Kirsten has created sculptural installations for Burning Man: “Constellation of One” in 2010/11, “Compound eye/I” in 2012 and “(In)Visible” in 2013/14. She works together with her partner Mitchell and a dedicated crew from the US and abroad who come together every Burn to help Kirsten create these reflective, thoughtful pieces.

contact [email protected] http://www.kirstenberg.com/compound-eyei/ Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 41


Coup de Foudre Project by: Matthew Faulkner from: San Francisco, CA

Coup de Foudre is a 26-foot tall “electrical sculpture” built around a 15 kilowatt musical Tesla Coil. A giant, musically-controlled Tesla coil sculpture. Dance beneath a canopy of lightning. When done, it will be a 10-foot-tall Tesla coil bolted onto a 20-foot dome, controlled by a DJ booth. Which means dancing under freakin’ lightning, people! Coup de Foudre is a large-scale electrical art piece.. Drawing on recent Tesla coil innovations, Coup de Foudre will produce large (10 foot) arcs of lightning that can be modulated to produce sound and respond to music. An idiom for love at first sight that translates literally to bolt of lightning, Coup de Foudre seeks to evoke awe for beautiful and dangerous forces. At the heart of the Coup de Foudre is the Tesla coil - a device that takes in regular power and converts it to super high voltage, low current electricity. This Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 42

energy then builds up in the toroid on top and gets discharged as... lightning! Rapid bursts of lightning cause the air expand and contract, producing music in much the same way that a speaker cone pushes air to make sound waves.

artists The Phage is camp of roughly 100 people, with a strong contingent of scientists and engineers. In 2014 our community created a 26-foot tall metal sculpture with musical tesla coil named ‘Coup de Foudre’, and an art car with a giant, climbable, metal truss brain called ‘Dr. Brainlove’. Arc Attack is a performance art group that has been pushing the envelope in tesla performances since 2005.

contact https://www.facebook.com/ coupdefoudre2014



Dancing Serpent by: Gray Davidson from: Oakland, CA

project Just as we are a sect of homo-sapiens which grows lush in our desert habitat, one imagines that everything about our city – the striped tents, the night beacons, the strange crawling vehicles, the unexpected flames – are equally living products of the rare atmosphere of the playa. One imagines what creatures might evolve there in the heat and the dust, with the sun and the wind for power, with a peacock’s urges to be admired day and night, with a joy in the solitude and the rough edges of the natural world that spawned them. What life forms might develop as the denizens of the Carnival of Mirrors if their constituent molecules were dust and rust and sunlight? An answer to this question is The Dancing Serpent which will be a 14 foot long sculptural metal serpent constructed as a mobile. Canvas sails hang from the serpent to catch the wind, causing the sculpture to swim gracefully through the air, and propane flames sprout from an array of outlets along its spine and jaws. The Serpent participates in this vision as a creature that has evolved to take advantage of the special affordances of Burning Man. It is an encouragement to seek beauty from what might otherwise be rough metal and glass, energy from the movement of the wind, and to treat with respect, and perhaps a little feat, those strange entities – human, canvas, metal, plastic, wooden – that make up the city around us.


The Serpent is a perfectly balanced mobile formed of a series of bentmetal pipes which each carry a segment of the serpent’s body. Lateral motive forces on the lead segment create wavelike motions through the entire sculpture. Flames rise from the spine of each segment like a mane of fire along the serpent’s back. The external structure of each segment will form the counterweight that balances the remaining segments.

artist Gray Davidson “It is not important for me to create a work which will be visible over the horizon from Gerlach, or whose flame cyclone penis lights the sky in Cedarville. But I do want to create a work which will interact with its audience, draw them into its world, and make them feel, for a few instants of contemplation, that they are not the only conscious, highly evolved beings in the dust.”

contact http://www.graydavidson.com/Art/LightSculptures/DancingSerpent.html [email protected]



Dragon Masters Presents “Wicked Art Piazza” by: Gabe Zanotto, Dragon Ass Camp from: Oroville, CA


project The Wicked Art Piazza is where we invite Burners to see Claude the fire breathing dragon and other fun interactive sculptures. Provision of a space in which you can incorporate your life history to spark your imagination and travel in your own mind to your innovative center. The art are sculptures with souls, like family, and all the items in the sculptures have been used by humans so human energy is intertwined into each piece. “My art is an expression of my life and allows me to leave earthly time and go to my place where I can make things happen and tell sci fi stories of Claude the Dragon’s world. I like to go to my safe imaginative place, which refreshes me to come back to my reality when I need to. “ It’s important to have the Self Expression Stage since every time we take Claude anywhere people share their talent whether it be opera singing or written poems. Participants will be able to touch, see and hear the sculptures. Claude chops his jaws, turns his head and breathes fire. Claude the Dragon, and other fire sculptures, will perform day and night. People love to pose with Claude and discuss the many items he is made of. Did you know he has Black Bart’s Gun on him which was donated years ago. Black Bart was a famous stage coach robber from the Gold Rush days who used to leave poems behind after robberies. Claude also has swords and so many other interesting items.

Participants can also feed “Toughlove” ball bearings so she poops them out into a bucket. She will also piddle a beer into a bucket if you feed it into her mouth, everyone gets a real thrill out of that! We so often have participants get excited about the sculptures that we want them to share their art too. Burners can use our Megaphone with microphone or PA system on our Open Expression Stage to share their poetry, songs, and other creative talents evoked by our Piazza. This year we are adding sculptures by Michael Conley who was inspired by Gabe Zanotto. His art is different and exciting as it’s too made solely of recycled metal parts.

artist Gabe Zanotto, Italian by descent, born in Venezuela, studied in Italy then went into the U.S. Navy. In ‘79 he visualized Claude. His daughter, Tasha, remembers “ My Dad brought me into his garage and told me he was gonna make a dragon. I said ‘Ok Dad, do it.’” “I like the idea of people 500 years from now seeing him.” Gabe “looks forward to leaving something behind.” Michael Conley Inspired by Gabe to weld metal art started 10 years ago. Born in Illinois then came to N. California in ‘74.

contact [email protected]

During certain periods, Burners will be allowed to enter the belly of Claude to learn how he works. We’ve often had huge lines of children who come again and again and again. Being a Dragon is intriguing for all.



Dragon Smelter

by: Danny Macchiarini and the Dragon Smelter Crew from: San Francisco, CA

Project The Dragon Smelter is an 18 foot high steel sculpture that creates metal art and shoots fire from its head and tail and a crucible built into its belly. We will take this creature out to the desert, fire it up and use recycled aluminum cans to create original sculptures right there on the playa. Made from 85% recycled steel, it has a built in kiln for melting aluminum cans and scrap, which we pour into sand molds and create original sculptures right there on playa. At the heart of Burning Man is positive transformative change. Transforming metal into sculpture is our art, practice and passion. This year we would love to once again bring this process of transformation to the Playa and share it with others. As part of the theme “Carnival of Mirrors” for this upcoming 2015 Burning Man we maintain the thought that currency and how citizens engage with it, reflects a labyrinthine and often “masked” relationship between individuals and impacts the entire society in ways that are, in reality, a real “Carnival of Mirrors”. How one “makes” money, as well as uses it, remains a profound “reflection” of both ourselves and society at large. We believe deeply in the Burning man ethos, where trade, barter and gifting are the “norm” and monetary transactions the exception. To that end we want to further explore and redefine the notion of currency, unmask it, and reveal it as a reflection of the default society we live in. Our recycled coin would still be a medium of Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 48

exchange, but its true value would be to the beholder, in essence, a reflection of their actual actions, interactions and beliefs. In keeping with the Burning Man values, we seek to design and create a coin that is gifted and about the beauty of the object, the action of creating currency itself which generates positive energy within the participant. These will be our “Labyrinthine Reflective” coins. The Dragon Smelter has been a part of Burning Man interactive art since 2000 thanks to the vision, creativity and hard work of Danny Macchiarini.

artist Macchiarini studio and gallery was founded by Peter Macchiarini, whose life was dedicated to the creation of innovative metal sculpture, jewelry, drawings and photography. As Peter Macchiarini got older, his son Danny began consistently working in the shop. Danny himself had spent much of his life creating sculptures and jewelry, and making artwork. Growing up in the 1950’s and 60’2 Peter taught Danny the metalwork craft for jewelry and sculpture, as well as form and design concepts to aid in the development of Danny’s own artistic expression. In the early nineties, Danny began to work side by side with Peter to help with his father’s failing health and the business side of the shop. By the time Peter died in 2001 Danny was a working artist creating and selling his own work and carried on the Macchiarini Creative Design Studio. Danny Macchiarini’s work has been enjoyed and celebrated throughout the Bay Area as an important metal work artist.

contact http://www.macreativedesign.com [email protected]



Dreamland by: FLUX Foundation from: San Francisco, CA

Project Inspired by the wonder of childhood carnival rides, Dreamland is an immersive and interactive environment that encapsulates the energy of the Carnival of Mirrors. A whimsical experience of vivid colors, dazzling light and flame transport participants to the world of spectacle and the carnivalesque. Dreamland evokes not only the carnival of our collective memory, but that of our dreams: a fantastical space that stretches and warps our perspective, and shimmers and glows at the edges of our consciousness. Tranquility envelops us as we step into its shadows. It exists as a reverie–its leisurely intoxication punctuated by ecstatic pandemonium when submerged in its interior. Dreamland creates an environment where participants and artists collaborate in a disruption of the ordinary. Sound, light and motion slowly enter and exit our awareness, establishing a dream state and space that subverts and liberates our assumptions of reality through whimsy and chaos. The continuous


and cumulative transformation of a larger negative space combines with the exquisite scale and form of Dreamland to instigate what the Situationists refer to as a denouement. In this moment, the audience is no longer comprised of individuals; the notion of singularity is inherently dropped. The unexpected creates self-awareness, and shock and spectacle suspend social norms to allow authentic interaction among participants. As social barriers are broken, the boundary between art and audience is removed. Through a common experience of the spectacular, the art is no longer confined to the form itself but becomes a “social organism as a work of art.” Undulating light and carnivalesque music spill across the desert night, beckoning participants to investigate. Bursts of flame punctuate the prismatic glow, seemingly random in duration and intensity. Upon approach, it becomes evident that the light, flame and music are connected parts of a singular attraction. Manifesting in the distance as a shimmering mirage, Dreamland crystallizes in machine-like form upon approach: a solitary spinning metal structure rises from the playa, disrupting the horizon. Yet, if it is a machine, it is a machine of dreams. Its whimsical, riotous character slowly unfolds in undulating waves of light that emanate from its elements. The jaunty, vintage sounds of the boardwalk drift on the breeze and are mimicked by a helterskelter of whirling armature, oscillating light, and shimmering fabric.

Artists Our mission at FLUX is to engage people in designing and building public art as a catalyst for education, collaboration and empowerment. As a volunteerbased non-profit, we believe that every step in the art-making process is an opportunity to share ideas, knowledge and skills and create something monumental. Our process is radically-collaborative, allowing for each person’s artistic input to become an integral and valued part of the whole while maintaining the artistic integrity of the artwork.

contact http://www.fluxfoundation.org/dreamland [email protected] Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 51


EMPIRE

by: Jon Sarriugarte and Kyrsten Mate, Empire of Dirt from: Oakland, CA

project Several months ago, we intercepted an odd radio signal that seemed to emanate from deep space. The signal was garbled, but after much audio enhancement we could discern the phrase “This is Empire. We’re coming home.” Could this be the rumored secret lost space mission from the 1960’s code name EMPIRE? If so, and they are coming back to earth 50 years later, what will they be arriving in? Their Saturn V powered rocket ship… or some alien vehicle they have managed to drag out of the stars? Project EMPIRE intended to explore our tiny corner of the solar system in a secret interplanetary mission. Instead, these travelers, not tourists, ended up traversing the wondrous universe and are finally able to come home with the help of alien technology. The vehicle that arrives is equal parts sculpture and performance art. This project will create not only a sculpturally beautiful alien ship, but a narrative story for the crew and ship to exist in. During its performance, crew members will live the narrative and show the wonders of the galaxies utilizing projections and sound design. Someone walking upon this scene will be Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 52

transported to an alternate reality of a crew returning to Earth after a long absence and many adventures.

We’ve uncovered a sketch in NASA’s own archives, boldly listed online for anyone to see. We think the date to throw the unwitting off the case, however, we know better.

The ship itself is truly alien; it evokes a water creature or ancient shelled animal. This ship provides a canvas for metalwork and surface detail. Originally the crew crashed their Earth ship, EMPIRE, far across the galaxy after mistakenly transporting through a wormhole. On this alien world, they secured the admiration of dwellers of the planet, who helped them build a new vessel using alien biomechanical ships and the EMPIRE’s original Saturn V rockets. The ship and crew possess both 1965 Earth technology and otherworldly attributes. Fusing old and new, biology and mechanics, Terran and Alien.

artist Jon Sarriugarte was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. In 1987 he made the trip out to California to create the metal furniture company Form & Reform. He has studied and worked as a blacksmith/fabricator for over 25 years; pouring his creativity into both work and the local community where he is a civic leader and board member of the West Oakland Commerce Association. He co-owns the Kraftworks building in West Oakland that houses over 20 industrial craftsmen and performance artists. Jon is married to Krysten Mate, a sound designer who has worked on Oscar winning films. Jon and Krysten have a wonderful girl named Zolie Mae.

Contact http://projectempire.org/ [email protected] [email protected]



Fire Helix by: Frogma from: San Francisco, CA

project Fire Helix is a 12’ tall rotating double helix made of steel with 40 flame poofers located at dna nodes firing parallel with the ground. Control pads that surround the piece allow participants to fire the poofers causing the helix to spin. The double helix is the building block of life. Fire is one of the building blocks of civilization. Together we believe there is an elegant mix of meaning that draws the mind to the ephemeral questions of what brought us here and what will we do with the fantastic tools and opportunity we find ourselves surrounded by. There is something about fire in motion that captivates us in both mind and spirit. The moment becomes everything and we lose ourselves in the purity of the now. As the mind unwinds in this state we often have realizations that only occur when everything else fades into the background. This simple captivating experience is what Fire Helix embodies. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 54

artist Frogma has been creating large scale playa art since 2007. We have a passion for creating experiences that ultilize the unique environment of the playa to craft art that couldn’t easily be born anywhere else. We have built: Perspective 2007, Spark 2009, Perspectives 2011, The Runway 2013 & were a 2012 BRAF grant recipient to take Perspectives to London’s Southbank Centre for the 2012 Summer Olympics. We love playa inspired art and will continue to share it with the world.

contact http://www.onemandown.com/FireHelix.htm [email protected]



Firmament by: Christopher Schardt from: Oakland, CA

project A vast, star-shaped, domed ceiling of lights and motion. Moving images of shooting stars, Hubble photos, aurora borealis, and various visions of heaven are depicted by 21,000 LEDs hanging 10-15’ above the ground. Find the hidden camera in the middle to add your face to the mix. Firmament is a space of reverent peace and beauty, a place to contemplate the infinite complexity and beauty of the cosmos. It follows in the grand Burning Man tradition of unexpected, interactive delights for those with curiosity enough to wander into deep-ish playa. They will arrive, seeing that it is a large LED piece. They will have seen LED art on the playa before, but never a 52’ diameter dome of light, filling their field of view. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 56

The visitors wander through it, enjoying the images from outer space, historical imagination, and/ or computer algorithms. Then they happen to cross directly under the very center. They notice something changed in the imagery right at that moment. They go back and see if it happens again. It does! They look up to see what it might be, and their animated faces are projected many times life-size on the LEDs, spinning and flying around. Their laughter triggers more changes to the

animation.

The visitors decide to sit, perhaps in the very center or perhaps in one of the 6 wedge-shaped alcoves at the edge of the piece. At some point they notice that they can’t hear the normal Burning Man noises anymore. All they hear is the soft, soothing, ambient music being played by 6 speakers around the piece. In the daytime, a visitor’s experience is more about appreciating the strong lines of the pyramid and ceiling. Being made of Aluminet shade cloth, the ceiling provides respite from the midday sun, perhaps for an afternoon nap. The 52’ diameter, domed ceiling is made of 48 equilateral triangular panels made of shade-cloth containing 450 down-facing LED”s in a triangular grid suspended 10’-15’ in the air. The structure that supports the ceiling is a 6-sided pyramid 42’ tall and 47’ wide made of aluminum poles. The pyramid supports the edges of the ceiling, while holding up its middle with adjustable ropes that drop straight down. In this way, a large space uninterrupted by columns is created. At each of the six points of the star-shaped ceiling is a 10’ tall minipyramid holding it up. Shade cloth covers two of its three sides, forming an alcove that may be used by visitors who might enjoy a little privacy, or shelter from the wind.

artist Christopher Schardt is an Oakland-based artist/engineer/programmer. He spent a childhood building things. In 2000 he started bringing that spirit to Burning Man, creating: • 2003 - Yantra - 40’x92’ temple of religious symbols • 2011 - Garden of Rockets - 3 kinetic sculptures propelled by propane thrust • 2012 - Char Wash – more thrusting propane, this time with visitors on the inside In 2014, he pivoted to LEDs, creating several LED displays, all controlled by his iPad app, LED Lab.

contact http://pbase.com/schardt/firmament [email protected]



Giant Kaleidoscope by: David Abraham + David Fradkin from: Richmond Hill, ON, Canada

project Kaleidoscopes mesmerize us from a very young age. It’s amazing how the simple construction of mirrors in a cylinder formation can create such a complex sea of fractals and patterns that are ever-changing. They invite us to play, to spin, to see the evolution of infinite patterns and appreciate the old while being excited for the new. The intimate moment we experience looking through a Kaleidoscope cannot be shared with anyone because they are too abstract to describe and too fleeting to capture. It forces us to appreciate the very moment in front of us. We want to promote this childhood awe and wonderment. We want participants to come play with it, create and discover. To take a nap inside during sunrise, or have a wild dance party during dusk. The Kaleidoscope is just a tool, and we’re excited to see what amazing and beautiful ideas the people of Black Rock City can do with it. Our Kaleidoscope is made of cedar, spruce and steel. The scope is about 12 feet long, and has 3 plexiglass mirrors inside that create the Kaleidoscope effect. The scope is also lined with LEDs that, when reflected off of the mirrors, looks like a galaxy of stars. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 58

The scope is open on both ends, allowing participants to crawl inside (our record is 5, but we’re happy to test it with more) or just poke their heads in and see participants on the other end of it. Because the construction of the scope is a tapered cylinder rather than parallel, the patterns looking in from each end of the scope are very different from one another. Each creates a very different fractal formation. Participants can run around and look in from each end and get a much different pattern from one side to the next. The entire scope sits on a base with large casters that allow it to spin easily. There are also large captain wheels on either side for easy spinning. One of our favorite things to do with the Kaleidoscope is put people inside (the more the merrier) and spin the scope around using the giant captain wheels on each end. Everyone inside gets an intimate experience with one another bumping and smushing into each other, and everyone on the outside watch the endless sea of limbs and body parts spinning. The scope is also a really great place to lie down for a nap, and upon awakening finding yourself in a reflections wonderland, not a bad way to start a day on the playa

artists David + David are both artists/designers/makers based out of Toronto. “Art is nice to look at, but it’s even better when you get to play with it.” – David “When you look at toys from your childhood, do you ever wonder what it would be like if you could make them gigantic and play inside of them?” - David

contact http://www.thegiantkaleidoscope.come [email protected]



Hall of Mirrors Arcade by: Alexander Griffin from: Gaithersburg, MD

It is our pleasure to announce our dream project: the “Hall of Mirrors Arcade.” Our arcade is a place of fun, spectacle and non-stop entertainment for participants of all ages. These three art pieces are larger-than-life representations of popular parlor games. We are thrilled to announce our location at 10:30 at the base of The Man, inside the Midway!! This larger-than-life arcade will be a beautiful and entertaining gathering place for participants of all age. Our games are re-imagined representations of popular games and machines -- each with a twist -- which invites people to play whilst enjoying interaction with others. Our arcade games will be designed and painted by enthusiasts from the Washington D.C. and Baltimore Burner communities. Artwork will decorate the surfaces in a stunning display of themes and color. By using both conventional and ultraviolet lighting, the arcade will be playable daytime and nighttime; a visual spectacle for the senses! Arcade games are interactive art!! PINBALL Our pinball table is a unique design based on modern pinball machines but with one major twist: It is so large that it invites many people to play it cooperatively! Single ball play will encourage people to trade positions and take turns so that many people can play it per hour. By “single ball play” we mean the machine will reset its score each time a ball is launched, so the goal is to keep the ball in play and score as many points as possible while it is still your turn. Once the ball leaves the play field, the turn is over and others are encouraged to step up and participate!


The play field will be generously populated with many standard pinball elements: score lanes, bumpers, catch pockets, holes, spinners and drop targets. Each one will have bright LED lights to make the whole table interact and flash, just like the original machines. Specialty lighting at night using ultraviolet LED strips will add an extra dimension to the gameplay; the table elements will be painted with flourescent paint making this table a gorgeous artistic spectacle. PACHINKO “5…4…3…2…1…Go!” …and the team of seven people (who met each other just a few minutes before) scoop up handfuls of balls and race up the steps of Pachinko. They drop them down into the maze of pins, hoping a few will get to a scoring target. As one person runs out, they race down the other and someone else is right behind them with another armload. In another 15 seconds they’ll know whether or not they beat the last team’s score... Pachinko parlors have been popular across Japan for almost 80 years. Several thousand machines have been exported to other countries, so many people visiting the Hall of Mirrors Arcade would have seen, played, or perhaps even owned one of these machines. The maze and ball elements of Pachinko seem rather simple; but the dancing interaction of the balls will mesmerize people for hours and hours. The idea of our Pachinko Game is to have a reservoir of balls at the bottom of the machine. People will gather one, two, or an armload of balls and carry them up the stairs to the balcony positioned just behind the play field. Atop the balcony they will drop the balls into slots in the top of the machine. The balls bounce and careen through the maze of hundreds of pins and obstacles, with some of them landing in “score pockets”. When this happens, lights will flash and bells will ring -- just like the original Pachinko machines! A team of players has just 180 seconds (counted down on the machine’s 3-digit display) to get as high a score as they can. Visual cues from the lights and sound cues from the bell will indicate the start and end of every round. When a round finishes, the score is flashed for 20 to 30 seconds. Afterwards both the score and timer reset for a new round. All teams are spontaneously formed by whoever happens to be around Giant Pachinko when a round starts or is in progress. People can jump in at any time as space allows, or drop out if they get tired from climbing up and down the stairs. Everyone works together! Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 61

FOOSBALL REIMAGINED “Let’s play Foosball!” We wanted to build this life-sized Foosball “table” so visitors to the Arcade can make pick-up teams for a fast paced game of Foosball. But instead of having people outside the table manipulating levers, we want the people to “BE” the players... instead of soccer players on bars; we have people play atop 360 degree swivel seats! The ball is an actual soccer ball, and the arena’s goal areas and seats are indicated with Red or Blue theme elements both with paint and LED lights. We believe as few as six people can effectively play Foosball Reimagined, and a game with all twelve seats occupied is very exciting to watch. A giant flip-card style scoreboard will stand six feet tall above the playfield. LED light strips integrated into the arena’s rim will illuminate the whole play field so that nighttime games can be played as easily as daytime. The arena walls are about 36 inches tall, and goal areas are mostly open so it should be easy for participants to enter or exit at any time. The seat centers are 48 inches apart, which should be optimal for game play and far enough apart to keep people from kicking each others’ shins. The beautiful turn-of-the-century Victorian-era carnival styling fits perfectly with the overall (coordinated) theme of the Hall of Mirrors Arcade. Aesthetically pleasing LED lighting illuminates the playfield inside and outside for nighttime gameplay. MARBLE LABYRINTH You remember those little tabletop games you used to have, the one where a marble was on a table that you tilted back-and-forth with two knobs? You had to get the marble through the maze without falling in to any holes along the way. Well, we’re making a giant 6 foot by 6 foot GIANT marble labyrinth, with a twist! It is so big that the controls are too far apart for one person to manage. So two people must work together to solve the maze! But don’t worry; we didn’t put in any holes to trip into. Instead, you will need to work together to move the marble to achieve goal positions scattered across the table! Our labyrinth is patterned after Black Rock City itself, and its maze of roads and amazing camps. Some key elements of the City will be evident like Center Camp, and The Man himself. Previous large-scale art projects from the DC Burner community will be featured in miniature -- do you remember what year each piece was on the Playa? Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 62

As we take on and solve each challenge, Marble Labyrinth becomes a more amazing art piece for Hall of Mirrors Arcade, possibly the most intriguing of the games!

artist Alexander Griffin a.k.a. “Wolf” has been attending Burning Man and several regional events since 2009, and is an active participant of the Washington DC Burner Community. Notable art participation at past Burns includes: Polygonia (2010) DC CORE (2013) Pyramid of Possibilities (2014) Hall of Mirrors Arcade (2015) Wolf thrives on dreaming up interactive art projects for burns. He plans to make a continuing series of delightful art pieces, and wants to help others in the Burner community realize their dreams by sharing knowledge of electronics, LEDs, carpentry, power tools and artistic design. Wolf has a degree in Electrical Engineering and is an accomplished woodworker. He has been designing, building and playing musical instruments for several years. His other hobbies include: rock climbing, scuba diving, cave diving, light aircraft flying, travel & outdoors, fire dancing (mostly Poi), DJ’ing, and of course arcade games.

contact http://www.hallofmirrorsarcade.com/index.html


Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow by: SouthBay HardCORE from: Mountain View, CA

project Silicon Valley has long been heralded as the epicenter of technological innovation. They are the creators of the Internet, the keepers of the Google search, the denizens of Twitter. And because of them, no longer do questions go unanswered. Whenever someone wants to know who that guy was in that movie, or how that magic trick was really done, the answer is a few keystrokes away. That air of mystery has vanished from the world, replaced with the oversaturation of easily accessible information. The South Bay Burners seek to restore that magic and mystery with Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow. A top hat, long forgotten by the desert, provides refuge for those clever enough to unlock its secrets. The piece is a large, black, upside-down magician’s top hat, with a large pair of rabbit ears coming out of the top. Participants will be able to sit in the ears, and they will be free to rotate.


There will be a secret entrance that allows participants to climb inside and “see how the illusion is performed”. A small performance space inside allows participants to perform their own illusions. On the underside of the ceiling will be the prompt “Write Down Your Most Magical Memory”. Our hope is to have the interior filled with the wonder and mystery of Burners from all over the world. As participants continue to climb up the central ladder, they continue to the roof deck, which at 20 feet provides and scenic view of the open playa. We believe this would be an excellent place to gather for the Billion Bunny March.

artists The South Bay HardCORE group was born out of the fires of the Circle of Regional Effigies, and has continued to bring art inspired by Silicon Valley to Black Rock City.

contact https://www.facebook.com/SBBHareToday



HYBYCOZO Deep Thought by: HYBYCOZO from: San Francisco, CA

project A laser-cut geometric wonderland, interactive light installation, and a sanctuary for contemplating life, the universe, and everything. “There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.” – Douglas Adams I guess we must have discovered it! Because for this year’s HYBYCOZO we are building something even more bizarre and sublime. Deep Thought, after the supercomputer from Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy, the centerpiece of this year’s construction zone, will take the form of a triambic icosahedron. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 66

A what? A shape made of 60 gold triangular panels, standing at 14 ft tall which will cast colorful light and shadow far and wide onto the playa. A small portal allows you to enter its interior, a place for contemplation about life, the universe and everything, is where you will find yourself completely immersed in an interwoven patterns of geometry and light. The installation will also have interactive spaceship control panel to play with the lighting across all 5 sculptures and more surprises to be discovered. On the outside, forming an arc around Deep Thought, the existing 3 HYBYCOZOs + 1 new sculpture in the shape of a rhombic dodecahedron will be placed to create a grounds for contemplation about life, the universe and everything.

artists Yelena Filipchuk is an environmental scientist by trade and spent years studying natural patterns and biomimicry. Serge Beaulieu is an award-winning industrial designer, artist, and long time festival goer. This collaboration unites their shared love of physics, fractals, the cosmos, and advanced manufacturing and fabrication.

contact http://www.hybycozo.com [email protected]



Illumacanth by: Rebecca Anders from: Oakland, CA

project Illumacanth, a freestanding sculptural installation of an enormous deep-see fish, erupts from beneath the earth’s surface, pulsing with light and fire. Richly textured scales and fins surround a glowing interior, enticing you into its massive jaws. Illumacanth represents a wish: that a species threatened by extinction in our rapidly changing climates could suddenly adapt. Like a fish bursting from the sea into the dessert, one might survive by determination to change. The fish jaws and head are all that is visible. It’s 25 feet long and 18 feet high, shaped like an oval dome with its giant mouth as an entrance. The outside is deep purple spiky steel with flame effects at its crown. The inside is a glowing fabric environment. The Illumacanth makes light, fire, shade, and an unforgettable experience. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 68

artist Rebecca Anders is the Lead Artist of the piece. She is working with a talented and very experienced volunteer crew of builders who collectively have created some of the most amazing and beloved large art projects at Black Rock City for the Burning Man event. Rebecca is an Oakland, Californiabased thingmaker who focuses on the strange, ironic aspects of human society within the global biome. Her works are metal and mixed media sculpture, ranging from hand-held to forty feet tall. She has worked extensively with community-based organizations such as the Flaming Lotus Girls and the Flux Foundation, as a designer, organizer, and construction lead. A Burner since 1997, Anders has contributed to 16 installations and art cars at Burning Man.

contact www.illumacanth.com [email protected] Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 69


The Infinity Tree by: Tobias Power, WeWantToLearn.net from: London, England

project Scorched, dry, barren, the desert wilderness sits silent, still, soundless, lifeless. Only the pale whispers of the delicate desert fauna can be heard. Whispering, softly a whisper becomes a murmur, gently a murmur becomes a sound before the faintest of echoes can be heard between; it begins. At first a drop, motionless. Weeks pass, slowly, a drop becomes a trickle, trickling, creeping, a journey begins, weaving, the trickle meanders. With time it grows, a small stream flows, filling the cracks of the playa. A sapling emerges, twisting and winding it grows high above the ground, encircling itself, entwining itself. A figure of our memories, a myriad of our existence, its infinitude transcends time and like the stream to the tree we breathe life into the playa. A rest for our minds, a shelter for our bodies, a place not only to remember, a place to never forget. The Infinity Tree is symbol of what can never be lost, what will always be found, and what makes us who we are. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 70

Born from a study into the twists and turns of all things helical in the natural world a series of spiraling, helical transitions are connected together with the assistance of complex numbers, theses complex algorithms personify the intelligent intricacies of nature’s creations and remind us of the beauty it can possess, something we often forget. Bursting from the cracks in the playa a playful structure rises from the ground at two ends sloping gently upwards, entwining. Foot and hand holds form, a path appears, visitors begin to climb towards a small platform above the ground and where they stop to rest. Branching out towards the East and West the journey continues, lifting further upwards, gazing out across the playa and blooming into a beautiful grid of wooden diamonds. A figure of our memories, a myriad of our existence, its infinitude transcends time breathing life into the playa.

Many of us have fond memories of our time as children, journeying through fields, venturing into forests exploring the wilderness, escaping reality, climbing to the tops of the trees and enjoying the wild. The infinity tree allows us to once more experience these exciting escapes and peaceful tranquilities that may have been forgotten. CLIMB It offers out its branches for all to climb, winding, spiraling, twisting, turning, weaving, looping, no directions, no limits, only the sky where up high all can breathe the air and gaze upon the land. Beams become trunks, bolts become knots and shades become leaves once more as we climb higher and higher. All individual joints have been designed with the human touch in mind, each acting a solid and tactile hand or foothold to make climbing pleasurable and safe. Hang, dangle, balance, crawl,


the Infinity Tree is only limited by the imagination of the climber. Loiter in the lower coves, or journey to the very top, a playful fun and joyous interaction between nature and man. REST For those more weary travelers too tired to climb, a path rises from the roots, steady under foot, it grows upwards to the summit allowing them to share in its delights. Sit atop a branch and watch the world go by. Enjoy the sanctity and peace, resting in the fauna or talk happily with friends and absorb the joys of one another’s company once more the infinity tree welcomes all. SHELTER Its petals cast shades across the branches and to the ground, a sanctuary from the sun for those at its feet and refuge for those atop its branches. The journey across the playa can be long and hard and desert heat unforgiving, like a mirage the infinity tree springs from the playa as a place of shelter for those traversing the desert. MOONLIGHT By night fall its color weep unto the playa, a spectacle of light for all to see, a display of warmth, awe and

attraction. A guide post for those lost in the dark, and a place to enjoy with song and laughter, its bolts Glimmer in the moon and colorful diamonds fill the sky.

artists WeWantToLearn.net are a postgraduate design studio from the University of Westminster in London known for it’s study of parametric systems, creative flair and rigorous physical and material testing in a search for new architectures. An emphasis is also given to ideas of self-reliance, self-building and entrepreneurship. A student lead project, the natural result of hours of research, study and exploration into the worlds of design, self-reliance and inhabitation, with the aim to create a safe piece of Art for the Playa that embodies the principals of the festival whilst inspiring joy to the people of Burning man.

contact https://wewanttolearn.wordpress. com/2015/01/29/th-infinity-tree http://issuu.com/tobiaspower/docs/ the_infinity_tree_tobias_power_ wewa [email protected]


Inflection by: Trevor Schrock, Tautology from: Shoreline, WA

project Inflection is a suspension bridge over a light garden. It goes nowhere, but the goal is the journey, not the destination. It is a hanging challenge with a literal twist; a problem which exists only to be overcome. The traveler will experience an easy ramp, a gentle glide onto the bridge, followed by wicked curves and a pointlessly difficult half-twist in the middle. The translation across the twist signals a transformation in the challenge, the point at which the journey’s end is in sight. Lights adorn the bridge, animating in color around its curves, and below, a serene garden of light and sculpture, allowing for quiet reflection. The bridge structure itself is fully suspended from tall 6x6 masts, which loom high above. The mouths of the bridge are anchored tightly to the ground. The bridge itself, composed of suspended planks of wood (2x4), extends from wide mouths through a wicked S-curve. In the center of the bridge the flat planks perform a half-twist, Mobius-style, on which the traveler must negotiate an edge of the bridgework, using the hanging ropes and hands of her fellows for stability. On crossing the twist, the traveler will find herself truly on the other side of the bridge, where she will complete her journey through the other symmetrical side. The wind may wreak some havoc with the traveler on her journey across as well. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 73

We go from place to place, often for the sole purpose of getting there. We work, expend energy and intellect, just to get where we’re going. Often we wind up not far from where we were, but transformed by the journey rather than the destination. It was the work that mattered, and the experience on the way. We have experienced dark times, and only work and the desire to surpass that darkness can get us through it. The journey on the bridge starts easily, and gets more crowded and convoluted across the path. The transformative moment signals the inflection point of change; traversing the unsettling twist puts one truly on the other side of the journey. At the end, we can view the journey as an accomplishment on its own. It’s a solo endeavor, made easier with the help of others on the same path, and done in the midst of those who have made the same journey, and those who may be willing to take it on.

On the way, we fight the elements as well. The bridge, totally suspended save for its endpoints, will move with the exertions of others, and with the wind and elements. It is a small struggle with rewards, pushing ourselves to achieve the goal and overcome the obstacles to come out the other side. Work must be done. Rewards are reaped with the accomplishment of investment.

artists Tautology is a collection of burners, some new, some seasoned. Some of us met through other camps in previous years, and some have joined via a shared interest in mathematics, language, logic, and the mind.

contact http://spacemeat.net/inflection [email protected]



Kinetic Forest by: David Boyer from: Reno, NV

project Kinetic Forest is a wind sculpture consisting of six sizable horizontally oriented paddle wheels mounted on tall poles. The paddle wheels come in three sizes (two large, two medium, two small). Participants walk through the “forest” and experience a canopy of motion. The artist has created a very large forest-like canopy of motion overhead. That canopy overhead combined with a floor of moving shadows will magnify those visual experiences and provide the participants with a relaxing, yet stimulating place to hang out. Kinetic Forest is designed to make the wind at Burning Man a positive experience Kinetic Forest’s six horizontally oriented paddle wheels mounted on tall poles come in three sizes, and the poles come in three heights, with the smallest paddlewheels being mounted on the tallest poles and the largest paddle wheels being mounted on the shortest poles. This height and size arrangement takes advantage of an old Hollywood move trick called “forced perspective” and gives the illusion that a great deal of height separation exists between the paddle wheels. It is important to note that all three sizes of paddle wheels are massive in scale. The paddle wheels are constructed with steel, copper, and stainless steel. Inside the center of each paddle wheel hub are two sealed ball bearing cassettes. Though the construction is robust, the weight is light. These paddle wheels will turn in winds that are barely perceptible.


The installation is interactive in two ways. First is how visitors will relate to the sculpture. The artist found that burners attending the event occasionally need a place to relax and contemplate. With all the gentle overhead motion this sculpture will have, visitors will be drawn into the space under it where they will experience the calming effects of the kaleidoscopic dance of light and shadow. Additionally, the sculpture will be a dynamic curiosity to visitors, for it is a changeling, altering its moods as it interacts with the force of the wind. This variability in its motion will serve to keep the experience fresh, as the sculpture will never look the same way twice

artist David is a Northern Nevada Artist that makes Kinetic Wind Sculptures. This has been his fulltime job since 2003 (he mainly does large public art projects). David has been attending Burning Man since 1995 and bringing his art to the playa consistently since 2007. In 2014 David brought the kinetic sculpture “Getting Your Bearings” to the event .




King of Fun by: Chris Topp, Camp Fortuna from: Portland, OR

project The King of Fun guides his subjects through their playa journey by reading their heart and dispensing words of wisdom and guidance. Pulse sensor with interactive LED lights driven by your pulse with the gift of a quest at the end of the process. Many people come to the burn looking to explore themselves. This is a daunting and challenging task. Breaking out of your default world conventions can be difficult but is a necessary first step in opening to the larger world. Sometimes people need a slight nudge to get the process started. The King of Fun puts a playful spin on this nudge by creating a personalized experience where the person interacting with the King sees their pulse light up the machine and then receives a quest to send them on their way. The King of Fun is meant to be an individual interactive experience tailored to the specific user. Using a pulse sensor the person currently interacting with the piece places their hand on the sensor. While reading their pulse the machine lights up around the King inside in rhythm with their pulse making the experience unique to the participant. While reading the pulse the King begins to shake his instrument of fun, a Martini shaker, while he contemplates their fortune. After 30 seconds the King speaks his words of wisdom and the participant is presented with a quest dispensed from lower in the machine that will challenge them to perform a specific task or quest that will send them on their playa journey. We believe that while giving a fortune would tell them WHAT will happen, sending them


on a quest sends them somewhere to MAKE something happen. They become participants in the Black Rock City experience rather than spectators. When no one is interacting with the King he will shout random phrases every few minutes to draw people to his machine.

artists Camp Fortuna is a group of friends from San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest who enjoy programming electronics and building things. Enjoyed our first contribution to the Souk Tents last year with Ye Olde Gift Shoppe and looking to continue providing interactive exhibits.


Krewe of the Dusty Playa by: John Valentino from: Mandeville, LA

project On the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the founding of Burners Without Borders, the Krewe of the Dusty Playa presents a Mardi Gras-style float that offers a humorous critique of our two homes, New Orleans and Black Rock City. The symbols of the gentrification of NOLA neighborhoods that have survived both time and storm will be juxtaposed with the plug and play camps that are at the center of so much discussion in the Burner community. A large, colorful, papier-mâché, jester’s head created in the style of the Krewe of Rex will adorn the prow of a Mardi Gras float. The structure will be like a griffin, but instead of the head of an eagle and the body of a lion, the float will have the head of a jester and a body of a travel trailer. Made using traditional New Orleans papier-mâché float construction, the float will be constructed using many of the same techniques, materials and by the same artists that carry on the tradition of Mardi Gras as members of New Orlean’s Krewe du Vieux. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 79

Krewe of the Dusty Playa will create a Mardi Gras float in the style and scale of the floats created for Krewe du Vieux parades. Since 1987 KdV has created floats challenging politicians, social injustice, puritanical mores, and local folkways. We will mirror this culture at Burning Man 2015. New Orleans and Carnival are virtually synonymous. Mardi Gras is not just a celebration that lasts a day. It’s an integral part of our culture. The Krewe du Vieux is unique among all Mardi Gras parades in the city because it alone carries on the old traditions of Carnival celebrations, using decorated, hand or mule-drawn floats with satirical themes, accompanied by costumed revelers dancing in the streets to the sounds of jazzy street musicians. Deciding a theme for each year’s parade is a process that usually takes three months. The 17 captains of each sub-krewe discuss the merits themes that take into account national and local politics as well as current events and local culture. This project at Burning Man 2015

will be an extension of this mission. Krewe of the Dusty Playa will create a Mardi Gras style float that offers a humorous critique of our two cities, New Orleans and Black Rock City. A large, colorful, papier-mâché, jester’s head will adorn the prow of the float. It will have the head of a Mardi Gras jester and a body of a travel trailer like those that so many Burners dwell in while in Black Rock City. The piece will seek to comment on the issue that faces both of our cities. The symbols of the gentrification of New Orleans neighborhoods that have survived both time and storm will be juxtaposed with the plug and play camps that have been the center of so much discussion in the Burner community. Built with wheels and pulled by participants, the installation will be paraded around the playa. Viewers can climb on the float, enter the trailer, and become parade riders. Mardi Gras parades are known for their “throws”, gifts, are thrown to adoring crowds. We will encourage gifting in the spirit of both New Orleans and BRC. During our New Orleans parades the Krewe du Vieux discourages its members


from throwing plastic beads. We prefer to create and gift handmade throws that are more meaningful and hearken back to the more traditional throws created and gifted by 19th and early 20th century krewes. As part of the NOLA Burners 2014 Souk we created over 1000 small handmade ceramic medallions to gift. We will do the same for our 2015 project

The Krewe du Vieux was founded in New Orleans in 1986 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and traditional concept of a Mardi Gras parade as a venue for individual creative expression and satirical comment. We believe in exposing the world to the true nature of Mardi Gras—and in exposing ourselves to the world.

artists

John Valentino was the Project lead for the NOLA CORE the last two years.

John Valentino and members of New Orlean’s Krewe du Vieux

contact [email protected] http://www.kreweduvieux.org/


Laffing Sal

by: Dana Albany, Haideen Anderson, Flash Hopkins, Tom Kennedy from: San Francisco, CA

project Laffing Sal is a replica of an iconic automated character that was built during the 1920s. Her primary role was to attract carnival and amusement park patrons to funhouses and dark rides throughout the United States. She is accompanied by a raucous and rowdy laugh and is twice as large as the original.

Contact [email protected]



Life Cube Project by: Scott “Skeeter” Cohen, Life Cube Project from: Dobbs Ferry, NY

project The Life Cube is an engaging, interactive, art-driven environment for the expression of goals, dreams, wishes, and aspirations. Citizens of BRC inscribe their thoughts on message-walls and on wish-stick postcards deposited into the Cube. In the spectacular finale, the Cube and all the wishes are burned and sent out together into the universe. The Life Cube features a 24’ high architectural design with stairs, pillars, mirrors, posts, and high places inviting Playa visitors to walk through, climb, hang-out, touch and interact. The community can express themselves on write-boards, contribute to the tapestry wall, and watch painters creating collaborative murals all week long. At night the cube takes on new life with spectacular lighting that enhances the drama: wall-washers, spots, strobes, lasers, and psychedelic lights add brilliant color that changes interior rooms and spaces, sending rainbows across the dark Playa landscape and illuminating the art and people around the Cube. A community art installation which provides an engaging and interactive place for the shared expression of ambitions, dreams, goals, and wishes. The project encourages participants to look at their past, engage in the present, and set


goals for the future. It is based on the artist’s belief that if you write down what you want to accomplish in life, the chances of attaining it are much, much higher! The Life Cube plans to go BIG in 2015 with a larger Cube than ever before, creating an engaging, art-driven environment for the citizens of BRC to express their personal visions, goals, ambitions, and dreams. Inside an open, brilliantly illuminated 50-foot frame will be a colorful, collaborative 24-foot Cube with stairs and ladders throughout, which Playa-goers can climb, walk through, and engage with. Visitors are encouraged to consider the future (unlike the Temple, which focuses on the past, and the Man, which is definitely in the present), and write their goals and wishes on the Cube’s write-walls and on pre-printed ‘wishstick’ postcards; the wish-sticks can then be deposited in designated slots cut into the Cube’s sides. The Cube features an open, multi-level architectural design that invites artists, children, and all Playa visitors to walk through, climb, hang out, touch, and adorn its various surfaces, which include ever-changing murals, drawings, and paintings contributed by the community. One entire side of the interior 24foot Cube is a Tapestry Wall comprised over 500 painted panels created by Burners around the world. In conjunction with this year’s Burning Man theme, we’ll incorporate many large mirrored surfaces (think funhouse!), which enhance interactivity, entice entry and self-examination, and establish a sense of wonder and play. The Cube’s walls will change every hour of every day with new drawings, colors, and thoughts inscribed by one participant and responded to by the next. Its murals will be painted LIVE in an ongoing, visible, and overlapping effort by talented BRC artists over the course of the exhibit. The installation ends Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 84

in a dramatically spectacular fire ceremony, enabling many thousands to celebrate the final burn together in a reflective and contemplative moment for the entire community of Black Rock City.

Artist The Life Cube Project has been responsible for successfully putting up 4 interactive community art installations (3 in Burning Man and 1 in Las Vegas) between 2011 and 2014. Artist Scott Cohen, the creator of the Life Cube, has also participated in outreach programs involving schools, LGBT centers, churches, community centers, and local businesses for the Life Cube.

contact http://www.lifecubeproject.com [email protected] www.facebook.com/thelifecube


Lightstriker Trial of Strength by: Philip DePoala from: Saugerties, NY

project The philosophical goals of the Light Striker Trial of Strength piece are to create a luminous environment where play can be experienced in its most immediate nature. The carnival is a place where one can win the prize, get lost in the funhouse, have a private ride with a lover, or lose oneself to the sea of laughter and participatory confusion. The act itself is physical and sexual, which brings out the primal nature of the human body. The energy is transferred from the body into the Striker, resulting in a Trial of Strength. This is not just physical strength, but metaphysical and spiritual as well. These themes are reinforced through communal aspect to this “game” environment. Everyone shares in the initial eruptive energy as well as the anticipation and, ultimately, triumph or disappointment. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 86

The Light Strikers will stand at an imposing but approachable 10 feet tall and the primary form will be based on the peacock plume. The secondary form will be character based with a large clown like figure. Lighting will be embedded into the form on hierarchical levels activated through the main track of the striker. The ball struck by the force of the lever will trigger switches to these lights, so that if the ball is struck to the top of the Light Striker then all the lighting on the form will be activated. It is a universally fun game, and is profound in its simplicity. For a series of moments, all attention is on the person wielding the hammer, and the blow that lands causes an eruption of energy, which emanates upwards and outwards. The two Light Strikers will create a shared space of luminosity and playfulness on the playa which allows for a multifaceted experience where people can take turns showcasing and taking part in trials of strength. The experience would invoke the primal and carnal through the act of the hammer blow, which is emergent, physical, and sexual. It would also invoke the transcendental through ascension and illumination of the space. There is a deep anticipatory aspect to the Light Striker, and also a shared sense of triumph or defeat through the trial. The intent is that this would create a harmonizing space where and people can share these experiences and forge new friendships. Philip believes The Carnival of Mirrors theme invokes a sense of celebration, liberation, and deep reflection. The Light Striker Trial of Strength will create an “arena” for these themes to play out in a fun and luminous environment.

contact [email protected] Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 87


Lil Al

by: Brennan Steele & NOLA BRC from: New Orleans, LA

project A 60’ long roaring wooden alligator effigy coiled up into a 24’ diameter circle. In the spirit of Mardi Gras, the King of Carnival will dominate the landscape and invite those daring enough to climb, befriend, and celebrate with him. This project is a symbol of the New Orleans burners coming together as a community. It’s a group effort that raises awareness of our love for each other, Mardi Gras, and Burning Man. The first rendition of this art was created to represent our community at the T-Bois Blues Festival in Larose Louisiana about an hour south of New Orleans at a family owned alligator farm. This installation is the embodiment of how burning man can bring so many wonderful people together like family and encourage them to drive a giant lizard 2,000 miles across the country just to watch it burn among friends. It will look like a massive alligator wearing a crown coiled up ready to breathe fire into the sky. At night, an internal LED light array will make the gators insides Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 88


mysteriously glow and provide a ground lighting effect. When burned, the coiled structure will force smoke and flames through the body of the Alligator, and flowing out his gaping jaws. The coiled shape will allow participants to easily climb and walk up onto his back by walking up from the tail like a spiral ramp. The exposed inner underbelly will provide shelter from the sun and wind and also serve as a message space for those inclined to leave their mark. Climbing into the mouth will also be possible via simple ladders integrated into the inside of the front legs. In an effort to bring a part of our Carnival to the playa authentic reused Mardi Gras throws (beads) will drape from Lil Al’s teeth like scraps of meat. These throws will be available to participants as gifts if they are daring enough to climb into the Kings mouth. A small informational plaque will also be on display to provide some fun and inconvenient facts about Mardi Gras throws and their history

artist Brennan Steele was born on December 11th 1983 in Salt Lake City, UT. Hometown of Bend, OR. Attended University of Oregon for a BA Architecture and BFA Digital Arts. NOLA BRC board member. Builder NOLA CORE 2011 - Mama NOLA. Project Lead NOLA CORE 2012 - Bebe Brulee. Project Lead T-Bois Effigy 2013 - Big Al. Project Architect NOLA CORE 2013 - Alter of the Wetlands. Honorarium Artist 2014 – Big Al Project. 3D Designer at TurboSquid. com. Distiller at Atelier Vie Distillery.

contact [email protected] http://nolaburners.com/ Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 89


Loquacious and Lovely by: Sophia Kravitz from: Kingston, NY

project Sophi Kravitz has been creating interactive works since the completion of a series of animatronic puppets in 2004. Sophi is a formally trained electrical engineer whose first career was in Special FX for film and theater. It was then that she realized the great fun in creating works that can easily satisfy an audience or crowd of participants. Her work often contains electronics or code, but participants interact with her pieces as simple and beautiful playthings. Two majestic unicorns, Loquacious and Lovely, face each other inviting participants to sit upon them. Brought to life by the riders’ rocking motion and voices of passersby, the unicorns begin their conversation. From idle babble to intimate gossip, no topic is spared as the unicorns discuss it all. The simple magic of engaging people is expressed in the form of a talking unicorn at the Carnival! In true but delicious Carnival skepticism, this work poses the question: is the Unicorn even real or is it just a horse with a fake horn? (Hint: It is real and it talks!) The unicorns are all of these things: standalone sculptures to be admired, participant playthings, and embodiments of the wonders of the theater. The art is highly interactive- we hope that people who do not know each other will play and leave the piece laughing, as friends, with respect and love for Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 90

each other. As previous burning man participants, the conversations we’ve encountered have been highlights of being a citizen of Black Rock City. Loquacious and Lovely draw upon these encounters to conjure up familiar images for burners revisiting and stir the imagination of newcomers, encouraging them to seek out their own unicorns on the Playa. We chose the unicorn because they have long been recognized as a symbol of uniqueness and power. The unicorn takes in negativity, be it rejection, disapproval, internet trolls or bad vibes, and stores it all in the horn. At night, this negative energy will be turned into a glowing beacon of comfort. We have a strong commitment to the Principle, Radical Inclusion, to welcome the stranger, and to claim the outsider as the insider. We hope that participants will see the unicorns, and align with their power to include all who feel different. Lovely and Loquacious are two adult-sized colorful unicorns that resemble characters found on Carousels and Playgrounds. Specifically, their design is based on a piece of playground equipment called a “spring rider”. They are typically fiberglass animals in cartoon-like shapes, molded to fit younger children and kept upright by an embedded concrete block or above-ground metal or wooden plate which is fastened above ground. These Unicorns are slightly larger versions of spring riders that have the same cartoon-like characteristics. Our unicorns have oversized bright eyes,


big wide smiles and a cute horn to match their cute bodies. They are shaped to comfortably seat adults, yet mounted at 14” above the ground similar to playground equipment. They are surrounded by a 30’ diameter border of colorful flags, each equipped with a solar light or two at the base. The hardware and platform will be painted to emphasize a “jack in the box” effect, suggesting that Lovely and Loquacious popped right out of the playa. A few feet away, two boxes matching the color schemes and lighting of the unicorns will be mounted on carnival themed posts. These boxes house microphone stations through which participants lend their voices to Lovely and Loquacious.

artist Sophi Kravitz has been creating interactive works since the completion of a series of animatronic puppets in 2004. Sophi is a formally trained electrical engineer whose first career was in Special FX for film and theater. It was then that she realized the great fun in creating works that can easily satisfy an audience or crowd of participants. Her work often contains electronics or code, but participants interact with her pieces as simple and beautiful playthings.

contact http://mix-engineering.com/unicorns/ [email protected]


LOVE

by: Alexandr Milov from: Odessa, Ukraine

project LOVE is a sculpture by Alexander Milov. It demonstrates a conflict between a man and a woman as well as the outer and inner expression of human nature. The figures of the protagonists are made in the form of big metal cages, where their inner selves are captivated. Their inner selves are executed in the form of transparent children, who are holding out their hands through the grating. As it’s getting dark (night falls) the children chart to shine. This shining is a symbol of purity and sincerity that brings people together and gives a chance of making up when the dark time arrives. This creative project unites a group of independent artists who work in various spheres of contemporary art. Our main idea is a search of actual form of expression of essential human values, their realization in contemporary art and environment. The composition is two big metal cages which are the figures of a man and a woman. The couple is sitting with their backs towards each other. Their posture symbolizes conflict. The female figure with her hands around her knees takes the pose of a germ. This pose symbolizes defenselessness and feelings. The male figure, unlike the female’s, is relaxed and open. The hand, supporting the head, pays attention at thoughts of the character and symbolizes strength and consciousness. In spite of the conflict both figures are close with their backs, which helps them keep balance. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 93

Inside the both cages there are two kids, illuminating with their inner light of a child. These children facing each other are holding out their hands towards each other through the bars. The spectator is supposed to feel that the kids are to touch each other with their hands. When the night falls the kids start to illuminate. Their light symbolizes purity and sincerity that connects people with each other and gives a chance of making up when the darkness falls at night. At sunset the children’s figures start to illuminate. This light will let us see the cages surrounding them and the general composition on the whole. The light will be dynamic, which will have alternating interval that is surely to attract attention of all participants

of the festival. It’ll start to illuminate from the children’s hearts and go to their arms and legs up to the maximum lighting and finally flow to the fingertips of the children.

artist Alexander Milov (Mel) was born in Odessa,Ukraine. An artist and filmmaker since 1995. Starting as an animation artist and interior designer and moving onto becoming a sculptor and filmmaker. He participated in and won a variety of contemporary art competitions.

contact [email protected] www.takoe.ua


Love Tester by: Matthew Melnicki from: Berkeley, CA

project A sculpture of a spinal column with stylized vertebrae will be installed with a five-headed cobra on top. A kiosk at the bottom will allow participants to test their unenlightenment (lack of meditative state) by holding a biosensor grip which causes chakra-colored lights to darken. Burning Man is a sexualized environment where participants try to channel their intentions and extinguish their frustrations. “Love Tester” challenges participants to harness a meditative state amidst the sensory overload of our physical environment.It is said Kundalini, a snake, lies coiled at the base of the spine, close to the sexual organs. Traditions of Tantra claim that meditation can clear blockages at each “chakra”, thus permitting Kundalini to rise up the spine to the crown of the head. This process of Kundalini Awakening represents the union of Shiva and Shakti, or “The Realization of the Absolute”, an achievement of total consciousness. The proposed installation is inspired by the vintage arcade cabinet, “Love Tester”, where a grip is squeezed, causing a stack of rainbow light bulbs to rise, to a level supposedly indicating one’s aptitude as a lover. By keeping the name “Love Tester”, we are calling into question the sexual vs spiritual aspects of love which are often obscured by desire. In the spirit of Burner mischief, we’ve inverted the chakra colors. Thus, the “root chakra” of sexual desire will be at the top, with red beams coming from the cobra eyes. Rather than trying to raise the lights and achieve Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 95

enlightenment, participants will try to extinguish the lights, top-down, in an attempt to quell their desires and quiet their mind. The sculpture will be seventeen feet tall and eight feet wide, with a stylized spinal column with seven vertebrae stacked on top of one another. On top of the vertebrae will be a fiveheaded cobra, symbolizing Kundalini. At the base will be an octagonal facade representing a coiled serpent. The front wall of the octagonal base will serve as a kiosk for interactivity, housing a replica of the classic “Love Tester” wooden arcade cabinet. The metal hand-grip will be equipped with bio-sensors, however, which will be used (at night) to control the height of the rainbow column of lights along the vertebrae, via biofeedback based on a user’s meditative state. At night, each vertebra will be lit up, with the reverse pattern of rainbow colors that are typically used to represent the chakras (from top to bottom: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink/white). The eyes of the serpents at the top will have red spotlights coming from them. These lights will dim whenever a participant puts their hands on the grip in the kiosk; based on how relaxed a person is, the lights will progressively dim from the top towards the bottom.

artist MM brought “Spines” to BRC in 2013 & 2014: two vertebra-shaped bookcases containing hand-made books with unique titles on each book-spine, across four volumes of “remix poetry”. He also created “Marzipan Man” for Seacompression 2012 and was crew leader for Tom Woodall’s honorarium “Pins”. Proposed crew includes Tom Woodall (aesthetic design) & Paul Sahagun (construction lead). Paul is a welder, theater technician, former airborne ranger, & yogi in Reno, and was crew leader for “Spines” in 2014.

contact https://sites.google.com/site/mmelnicki/lovetester [email protected]



Lumiphonic Creature Choir by: Mark Bolotin, Synarcade Audio-Visuals from: New York, NY

project The Lumiphonic Creature Choir is a giant twelve-headed creature by Synarcade Audio-Visuals that people can directly play and interact with. By jumping onto different floor pads, Burning Man attendees can personally make each of the twelve audio-visual heads sing, beat-box or recite fragments of prose. Part digital, part sculptural, part mystical, the work is a strange futuristic oracle that comes alive at night… pronouncing strange destinies to decipher and unravel! Synarcade Audio-Visuals is interested in presenting a deeply interactive work that whilst being futuristic and showcasing the latest in cutting-edge technology is still startlingly human. The Lumiphonic Creature Choir literally showcases the human face and the human voice in all its strange wonder and allows the playa audience to become 21st century storytellers, remixing phrases and sentences from the Creatures into new narratives of their own. Create thyself. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 97

The philosophy behind the Lumiphonic Creature Choir installation is three-fold. Firstly, we believe that digital technology can help us explore and celebrate what it is to be human rather than just alienate and make us more mechanical. We are interested in presenting a work that whilst being futuristic and employing the latest in cutting-edge technology is still startlingly human – literally the Creature Choir showcases the human face and the human voice in all its strange wonder. Secondly, our focus is on making highly interactive art as we believe that there is no better means of social and creative empowerment than an audience actively engaging with a work. As a result, the Creature Choir is a deeply interactive installation. Any individual or group of people can move onto different colored pads in front of the twelve-headed sculpture to make it sing or speak. In effect, the playa audience become the composers, creating new unusual melodies or beats from the voices and beat-boxing samples of the Creatures. They can also become 21st century storytellers remixing phrases from the Creatures into new narratives of their own. Thirdly, we believe in creating art that serves as a connection between different cultures and human experiences. The Lumiphonic Creature Choir is a truly surreal global choir of different faces, of different races, of different voices that the audience can play with in real-time. It is a way of exploring human harmony through musical harmony.

artist Synarcade Audio-Visuals is a cutting-edge multimedia organisation founded and led by Mark Bolotin. Synarcade Audio-Visuals finds innovative ways to fuse film, music, theatre and interactive technology together to create startling new installations and immersive work. Synarcade has created award-winning work for the Sydney Opera House, Museum Of Modern Art Zagreb (Croatia), New York Hall of Science Suubi Centre (Uganda) and many other venues across the world.

contact http://www.synarcade.com.au/lumiphonic.html [email protected]



Mars Molecule Mario Martinez (Mars-1) San Francisco, CA

project These pieces playfully straddle in-between the mental and material realms resembling ancient artifacts of an advanced civilization with origins not necessarily earthly or human for that matter. There is sacred geometry existing throughout the structures, with surface patterning that could double as a symbolic language or hieroglyphs. It’s meant to invoke in the observer a sense of our inner connectedness with a consciousness that seems to exist throughout the universe. The physical representation is of a clue, puzzle or mystery that points to the infinite story that started before us, and will continue long after us – like peeking through the keyhole into another place, time, or dimension, as if a portal had opened and this is what fell out. There are three large-scale bronze sculptures, each standing between 8-10ft. The sculptures will be fabricated using ancient lost wax technique as well as employing 3-D printing technology. Two sculptures will be reminiscent of molecules and the third a Torus. These pieces playfully straddle in-between the mental and material realms resembling ancient artifacts of an advanced civilization with origins not necessarily earthly or human for that matter. There is sacred geometry existing throughout the structures, with surface patterning that could double as a symbolic language or hieroglyphs.


It’s meant to invoke in the observer a sense of our inner connectedness with a consciousness that seems to exist throughout the universe. The physical representation is of a clue, puzzle or mystery that points to the infinite story that started before us, and will continue long after us - like peeking through the keyhole into another place, time, or dimension, as if a portal had opened and this is what fell out. All three sculptures are bronze and have a very tactile, faceted surface that invites observers to venture a closer inspection. A mirror like exterior provides a distorted reflection. Climbing and exploring the large pieces is encouraged. The ring of lighting around the bottom under the sculptures will have sensors that activate a color shifting/sequence as people approach and get closer to the art sculptors.

artist San Francisco-based artist Mario Martinez (aka Mars-1) concepts are informed by cosmology, ufology, altered states of consciousness, his psyche and its relationship to space. Mars-1’s distinctly individual aesthetic is not easily compared to the vision of his contemporaries or artists from past movements. His constantly evolving process continues to expand with each new series of work, seemingly beyond the reaches of even his own awareness. Mario was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1977. Exhibitions of his work have been hosted at venues in San Francisco, New York, Detroit, Toronto, Lisbon, Italy, and Brazil. He participated in Robots: An Evolution of a Cultural Icon(2008)at the San Jose Museum of Art.

contact [email protected] http://mars-1.com/ABOUT Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 100


Mazu Goddess of the Empty Sea The Department of Public Arts New Xishi City, Taiwan

project People who may have never stepped into an Asian temple, people who have never heard of Mazu can have an interactive and in-depth insight into Asian culture. The cultural exchange will influence us all, when the Asian ambassadors go into Black Rock City and find the wealth of adventure available everywhere. We are creating a converging culture, one that blends the arts of East and West, so that we can better understand our fellow human beings. No matter how far away the land of our birth, we are making common ground here. We wish to make a place that we are accepted no matter what our language and lifestyle. We are learning to grow together through the process of building Mazu’s Temple. We seek enlightenment through opening our mind to well-loved traditions whether it is walking with Mazu or entering the gates of Burning Man. In the great mixture of all people that we call Earth, we carry these timehonored traditions and find home within them. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nobel prizewinning Author said it well “Own only what you can always carry with Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 101

you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag”. You walk through the dust and heat of day, beyond the heart of the city, and from the haze before you emerges a shape that is both plant and place, flower and temple, both open and contained. No fence keeps you out, but one hundred and eight lanterns mark out the space, like a fairy ring in the forest, like the hundred and eight beads of the Buddhist rosary. hrough the archway you walk. Up the long, low steps, the muffled sound of your tread meets the familiar clunk of wood; the music of a seaside pier rises from the dust, invoking the sense of some long lost place where water once stretched out to kiss the horizon. Below, the improbable sounds of water and the briefest hints of ocean blue tickle the imagination. From above, eight dragons of fire and steel peer down, watching you, or look out into the distance, waiting. And again, the thing that is neither quite plant nor place seems to hover at the edge of defining, the green rooftop like a lily pad, the great lotus rising up out of the dried mud and the memory of water, each petal big enough to sleep in, open out from this improbable tree, this pillar of memories. Inside, past and present blend and dance together. Old rites and new technologies bring fresh form to venerable, ancient practices. There is hidden circuitry here: casting the moon blocks reveals the will of the gods in a panoply of color and light. The breath of dragons explodes outward in answer to prayer. The goddess herself has been known to appear, if the moment is right. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 102

The bamboo tokens, holding luck or misfortune, lead seekers both to a message and a map. New poems, merging ancient Chinese mysticism and the passionate exhortations of the desert dwelling Sufi’s, invite contemplation. Each poem also holds directions to a place within the bounds of Black Rock City, inviting exploration and discovery, and perhaps the answers you seek. Can you unravel the meaning in your poem? Do you dare follow its instructions, setting out into Black Rock City to visit the coordinates it gives? What might Mazu plan for you?

artists Department of Public Arts Megacrew . We are a newly formed collective, bringing together decades of shared experience building big art and city infrastructure at Burning Man. Our core crew has worked on many of the biggest art projects on playa, including Crude Awakening, the Temple of Transition, the Fire of Fires Temple, Anubis, The Pier I & II, Alien Siege Machine, and Megatropolis. We also have DPW and Resto veterans with us, bringing a solid understanding of how big art fits with BRC infrastructure and how to Leave No Trace.

contact www.mazugoddessoftheemptysea.com www.departmentofpublicart.com



Mechateuthis Barry Crawford, Crawford Metalworks Elko, NV

project Mechateuthis is a mechanical giant squid writhing on the ocean floor. It’s many mechanical effects including arm and tentacle movement, eye movements, beak snapping, fin waving, and more, are controlled and powered by hand cranks to be turned by Burning Man participants. The piece is meant to show the strangeness and beauty of the natural world together with the fascinating mechanisms crafted by man. It will be about 7 feet tall and span an approximately 20 foot circle. Most functions of Mechateuthis will be powered by a series of 8 hand cranks which will be mounted on posts around the perimeter of the sculpture.. Each crank will cause different movements in the sculpture. One crank would drive the main movement rods of a few of the arms, while another crank would drive a secondary side to side motion of every other arm, and a third crank would drive pupil, mouth, and mantle movements, etc. Mechateuthis is designed to be extremely interactive. Without participants driving it, the piece is just a stationary sculpture. What makes it come alive is the efforts of people who put their energy into it. The more people participating at once, the better the experience will be. When one person cranks, it moves some, and by turning each crank, a person can see what each one does. Add a Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 104

second person, and they can start to see how their combined motion changes the result. When we have 8 people involved, the entire sculpture becomes a fully animated monster of the deep, with a visual effect much more interesting than what any one participant would have produced alone. In addition, no one person controls how the squid will behave, it moves to the combined effect of the whims of each individual person. To get the most out of Mechateuthis, it is an experience that must be shared with others, and contributed to by each person.

artist Barry grew up in rural Northeastern Oregon, and from an early age took a strong interest in all things mechanical. He wanted to be a robot when he grew up. He spent most of his childhood making machines out of Legos, and taking apart machines other people made to see how they worked. He also had a strong interest in skeletons and insects, as they are extremely mechanical, nature’s own robots. After two years in the mining industry, Barry decided it was time to put his skills to use making the kinds of things he wanted to make, and so he began a career as a self-employed and selfproclaimed Gadgetologist/Gizmologist. He settled on steel as his material of choice due to its’ strength and versatility, as well as the large variety of everyday steel objects that can be bent, forged, added to, or removed from to form an object which suits a given purpose. He may never become the robot he always wanted to be, but in the end, nobody can deny that he is a Gizmologist.

contact crawfordmetalworks.com [email protected]



Medusa Madness Kevin Clark Petaluma, CA

Dare to stare lest you be turned to stone. A 25 foot tall metal structure which includes a 14’ x 11’ stainless steel mask of the Greek protectress Medusa. The sculpture has the well known and feared mass of snakes crowning and protruding from the head. Unearthed, uncovered and brought to you by the “Carnival of Mirrors”. The Head of Medusa, even severed, still holds the power to turn beings to stone. Come see her and try your luck at gaining access to the Midway. But why would you? She is known to be the Guardian of Terrifying Places. Curiosity still has the best of you? On your way to the Midway you must first avoid her laser like stare lest you be turned to stone. Did you get that....”stone”! Making it to her face is only the first step. Her mirrored face is irresistible to the touch and behind her is an oasis of beauty and a look into the inner workings of her mind. But don’t get too comfortable for there is still one more test.....you must battle the maze of snakes to free yourself from her power!


artist Kevin Clark is a multifaceted artist who knew from a young age that he wanted to build things. He tried his hand in the corporate world but always had a yearning to design and build, whether it be from wood or steel, for a living. His pieces often take on a mind of their own as he creates them. Kevin draws inspiration from other artists, often dissecting their work and learning how the piece was engineered and transferring that knowledge into his own works of art.

contact [email protected] reardinsteel.com



Neverwas Haul Shannon O’Hare , Obtainium Works Vallejo, CA

project The Neverwas Haul is a 3-story Victorian house on wheels that is selfpropelled by a motor driven from the ship’s wheel on the Command Deck. While riding the Haul, participants will be able to sit on the Lounge Deck or ride in the Engine Room to many of the art installations on the Playa. Participants are encouraged to tour the Haul while it is parked on the Playa or in our camp at 3 and G. The Haul is built from 75% recycled materials and has become the icon for the Steampunk movement and allows participants to go into a fantasy world where Victorian fashion and science fiction combine. Neverwas Haul, a self-propelled 3-story Victorian House, made from 75% recycled equipment and materials, returns with new interiors, engine, and collections from its travels around the world (i.e., oddities of the Jules Verne era including a Camera Obscura, described below). The Haul measures 24 feet long by 24 feet high and 12 feet wide and is built on the base of a 5 th wheel travel trailer. We designed and built the Neverwas Haul as a vehicle to explore the Black Rock Desert for the Burning Man Festivals in 2006 and 2007. We have also been featured at Maker’s Faire, Carson City Admissions Day Parade, and the Handcar Regatta. We welcome all like-minded individuals who wish to participate with us in this on-going endeavor. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 108

artists Shannon O’Hare has been building large-scale contraptions for Burning Man since 2005 and has a background in prop and theatrical design. He was the site designer for a number of Renaissance Faire locations throughout the country. Shannon is the owner of Obtainium Works, an art car fabrication studio in Vallejo, CA where he and his crew put on many events including the Mad Hatter Art Car Parade, the Obtainium Cup Contraptor’s Rally, and other crazy art events. Obtainium Works is the home base of the Hibernian Academy of UnNatural Sciences, based in Vallejo, California. Recently relocated from The Shipyard in Berkeley, it is an ongoing Do It Yourself (DIY) group of tinkerers, gearheads, and steam bohemians who fabricate steampowered art out of repurposed industrial detritus. We are loosely based on the works of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and other Victorian-era writers who created an imaginary world where steam technology was considered cutting edge and brave explorers could be propelled by gun powder to the moon!

contact http://www.obtainiumworks.net/ neverwas-haul/ [email protected]



Own Way

by: Sasha Mironov & Sema Payain from: Moscow, Russia

project OWN WAY is represented by five heavenward stairways. Each of them leads to a certain room, a destination unknown in the beginning. Just as we start moving towards great objectives, our own stars, we never know where we would find ourselves. Will the result be foreseeable or will we face something absolutely unexpected? No one is able to answer this question in the beginning. Intersecting, stairways form a pentagram, the most ancient and probably the most ambiguous symbol. On the way of the humanity its meaning was changing so frequently and so strongly that it seems that this symbol also participates in this cosmic masquerade with us. A rainbow which connects the sky and the ground crowns the piece.


artists The crew is managed by the creators of “The Cradle of Mir” (BM 2013), a number of installations for the Moscow Decompression party and projects for Souk (BM 2014). For the last 6 years they have been participating in various art projects at festivals in Russia, and apart from art pieces they’ve been constructing bridges. In the year 2014 they built all obstacles at the Zombie Run in Moscow.

contact [email protected] ownway.su



Pavilion Gates by: Burning Man Org from: Oakland, CA

project I have designed four gates as the entrances to the Pavilion at the base of the Man. These are inspired by the entrances that traditionally welcomed visitors to carnivals around the world, in which one enters by walking into the mouth of an enormous head. There are 4 entrances: one is an evil-curious devil, the other is a pop music nerd girl named Lulu, one is a tiger inspired by William Blake’s famous poem, and the last is a pair of elephants with sad eyes that ask you to “abandon all despair” was you enter (should you prefer not to walk into the mouth of a frightening figure).

artist Hugh D’Andrade is famously indiscriminate about the uses of his art. It has appeared on book covers, magazine spreads, rock posters, Burning Man paraphernalia, board games, as well as the occasional t-shirt and skateboard. His greatest ambition in life is to project his mental images into the minds of innocent people everywhere.




Penny the Goose by: Mr and Mrs Ferguson from: Alameda, CA

project Radiating a golden glow day and night is the bigger than life depiction of a Canada Goose in the dramatic moment of landing, with one of her legs still in the air and her tail punched into the Black Rock Playa as it were water. And the entire bird is fashioned from Canadian and American pennies. The ultimate goal of Penny the Goose is to enjoy her namesake; a giant waterfowl migrant from the Canadian North made from pennies. Participants are drawn to a shining metal goose and find that it is made of up of meticulously laid pennies, which is a unique source for a shading and blending material. This a return of a playa art project from 2013. At that time, half of the Goose was covered in Canadian pennies. The effect of penny shading to create feathers was well received by Black Rock citizens, most marveling that 100,000 pennies were used to make the effect. For 2015, we wish to finish the project by using American pennies on the front of the goose, neck and legs. The goose in 2013 was a metaphor of change by Lisa Ferguson, a Canadian who had left Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 113

her country and landed in the United States to be with her American husband. The Canadian penny also marked it’s final year being minted by that country. For both the penny and Lisa, this was an end to being in Canada, but a new beginning of life in the U.S.. This story would be lost on any who see the Goose unless they were told the story or read a synopsis, but in 2015, the goose will be complete. It is both Canadian and American like Canada Geese who migrate between the two countries. Similarly, many Burners come from Canada and participate in Burning Man and have even begun their own regional Burning Man festivals. The migration continues with Penny returning to the Black Rock Desert in 2015.

artists Lisa Ferguson is a 30 year experienced television director of photography. Robert Ferguson is the president of Ferguson Welding of Hayward, CA. His company specializes in pipeline and infrastructure projects. Lisa and Robert met at Burning Man in 2008, they’re first Burning Man art project called Heart of the City was set on the playa in 2010 followed by another Heart in 2011 in which they were married under. In 2012 they brought a 12 ft tall wedding cake and in 2013 Penny the Goose. [email protected]

contact [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-and-Mrs-FergusonArt/434710516694820



Pentamonium

by: Gary Gunderson, Disciples of the Dust from: Issaquah, WA

project There is beauty in mechanisms. In a world of electronics and software, many elegant gizmos have become obsolete or are buried out of sight in a product. I believe people are drawn to mechanisms, perhaps all the more so because of their increasing scarcity. The ability to interact with an elegant mechanism is even rarer. Mechanisms can be understood by sight; something not available in a black box world. It is our mission to celebrate the aesthetic of mechanisms. We aim to engage the viewer, draw them in to a pleasurable interaction, and reward collaboration. A 16 foot tall pentagonal column is buttressed by 5 arched truss-like legs. Sprouting from the top of the column are 5 arms from which 5 cylindrical bells


depend. The structure is made of welded 1” tubular steel and machined steel plates. Inside each leg is a hand powered linkage with input at waist height. The end effect of the linkage is to strike a cylindrical bell overhead. At the very top of the piece is a wind driven whirligig encrusted with mirrors. Around the base of the column will bench seating for 5 people. Built into each leg of this piece is a mechanism similar to a piano key. The key is human powered and input is positioned at a height comfortable for a standing adult but also reachable by a child or a person in a wheelchair. A whirligig on top is intended to catch the eye with the glitter from revolving mirrors. I will also strike the bells lightly to catch the ear. The piece intended to engage the eye and ear, drawing a participant closer. The key invites human input which results in striking an overhead bell. An individual can go from one leg to the other, ringing the bells. The bells are sized such that their sound s forms a certain harmonic musical chord. As people ring the bells, something will sound very familiar. They discover it is possible to generate a familiar 5-note musical sequence if a group coordinates their effort. (The leading contender is the 5 note sequence from Close Encounters of the Third Kind). This encourages collaboration when people realize they can perform the melody by working together. At night, this piece will be outlined with LED strings and EL wire. When a bell is struck, there will be some pulse of colored light associated with it. Light patterns can be generated as well as a sound pattern.

artists The Disciples are a group of artists from the Pacific Northwest dedicated to bringing large scale art to the playa. Our goal is to create pieces that engage the senses, invite individual interaction, and reward collaboration.




Playaquarium by: Bill Neely from: Silver City, NM

project 12,000 years ago, Black Rock City was covered by 500 feet of water. My project will be a school of 38” Cui’ui fish, which inhabited Lake Lohontan (covering Black Rock City and 1/3 of Nevada). The school of 60 fish have electronic brains allowing an interaction with Burners. I want to give participants a sense that they really are on an ancient lake bed. In the Pleistocene era, one may well have encountered this school of Cui’ui on the bottom of the lake. Cui’ui still live in Pyramid Lake and were one the main food sources for the Paiute tribe, our neighbors. The school of fish will react to participants presence by flashing brighter and transmitting that action to the rest of the school of fish. I have always been fascinated by the quick reactions and coordination of fish. I am re-creating that effect with small ‘brains’ in each fish. The start of a ‘school reaction’ is triggered by motion sensors feeling the participant’s presence. The real fish were here only 12,000 years ago, a very short time. 60 fish will make up the make up the school. They will form a swath about 25’ by 90’. They are made with heavy expanded metal and thin plate steel. Each


of the fish has its own battery pack and electronic interactive circuit. The fish on the periphery of the school also have motion sensors. The motion sensors react to participants, and start a cascade of light pulses into the school. The fish are always lit, but on stimulation they will brighten for about one-half second. This will give a sense of movement of the school. There are also two mirrored columns. In addition to providing a tower platform for simulated ‘water’ lighting, the columnar mirrors will offer an interesting perspective, in the daytime. They will place the participant ‘in the school’. They also transform the playa, compressing the mountains, making them much more jagged. In appears that one is still on the playa, but in a different location with different mountain ranges. The ‘water’ lighting is solar powered, so solar panels will top the columns.

artist Image Oasis Burning Man 2014, Cargo Song Burning Man 2013, Time for a Time Table Burning Man 2008, Monsoon Puppets 2007-present, Tempestsong (24’ wind harp at NM Traditions, by Santa Fe - commissioned art) 2000, Sidewalk Solar System (Silver City NM - multiple bronzes), Electric VW 2012, NF Observatory (multiuniversity research facility) http://www.nfo.edu, Junk Yard Wars (battled Duane Flatmo 2000),

contact [email protected] http://monsoonpuppets.com/playaquarium/fishes_3.gif.



Prairie Wind Chapel by: Robert Hoehn, Wind Tribe from: Venice, CA

project Excavated from a dust bowl near the border of Oklahoma and Saskatchewan, the Prairie Wind Chapel was once the heart of the roving town of Aeolia until a tornado wiped it all from the map. As the sole remaining structure of this ghost town, the chapel captures the pilgrims’ peculiar affinity for worshiping the wind and the beautiful mysteries this silent force creates on the open plain. Twin copper wind harps flank the canvas chapel, enticing lost travelers with a dreamy siren song. Towering over the altar is a 40 ft. steel windmill which pumps a Victorian reed organ and two wood and metal pipe organs. Evoking the melancholic demise of the wind worshiping Aeolians, modern pilgrims can play three wind-powered keyboards, filling the restored chapel with the ephemeral sounds of yesterday. The Prairie Wind Chapel welcomes all wayfarers with its songs! The piece is composed of four elements: chapel, organ, windmill and wind harps. The Chapel is the center piece. This prairie gothic canvas chapel is the Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 119

place of gathering. Its adorned with arched windows and doors, laced with string-figure patterns. It holds eight reclaimed wood benches, three separate organs for people to play, a new carved organ pipe screen and a winged bison skull. At night, the lights shift as the sound changes. The organs are powered by the wind. Next to the Chapel is a thirty foot 19th century traditional prairie Windmill. These windmills used to dot the midwestern Prairie landscape. Homesteaders would use them to harness wind power to pump water from the ground. On the playa, we will use this windmill to harness wind energy to power the organs. The windmill pump shaft drives bellows that pump wind into the three organs. One of the organs also has foot pedals so people can play this organ when there is no wind on the Playa. Flanking the Chapel on either side are two Raven Wind Harps. These canvas, birch and copper aeolian harps are literally played by the wind, turning breeze into sheets of harmonics. As it blows, wind causes piano-wire to vibrate over custom aluminum bridges, resting on spunaluminum guitar resonator cones. These cones are amplified with piezo crystal pickups, tiny custom amplifiers and hidden speakers, housed inside birch resonators. Primary mechanical power is provided by the wind, and solar panels provide electricity for nighttime illumination. The harps look like the love child of a Dirigible blimp and a Dobro guitar. Bent copper piping provides the frame for a lace-tensioned canvas skin.


artist I am a musician, trained as a composer and keyboardist who works in music and sound for picture. I also build interactive electronic sound systems for galleries, and experimental mechanical acoustical sound sculptures that travel to festivals. All of my work is collaborative, with other artists ranging from directors to sculptors. I try to translate natural phenomena and hope to engage the listener or viewer in the process.

contact [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/WindSoundSanctuary


R-Evolution by: Marco Cochrane from: San Francisco, CA

project Constructed of steel rod and balls and covered in stainless steel mesh, with LED lighting effects, R-Evolution is a 48 foot tall sculpture of a woman, Deja Solis, standing firmly with both feet on the ground, eyes closed, arms open at her sides, palms forward, a peaceful expression- present. R-Evolution is the final sculpture in The Bliss Project, a series of three monumental sculptures of a woman, Deja Solis, expressing her humanity. At 45 feet tall, R-Evolution is like Bliss Dance and Truth is Beauty, intended to demand a change in perspective… to be a catalyst for social change. She is intended to challenge the viewer to see past the sexual charge that has developed around the female body which has been used for power and control, to the human being. She is intended to de-objectify women and inspire men and women to take action to end violence against women, thus allowing both women and men to live fully and thrive. For R-Evolution there is no overt action in her expression; she is not dancing in the face of danger, she is not reaching to meet herself and find her truth. In R-Evolution, Deja expresses what she feels like when she can just be...present...a whole person... a woman, radiating her energy into the world. The installation will include 8-10 lifesize sculptures of Bliss Crew Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 122

women, in the same pose expressing their present selves. Consequentially, R-Evolution answers the question posed by this year’s theme: “within our media-saturated world, where products and people, consumption and communion morph into an endlessly diverting spectacle, who is the trickster, who is being tricked, and how might we discover who we really are?” R-Evolution and her sisters have discovered who they are: They are themselves: “I am you and we are everywhere.”

artist I was born 12-26-62 Venice, Italy to two artists (my father is a painter and my mother was a sculptor and weaver); both active in the Diggers. After building boats and amusement park rides, I was inspired by the birth of my daughter to follow my bliss and began sculpting full-time when I was 23 years old, focusing on sculpting women being themselves and bringing the experience of what I love most to the world. I have been doing enlargements of sculpture for more than 20 years.

contact [email protected] www.blissdance.us


Reflection

by: Lorna Jackson, Wewanttolearn from: London, England

project Reflection presents this years burners with an intimate setting in which to share their inner most confessions, secrets and tales, with the option to do so both openly face to face, or retain the mystery of their identity by sharing with a stranger through the pavilions semi private screen.Created as a result of rigorous testing of origami the pavillion is made of eight Spiralhedrons mirrored along all axis in order to create the enclosing plywood form and subtly embody Burning Man’s theme ‘Carnival of Mirrors. By providing an Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 124

interactive base for participation Reflection is never fully accomplished without the burners involvement. By sharing their stories, burners create a unique experience manifested through the ideals of trust and sharing, which facilitates a special bond between the burners. Upon its burning at the end of the festival, ‘Reflection’ becomes a resting place for the confessions, secrets and stories of its burners, allowing new bonds to be formed.

artist After graduating with a BA(Hons) in Architecture Lorna moved overseas to work with the International Architecture office, OFIS. Initially based in Slovenia, and subsequently Boston before working at Foster+Partners, London. Prior to my degree and subsequent Masters I studied at the Arts and from here has developed a deep passion for all of the creative industries.I believe that an equilibrium between sculpture,architecture + engineering is integral to creating successful Architecture.

contact https://wewanttolearn.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/reflection/ [email protected]


Reflective Resonance by: Gamelan X from: Oakland, CA

project An interactive musical playground attracting participants from near and far with engaging instruments, resonating sound, and reflective surfaces. The instrument installation will have reflective plate gongs hung vertically over large resonating chambers that will be placed in a circular formation. “Music provides us with a strange self-generated celebration of the human condition in the face of a universe that is ancient and vast beyond our understanding.”- Moby. Our group, Gamelan X, has been exploring and celebrating the connections between music, culture, and community for over a decade at Burning Man and in the Bay Area. We are musicians and artists who study, play, teach, and make Gamelan music and instruments. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 126

Gamelan, an ancient Indonesian musical tradition, is used in celebrating all things auspicious including; birth, death, harvests, etc. The Gamelan instruments are considered sacred by the people of Indonesia and it’s believed that spirits live inside the instruments and enjoy it when the village comes together to play. We in Gamelan X, believe that music is one of the more primal and fundamental aspects of human culture that, like visual arts, was used as a form of expression before the development of language. Indonesian Gamelan is a strong tradition that inspires us to use music to seek the connections between art, culture, and human experience and expression. Reflective Resonance creates an opportunity for participants to use Gamelan inspired musical instruments as the vehicle of co-creation and communication with themselves, each other, the space around them. We want to create a community space of spirit-infused instruments, reflective surfaces, and resonant sounds that will become a live conversation and expression. Reflective Resonance is a mirror unto oneself. It is a large interactive musical instrument consisting of polished plates of aluminum that are hung over large resonator chambers. The plates are each a different musical tone and suspended in groups of 5 tones to correspond with the traditional pentatonic scales of Indonesian music. There will be 3 different musical stations that each have 5 tones. This grouping of 5 tones can be easily played by 1, 2, or 3 people at a time.

artists Dan Bales BA from Cornell College in Music and Anthropology. Received a grant from UCLA in 2010 to collaborate with artists from across Asia. He teaches Gamelan in schools in SF and Berkeley. http://www.wacd.ucla.edu/cip/ residency/appex-2010 Lydia Martin and Tim Black received Masters degrees in Music and built Gamelan instruments for Mills College with Daniel Schmidt in 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Schmidt Daniel Yasmin is an instructor at the Crucible. Small selection of work.


Rube Awakening -

Magic Bike Rack Transformation Station by: Mark Melnick from: Las Vegas, NV

project A large-scale interactive sculpture functioning as a bicycle rack / transformation station. Includes a sound feature, animated lighting and LED screen counter, all triggered by switches contained in each bike parking space. It is a piece on which to park and lock your bike while magically liberating your inner rube through participation. Spark the emergence of your true playa self when fantasy becomes reality and vice versa at the transformation station. Libertate to Rube’s delight Lock your bike by day or night. Sound and light by which to wonder, Don’t forget to check your number! Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 128

During the day, the piece looks like a contour line sculpture constructed of a cat emerging from an upside-down top hat with bike parking spaces in the circumference of the hat below. At 25’ high and a 15’ wide diameter, Rube Awakening can accommodate over 25 bikes. At night the piece is illuminated with animated LEDs. The cat’s eyes will appear to move with animated lights, and an overhead LED screen keeps a numerical count of each transformation. Rube Awakening is not meant to be a static, hands-off sculpture - it is dependent on the interaction of burners in order to achieve its full-function. As bicycles are parked they will activate sound and light elements within the piece: an overhead LED screen will display a numeric count of these interactions. Rube Awakening encourages interaction through offering bicycle parking to Black Rock citizens.

artists Mark Melnick and Maya Lowry are professional artists who live and work in Las Vegas NV. As artists and cyclists, we try to encourage cycling and public art in communities and cities whenever possible. Inspired by our first bike rack built for Burning Man in 2011, we have since designed and fabricated other racks for public use. These 3-dimensional contour line sculptures are custom-designed to address needed bike parking while providing cost-efficient public art.



Serpent Mother by: Flaming Lotus Girls from: San Francisco, CA

project The Serpent Mother is a 168’ long sculpture of a skeletal serpent, coiled around her egg. Propane fire runs down her spine, with 41 poofers erupting from the top of her gleaming vertebrae. Reaching 20’ in the air, her hydraulically-actuated head and jaws chomp at the sky. The serpent is a highly kinetic, participant-controlled installation. Fire effects are a major interactive and sculptural element of the piece, controlled by pushing buttons located on the ribs. The audience is invited to direct her movements, using controls that move the head and jaws, effectively making each show a unique event created by the participants. Twice every evening, the operator crew will perform methanol shows, shooting multi-colored flames 40’ in the air from the egg, illuminating the night sky.

artists Flaming Lotus Girls (FLG) is a volunteer-based group that creates monumental works of interactive, mechanical fire art. We combine sculpture, kinetics, robotics, pyrotechnics and electronics to inspire and engage our audiences. The audience is part of our art, controlling the sculpture through integrated mechanisms, culminating in a unique participatory event. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 130

Our sculptures are composed of steel, stainless steel, cast aluminum, bronze, copper, glass, wood, light, and fire. Our flames range from 2” to over 150’. Our portfolio includes Xylophage, Tympani Lambada, Soma, Mutopia, Serpent Mother, Angel of the Apocalypse, The Seven Sisters, Hand of God, Fire Island, Flower Garden and Flaming Lotus Sr.

contact http://flaminglotus.com/art/the-serpent-mother/ [email protected]


Simon Fire Edition 2.0 by: Mike Dodds, Games with Fire (Camp Potluck) from: Seattle, WA

project Simon, Fire Edition 2.0 is inspired by the golden-age of arcade games. “Carnival of Mirrors” evokes the need for tests of skill: e.g. milk jug ball tossing and popping balloons with darts. Simon, as a memory game, is by definition a test of skill and meets the Principle of Radical Inclusion by being easily accessible by its basis as a childrens’ game. The principles of Interactivity and Immediacy are met by a flame effect game. That is, the sculpture is animated by Interactivity and rewards the participant with immediate gratification proportional to the interaction, setting up a virtuous cycle. What the original game lacks, this project delivers: a win-condition with lighting, sound and flame effect display. Bluntly, we feel that a game of Simon within the “Carnival of Mirrors” theme with a light, sound and flame effect display is a winning combination.


artists Pot Luck have been doing projects and events together for over a decade. Our members were involved in Moonrock art projects and took leadership roles on Simon: Fire Edition and Ablation Cascade. We’ve produced 6 projects funded by Ignition Northwest, presented projects at community outreach events, and brought 3 projects to Burning Man.

contact [email protected] http://simon-fire-edition.com


Storied Haven by: Five Ton Crane (lead artist: Bree Hylkema) from: Oakland

project Storied Haven: It is a large scale, immersive sculpture rooted in storytelling. In a fairytale world where animals talk and children shouldn’t wander the woods at night, an enchanted home inside of a grand boot lures us. It beckons to wayward passersby with a promise of fantastical delight and dark mystery. Imagine a very large leather shoe which over time has come alive and transformed into a house that is teeming with treasure and tales. Once inside you are wrapped in the warmth and wonder of a sage woman’s home which is bursting with rich and intricate details. She is the keeper of stories, holder of memories, steward of dreams. Visitors find themselves and also lose themselves and emerge somehow changed and new.


ARTISTS Five Ton Crane (5TC) is a diverse group of artists, geeks and inventors from the Oakland Bay Area. The name implies the intention: 5TC does the heavy lifting that the individual artist couldn’t do on their own; by pooling resources, interests and talent to create opportunities for bigger, better and bolder Art. For over ten years, we’ve been building large-scale artwork in Oakland, California. From the Steampunk Treehouse, to the Raygun Gothic Rocketship to the Nautilus Submarine Art Car, Five Ton Crane has the skills and expertise to get the job done.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2011-13 Nautilus Submarine Art Car: 2009 Raygun Gothic Rocket 2007 Steampunk Tree House

Contact [email protected] [email protected]


Temple of Promise

by: Dreamers Guild from: San Francisco Bay Area; build site: Alameda, CA

project A temple’s purpose is to provide a safe space where the diverse and essential needs of the soul can take root and grow or surrender and find solace. This year, the Temple of Promise welcomes participants through an archway soaring 97 feet overhead. Once inside, the structure curves in on itself, tapering in width and height down to just 7 feet tall. Along the way, alcoves formed by the supporting arches, as well as wooden sculptures reminiscent of stones in a stream, create altars and semi-private spaces for individuals and smaller gatherings. The lines of the curved wooden walls draw the eye



inward and create a canvas for written messages and mementos. As the path continues to curve, it opens into the contemplative altar and the heart of the Temple: a grove of three sculpted trees. The branches are initially bare. Participants will write messages on long strips of cloth and attach them to the trees, creating the gentle shade of Weeping Willows, increasing as the week progresses. The main archway greeting visitors to the Temple of Promise soars ninetyseven feet overhead and will serve as the ceremonial center, a place for larger gatherings of celebration and remembrance. The curved wooden walls draw the eye inward and create a canvas for written messages and mementos. Along the inner wall there are several openings into the central courtyard, providing glimpses of the final destination. The curving space tapers to a final archway of 10 by 7 feet, elegantly opening into the contemplative altar

and the heart of this Temple: a grove of three sculpted trees with overlapping canopies that reach around 15 feet high. The branches are initially bare and participants can write messages on long strips of cloth and attach them to each tree, creating the gentle shade of Weeping Willows with each day.

ARTIST The Dreamers Guild is a new collective of builders, artists, caretakers, and dreamers. We are honored that our first project as a team will be to build the Temple for Burning Man in 2015. Artist/Designer: Jazz Tigan Lead Architect:Daniel Swain BURNING MAN AND THE TEMPLE TRADITION In 2000, artist David Best brought his first temple to Burning Man, dedicating it to victims of suicide as well as to a friend who perished in a motorcycle accident just prior to the event. The modest structure found tremendous


AFTER LEAVES resonance with the greater community and a tradition was born when visitors began writing messages of grief and remembrance on its walls. Growing in size with the city, there has been a Temple on the playa every year since, serving as its spiritual heart and soul. These days, the Temple is positioned at 12 o’clock from the Man and the event has been extended by an entire day in order to accommodate the Temple Burn, a solemn ceremony that

BEFORE LEAVES

stands in stark contrast to the raucous Man Burn the night before. This ceremony sees the structure, the messages written on its walls, and all of the remembrances & altars that have been left there over the course of a week consigned to flame, providing much needed release and closure for thousands.

contact http://www.templeofpromise.org [email protected]


Temple of Sound by: Darren Fitzpatrick from: Dublin, Ireland

project My instillation will evoke emotions that only sound can create by using the power of the wind. There are 8 “D” shaped Aeolian harps. Which are complimented by four bamboo structures located on the perimeter of the structure which will also produce sound when the wind blows through different size holes cut into them. Stand in the center of this acoustical vortex & receive an aura harmonizing sound bath. An Aeolian harp is an ancient musical instrument that is played by the wind. It is named after Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the wind. Besides being the only strung instrument played solely by the wind, the Aeolian harp is the only stringed instrument that plays solely harmonic frequencies. Their vibrant timbres produce an ethereal, almost mystical music that many people find alludes to higher realms.

ARTISTS Inspired from the ancient Irish tradition of the Aeolian Harp, the Temple of Sound was designed by Darren Fitzpatrick a previous member of the International Arts Megacrew in 2011, residing in Dublin, Ireland. We have two other members from the International Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 139

Arts Megacrew; with Lightning Bolt Wonder aka LB, and Athena, who met on playa in 2005 and were married in 2011 at the Temple of Transition. Rounding out the Temple of Sound crew is a 14 year veteran who will be working on his first build on playa, a 3rd year burner also on his first team build and 3 virgins who will be learning all about the Burning Man community and how we build large scale art installations.




Totem of Confessions by: Michael Garlington from: Petaluma, CA

project Come one, come all to the mystical Totem of Confessions, Michael Garlington’s newest Chapel! Experience cathartic release as you liberate your secrets, unearth the hidden lives of those around you, and test your fortune and powers for uncovering concealed nooks and hidden compartments holding relics and gifts from the artists’ own hands. Upon approaching the 50’ edifice, whose design recalls ancient Khmer and Vedic architecture, revelers bask in the beauty and chaos of black and white photography in assemblage with salvaged and re-purposed mixed media. Dioramas of black and white photography compose worlds to wander through with your imagination. Inside will be a gold gilded enclave made up of collages of paper, wood, and plaster. Shrouded peepholes reveal elaborate other worlds embedded in the walls of the Totem of Confessions. In the middle of the great room, a golden confessional stands as a portal to revelation and interaction with the art and other participants. Mysteries and discoveries will reveal themselves in the installation’s details and will, in turn, inspire visitors to explore their own hidden meanings and inner worlds.


ARTIST The work of photographer Michael Garlington has been described as “David Lynch meets Leave it to Beaver.” Michael Garlington is an acclaimed Northern California photographer and master printer.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2013 - Photo Chapel 2012 - EGO (collaborated with Laura Kimpton)




Toxic Bloom by: Ethan Garner from: Boston, MA

project Toxic bloom stands about 4 feet high, made of repurposed steel, and appears as a mechanical, rigid flower, with the petals opening up, exposing its stamen to the air. The piece was built in a manner to evoke both biological and mechanical elements, and is modeled as a hybrid between a phage (the viruses that infect bacteria) and a plant. The stamen emits the pollen of bloom, a 3-5 foot jet of colored fire, with fast switching between bright red, green, and yellow colors. As toxic bloom fires, it emits a howl from the venturi, a natural cry to its breeding partners as it emits its gametes. Other manifestations of Toxic Bloom have appeared in previous Burning Man events.

ARTIST Ethan Garner, has served as assistant professor in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard. In graduate school, he worked with False Profit Labs (a group of engineers, artists, computer kids, and biologists) to develop interactive sculptures: exploding hydrogen bubbles or sprays of fire pulsing to a person’s heartbeat. The sculptures were exhibited at festivals (including Burning Man and Coachella), NASA, and other places.



Tree of Transformation by: Nick Geurts from: Wheat Ridge, CO

project The Tree of Transformation is a 20ft tall interactive musical tree. It takes the form of a twisting steel pipe tree trunk sprouting from a full-size upright piano. Three main limbs branch out to form a canopy and support nine steelpans with a four octave range. When the keys of the piano are pressed, solenoids are actuated to strike the pans in the correct location to play the corresponding note. Because some notes overlap between pans, there are a total of 99 solenoids but only 48 notes, which means that some notes will have multiple pans being struck resulting in a rich, complex sound, much like a steelpan orchestra. As you approach the piece at night, you will only see the piano by way of a piano lamp which illuminates the keyboard, and a piano bench which sits in front of the piano inviting you to play. When a note is played, each striker also has a high intensity white led light that flashes, lighting up the branches and pans in a sequence following the notes being played. After the event this piece will be donated for permanent installation at a local Denver charity organization. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 144

An earlier project, the Tree of (Im) Permanence, used a toy piano to trigger bell chimes in a twenty foot weeping willow sculpture. It has been on display this year at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

ARTIST Nick Guertis studied structural engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. As a practicing structural engineer in Denver, CO for over 10 years, Nick Geurts has always been infatuated with the use of structural materials to unite form and function. Geurts’ extensive experience with metalworking and concrete casting combined with his knowledge gained as a structural engineer enable his whimsical designs and result in safe, durable and elegant large-scale interactive public art. He is currently Project Manager at Martino & Luth, Inc.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2014 Tree of (Im)Permanence

contact [email protected] Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 145


TrEeD

by: Tyler FuQua from: Eagle Creek, OR

TrEeD is a giant tree bike rack that will will stand about twenty feet tall and will have roots that stretch out about twenty feet in four directions. The roots are made from square tube steel and every bend is a perfect ninety degrees. As they continue downward the parallel lines create the bicycle wheel holders. TrEeD will be able to hold 80 or so bikes. The trunk of the tree will be about 3’ in diameter and there will be a bench that goes around the trunk creating a space for people to sit and chill. e branches will start. The branches will be made of all round tube steel to contrast the square steel of the roots. The branches will also have an organic flow to them and no two will be the same. At the end of each branch there will be a six inch round plastic globe covered in white fur. The globes will light up with color changing LEDs. TrEeD is dedicated to Ted Welles, a beloved burner who was lost last year.


ARTIST As president of Tyler Fuqua Creations inc, of Portland, OR, Tyler has been creating giant, illuminated, eye-popping visuals for concerts and festivals for over seven years. Other areas of expertise include costume design, full scale productions, and ambiance decor.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2014 The Raaken

contact: [email protected]



True Reflections Palace by: John Walter, True Reflectors from: Highland, NY

project The True Reflections Palace showcases optically perfect true reflection mirrors, showing us not just what we look like, but who we are as people. The design of the Palace is meant to be a warm and inviting place, with a host of interactivity and a truly unique experience to be had. Prepare to see something surprising about yourself… you as a real, vibrant, and true sparkle pony. But you have to be it to see it. Don’t just stare at yourself, but look in your eyes. Interact! Ask questions about who you are, how you are you are, what is going on. Who do we see when you are present and active. If you get past your initial sense of how unusual it is, you can see something truly magical…the amazing burner that we all see, know and love! To really seal the deal, look back to the backwards mirrors in the side panels, and notice how poorly backwards mirrors reflect your true nature. Forever more, you will know that you are more than that fake, flat, and self-critical mirror image. Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 148

The theme at Burning Man this year is the Carnival of Mirrors, so we are going all out with the redesigned and upgraded True Reflections Palace. This is a wonderful space that showcases amazing true reflection mirrors that show you without reversing left and right. A truly tinkered view of you and completely mind blowing! We discovered that these mirrors allow you to See Yourself - not just what you look like, but who you are and how you are. This will be our 10 year anniversary at Burning Man, and we are ready to rock the Playa with some amazing art and beautiful interactivity!

In contrast, looking into your own eyes, in real time, without that reversal does something surprising - our eyes and faces keep “working”. Whatever we are saying looks right, so we can keep saying it. The net effect - you get to See Yourself. The real you, the one that we see. It can be stunning to realize how much more alive we are than what we have seen in traditional mirrors our entire lives. It’s a function of right brain/left brain theory, facial communication and feedback loops. There is both science and magic here, and on Playa it gets both explained and experienced to a degree unlike any other place on earth.


Traditional mirrors take all of our vitality away and present a flat and distorted version of ourselves. We are used to this version since childhood, but it is so wrong - we are much more than what is in backwards mirror reflections.



Twisted Bristles 2x by: George Ingalls from: Brooklyn, NY

project Two 24’ Fiber Optic toilet brushes, helping guide burners to bathroom bliss amidst their deep playa excursions. Each brush includes over 1200 bristles made of 18” fiber optic acrylic rods, lit by solar-powered, individually addressable LEDs dancing in blissful patterns! Never in the history of mankind were so many people so excited to see a toilet brush. The first incarnation of the Twisted Bristles installation was seen on playa in 2013 illuminating the potties nearest the man, acting as a lighthouse for those in deep playa. Successfully brought again in 2014, the Bristles assisted those in need of a potty marker.

Artist: The Twisted Bristles crew on-playa consists of 8 people, many of whom are long-time burners experienced with delivering art projects at Burning Man



Well of Darkness by: Iron Monkeys from: Seattle, WA

project The Well of Darkness is a 60’ diameter space comprised of four main components: the Well, the Acolytes, seating, and fire. In the center of the of space will be the canopied Well. The well itself will be 2’ to 3’ across, with the roof of the well extending out a couple more feet. Moving towards the well will be six Acolytes each dragging behind them a heavy steel chest. The chests will be named for each of the Acolyte’s values: Courage, Temperance, Wisdom, Justice, Honor, and Gratitude. Coins stamped with these virtues will be hanging from the Acolytes. Participants will be able to take a coin from an Acolyte and drop it in the well. Ornate handmade chain will connect the chests to their Acolytes. Seating is a crucial component of a gathering space, and we will be bringing back the benches we used in the Agora of Light. There will be six sets of three benches in triangular patterns placed throughout the space. Three of those sets of benches will have a fire zen garden in the center. At night the piece will light up. Propane will be in the roof of the well, heating up and adding light to the center of the space. Three zen gardens will be set between three sets of benches, staged like a campfire. At night participants Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 151

will be able to warm up while playing with the fire in the zen garden. Additionally, three of the six chests and the chains attached to them will have fire in them adding additional warmth and ambiance to the edges of the space. All the fire will be kept at a low warm blue. Creating heat but not an exceptional amount of light representing the false dawn, the light before the real dawn.

BACKSTORY Well of Darkness is the third chapter in the mythology of The Guardian of Dawn. In this chapter the Acolytes, inspired by experience gained in the Agora of Light, leave their brethren and shatter forth, embarking on individual pilgrimages of virtue. For the first time in their lives they were alone in the world. Initial interactions with people were bright with conviction and exaltation, each Acolyte advocating from the pulpit of their chosen virtue. However, they observed those with courage act without honor, justice act without wisdom. Idealism shaken, each wondered “How can any single virtue be the only light that guides one towards a life worth living?” After an eternity of seeing only hope on the horizon, a dark, distant well appears. As each labored step brings them closer to The Well of Darkness the Acolytes begin to recognize

their friends, who, just like them are dragging a box heavy with the weight of virtue.

THE ARTISTS Founded in 2006, the Iron Monkeys are a metalworking collective based in Seattle, Washington. Known primarily for forging heavy industrial steel into intricate, delicate patterns, the Iron Monkeys have progressed from making small, stand-alone steel sculptures into creating large-scale multi-faceted gathering spaces which increasingly incorporate propane fire elements. Their pieces have been on display temporarily at the Burning Man Arts Festival, the Reno Mangrove Project, the Burien Interim Arts Space (B/IAS), Critical Massive, Seacompression, Seattle Burners Without Borders events, and Tacoma’s First Night Celebration. Their pieces are permanently on display in Rainier Vista’s Central Park in South Seattle, Whitaker Park, in northwest Reno, Nevada, and the backyards of some of their supporters.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2014 - Agora of Light 2013 - Guardian of Dawn 2011 - Garden of Monkey Retrospectus 2010 - The Crossroads 2009 - Incunabulum 2008 - Diablo




Wheel of Self Reflection by: StuArt Chapman, Berlinus Carny Camp from: Bolinas, CA

project Curious about the “bio-psychic field” at Burning Man? Last year StuArt Chapman repurposed a bathroom scale into a qi generator for the root chakras. The Wheel of Life was a “divinatory oracle based on Medieval cosmology updated for Life in the 21st Century.” In 2015 The Wheel of Self Reflection engages the seeker in a calibrated discovery of self, guided by fate, choice, qi and serendipity. Chapman plans to collect more anecdotal evidence to demonstrate the strength of the biopsychic field at Black Rock City with this year’s Wheel of Self Reflection. Wheel of Self Reflection has been outfitted and enhanced with a pyramidal capstone Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 153

of light that will activate the upper chakras of each seeker. Expanding on last year’s amazing “synchronicity of the fortunes,” Chapman intends to “optimize the meaningful matchup of seeker and oracle” with this installation.

ARTIST StuArt formerly worked as an art director at Scenic Designs, a small firm in northern California that specialized in carnival art. As an Art Director StuArt painted over 200 carnival rides, including dark rides, mirror mazes, fun houses, flying bobs, zippers and other carny puke buckets and contraptions. StuArt also worked at Marine World Africa USA painting scenery for orcas, sea lions and dinosaurs. He painted signage and carnival art at every county fair in the Western states.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2014 - Wheel of Fortune


Wooden Nickel Carnival

by: Ilya Pieper and The Wooden Nickel Carnival Austin, TX

project The Wooden Nickel Carnival has traveled almost 100 years to your door step. Built brand new in the Spring of 1918, the Wooden Nickel Carnival is here to provide you with a good old fashioned time. We have many attractions to choose from! You can watch the vaudeville performance on stage or come test your skills at one of our many booths. Looking for a job? We are hiring! Think you got what it takes to be a carnie? Well step right up and prove it! No matter what you are looking for, we got it all right here for you! or play carnival games while We are constructing 6 new, beautifully crafted modular midway booths reminiscent of a 1920’s carnival along with a disorienting Hall of Mirrors. Our new booths include: a Prohibition themed shooting game, a hat toss, darts, a clown faced bean bag toss, milk bottle toss, and a ring toss (We want you to throw things) and lets not forget our Wooden Nickel booth that will distribute thousands of our brand new wooden nickels, designed exclusively for this year’s Burning Man! Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 155

ARTIST Ilya Pieper is a multimedia artist who has been influenced by a combination of math, science, and beauty. She is a part of a close-knit community of artists in Austin, Texas, and has been involved with the festival building community across America since 2009. Her varied past projects include traditional photo-realistic paintings, large scale murals, as well as less conventional media such as tattoos, freak bike building, welding, mechanics, wood working, yurt building, and more.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2013 - Cathedral of Celestial Mathgic




Word of the Burning Bramble by: Michael Dewberry Somerville, MA

project The Burning Bramble, a flowering, trailing plant of steel, brass, and copper, arcs nine feet into the air, hears participants’ questions or earnest desires for prophecy, and delivers its Word through flame.

ARTIST: Michael Dewberry is an artist and software engineer who was born in Jacksonville, FLA, schooled at MIT, now working in the Boston area creating amazing sculpture and software art.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2014 - Cosmic Praise (oversaw lighting & electrical team, built multi-protocol LED software platform, visual effects programming and curation) 2013 Penrose Triangle (similar contributions as above) Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 157


WTF?? What, the Fork?? by: Rico “Bardo” Morales, WTF?? from: Austin, TX

project What, The Fork are two sculptures at the fork in the road. The 16’ tall fork is covered in brushed/polished aluminum, reflecting the participant and the environment surrounding it. At night, the shape of the gigantic fork is defined by L-wire. The surface is enhanced by small holes which allow multi-colored LED lights to filter through . The black shiny metallic turn sign post has a helical message etched onto 1/4” bent lucite clear surface wrapping around the height of the obelisk. As the reader has to walk around in a circle to read the message, their motion triggers motion activated sensors which drive lucite pointing hands which pop out in response to the participants’ approach, suggesting new directions. Burning Man is a Mecca for the seeker; people attend from all around the world seeking new directions in their lives. WTF is a fork in the road, a turning point Burning Man Honoraria 2015 • page 158

where roads and minds meet. Those who find themselves at this juncture are prompted to question the direction their life is going. The fork is a symbol of hunger...hunger for sustenance and knowledge. A fork in the road symbolizes a turning point, a point of decision. When the participants walk up to the turn post, they read the helix that spirals down the obelisk and are confronted with the conundrum: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” The double helix is a riddle of man’s existence. Within the spiral we find the genes which determine all the various forms of existence. The pointing hands offer participants a choice of cardinal directions, but soon they realize there is a multitude of infinite possibilities. The direction is ultimately theirs. As we make one choice, we exclude other possibilities...until the next fork in the road. The participants see their reflections in the shiny surfaces, the makers of their own destiny; they are a reflection of their choice.

ARTIST: Rico Bardo Morales is a multi-disciplinary medium that creates and recreates transitional states. With years of experience in drawing, painting, sculpture, metal and rock work, glass-blowing, stained glass, theatre and laser light shows, Bardo utilizes the media which best captures the spirit of intent of each concept/piece.

Contact: [email protected]



You Are Who? by: Vulfie Munson from: San Diego, CA

project You are Who? uses lighting mechanisms, reflected images and face-morphing to playfully challenge visitors conceptions of self, engaging them both visually and mentally in an illusory experience. Inside a large carnival shack there will be 6 stations. Each station will have two seats facing each other with a table, LED light mechanism, and reflective panel in between. Each person will adjust light intensity on their faces with the use of dimmer switches and LED lights, to create the illusion of morphing into the person sitting on the opposite side.


ARTIST Vulfie Munson is an accomplished painter and sculptor located in San Diego, California. Beginning as a professional painter and home contractor in 1980, he has since honed his skills to incorporate large scale mediums and lost wax bronze sculptures that have exhibited in art shows and galleries throughout Southern California.

PREVIOUS PLAYA ART: 2014 - Cave (vehicle) 2012 - Frobot Art Car 2011 - Mr. Cephalo Car