Burning Man 2018 Project
May 7, 2018 by
At Burning Man some participants bluster that they experience 60 to 70 MPH winds every day. “Bluster” is an anemometer constructed from a 13-foot commercial lamppost. The piece has an illuminated bargraph that shows the current wind speed and the peak wind speed.… Read the rest
Bluster’s Milestones
May 15, 2018 by
A simple project always looks more daunting after one lists its detailed milestones.
Last update: August 22, 2018. And it’s done!
Anemometer
I’m using a modified Adafruit Anemometer to sense the wind speed. The “zero-MPH” value of the original anemometer’s output signal depends on the resting position of the rotor.… Read the rest
Cupcake Cafe 2018 Milestones
May 20, 2018 by
Here’s what’s left to prepare for Burning Man 2018.
Last update: August 24, 2018.
16-foot Trailer
I bought a new trailer to dedicate to Burning Man events. In the past I’ve used a 10-foot trailer, but because I use that trailer for other purposes, much time is spent loading and unloading it and finding places to store everything.… Read the rest
Bluster’s Lamppost
May 27, 2018 by
Bluster’s lamppost is much taller than I had imagined! I’m very happy that I bought this instead of a short residential lampost from Home Depot. And buying a lamppost was much smarter than trying to build one.
Update after Burning Man 2018: Here it is on the playa with its automotive paint job and its new scrollwork!… Read the rest
Bluster’s Comment Book
September 22, 2018 by
At Burning Man I mounted a small twin-wire bound notebook on Bluster along with a Sharpie. Participants completely filled the notebook. Here is a PDF scan of its contents:
Bluster Comment Book
… Read the rest
The Final Tally
September 23, 2018 by
Mike Case and I installed Bluster on August 25 at 7:00 pm. Then on September 3 at 10:00 am, 8 days and 15 hours later, I took the installation down. During that time, the column of air that blew by was 8,148,257 feet long.… Read the rest
Burning Man 2019 Project
May 21, 2019 by
If you knew the likely cause of your death, what would you do? Mortorious counts the number of deaths in the United States, by cause, from the opening of the Gate for Burning Man 2019. Digital counters reveal mortality statistics along with 15 “cause-of-death” posters for some common and uncommon ways that we will leave this Earthly realm.—Kerry’s… Read the rest
Mortorious at Burning Man 2019
September 26, 2019 by
Many thanks to Mortorious contributors Matt Newton, Megan Boivin, Natalia Baetz, Rebecca Rashkin, Stacy Standal, Tiffany Hollis, and Victoria Hollis! Also, many thanks to Jordan Layman, from whom we rented space during August at Idea Fab Labs, Santa Cruz. Making Mortorious was much work, but in the end, the installation at Burning Man was a success!… Read the rest
Burning Man 20xx Project
March 22, 2020 by
Update: April 11, 2020. With yesterday’s announcement that Black Rock City 2020 has been cancelled, work on this project has been suspended.
Last year’s Burning Man project was a bit—morbid. Mortorious (2019) dealt with death, and so I thought that I’d do something happier this year.… Read the rest
The Death Counters of Mortorious
December 27, 2020 by
This post is for the nerds. Do you like math?
Mortorious used several digital “death counters” to show the estimated number of deaths that occurred somewhere in the United States by a various causes during Burning Man 2019. Since we wanted each of the death counters to increment at an appropriate rate, but we also wanted to avoid the distraction of unrealistic uniformity, the control of the death counters incorporated randomness.… Read the rest
Burning Man 2022 Project
November 14, 2021 by
Every second about four people are born and two people die. Imbalance viscerally reveals human population growth through digital counters that track worldwide births and deaths since the gate opened. By the end of the week, Imbalance will report about 3,400,000 births and 1,400,000 deaths.… Read the rest
Imbalance at Burning Man 2022
November 14, 2022 by
I constructed Imbalance by attaching pre-painted plywood panels to a 2×4 frame. Since the entire piece weighs too much for me to lift, I assembled it on the trailer. Of course that meant that I’d need a crew to lift the already-assembled piece off of the trailer.… Read the rest
Persistence at Burning Man 2023
October 1, 2023 by
Persistence (2023) at Burning Man. Photoshop combination of a still photograph and a panned photograph by Joe Lakeman.
In 1980, around the time that I graduated from high school and entered college, Bill Bell, then in his early 50s, invented a new kind of LED display that he called a “Lightstick.”… Read the rest
Burning Man 2024 Project: Saccadia
February 10, 2024 by
Persistence (2023), which is the basis for Saccadia. Photoshop combination of a still photograph and a panned photograph by Joe Lakeman.
Saccadia promotes an unfamiliar visual perspective and prods people to help those around them to see it. As an unmonitored public canvas, Saccadia simultaneously inspires both collective creativity and individual anarchy—its images documenting a war between refinement and ruin.… Read the rest
