ePlaya

Thought I'd see if anyone has the appetite to do this at BM 2014. I'm based in London, UK so a bit too hard to organise from afar. And I have a number of big projects on the go for 2014 already....
Would need people to gather old mattresses or get people to bring them (LNT an issue - ideally you'd store in Reno/local and re-use following years).
You could anchor them to the playa fairly easily (thread a chain or 2 through bottom of the mattress and rebar ends of chain into the playa) so people didn’t walk off with them. Spray paint a domino dot pattern on so people understand what to do and position them right. And I’d add a couple of ropes on each side of the mattress to hold on to and pull it up. Even if you just had 5 of these then it would be awesome fun to do and look great on video. But the more you have the better. Of course storage and transport to (and from) the playa would be the main cost here as I'm guessing finding old mattresses isn't too hard.
Got a feeling a Kickstarter to fund transport/storage wouldn't be too hard and really easy to set up/strike on playa with minimal maintenance during the week.
I'd happily throw in some $$$ to make this happen.


What do people reckon? Has anyone even tried this on playa before? Is anyone US-based prepared to take this on!?

In a nutshell, you'd like to see this art on the playa but can't be bothered to build and bring it yourself?

At least the playa dust would kill the bedbugs...


Wouldn't do anything about the scary stains, however.

trilobyte wrote:In a nutshell, you'd like to see this art on the playa but can't be bothered to build and bring it yourself?

Not really a question of "bothered", Trilo.
I've already spent months preparing another large art piece for 2014. And I'll be doing at least 2 other fairly major projects at BM2014, if not 3-4. All self-funded. Considering I only have a very limited amount of holiday, am coming from another continent early to build all this stuff, I'm already pushing myself beyond sensible boundaries.
I may well try and organise this domino thing here in the UK for our new official regional burn but that's because something like this which requires gathering a lot of old mattresses is a LOT easier when you're on the ground in the country you want to do it in. Ditto the storing of them after.
And I've already approached my American burner friends about whether they have an interest in doing this. Just thought I'd throw the question out to a wider audience in case there's someone more local who thinks "There's something I'd like to do or contribute to".
Thanks for the support...

Cool idea. I wonder if this would be more realistic with old doors instead of mattresses. Smaller/easier to transport (and less moopy than fluffy mattress innards blowing around) but still gives the same effect. Standing up a door is a challenge, but nailing a wood plank on the bottom edge might allow them to stand up but still be knocked down easily. If this project gets going, my camp could probably be convinced to BYODoor to add to the display.

Hmm. I see why you suggested doors but I think it takes something away from it - the level of interactivity. I'm not sure I'd want to have a door against my back and then fall backwards on to it (or behind someone doing the same thing). Having mattresses means less injuries/softer landings and using people solves the problem of getting things to stand up as they do that bit for you (hence the adding the ropes/chains to hold the mattress up behind you).

theCryptofishist wrote:Wouldn't do anything about the scary stains, however.

Now you've got me thinking that having the dots painted in a blood-looking substance would actually be kinda cool...

I used to bring several couches… considering the things that happened on those couches (that were located in front of my old camp right on the esplanade) and the evidence left behind, I can only imagine how a set of mattresses would be treated!

You're always gonna get static for posting any "this would be cool, someone else should do it" idea on here - I'd have fired off a little of it myself. I won't give you any shit because after your next post, you sounded much more like a high-effort producer of things that make Burning Man cool.
Lots of people come on here with their incredible, awesome ideas that someone (else) should do!

Ah-Ha, I didn't realize you meant for people to be leaning on the mattresses and falling down with them. Cool! I like it the idea, but don't have room for a mattress in our rig, can't be much assistance other than moral support. If it's an art installation out on the Playa, don't forget it needs some kind of border perimeter lighting. It could also be something cool to have inside the confines of your theme camp. Would be very "interactive" especially after the sun goes down -wink-

asr9754 wrote: If it's an art installation out on the Playa, don't forget it needs some kind of border perimeter lighting.

lol yeah, because you wouldn't want anyone accidentally running into a mattress at night!

asr9754 wrote:Would be very "interactive" especially after the sun goes down -wink-

Yeah, that's what I was warning about!

Actually, can't be bothered is still an accurate way to describe your interest level in this project. It doesn't make a difference whether you're working on other playa awesomeness or sitting on the couch watching re-runs, the project you're proposing is something you can't be bothered to do yourself. I'm not knocking either the project, your other thing, or you as a person (we've never even met)... I just personally think the public call for other people to build art for you is a little silly.

meh...

After watching the linked clip, I can just imagine the clouds of dust raised with each falling mattress!

lets do it our camp has people based in reno and we have 15 freinds from UK coming and it sounds fun and groovy idea man

Gypsyboy - have tried PM-ing you a few times but my messages seem to be stuck in my outbox. Perhaps you can PM me your email address and I'll forward my email that way?

Messages only leave the outbox when the recipient picks them up.

Had a thought about this - by far the biggest problem is transporting mattresses to and from the playa. People tend to have very little extra space in their vehicles.

But if you got some inflatable mattresses (ie. air mattresses) it might work. These could be inflated on-playa using an electric pump and deflated for shipment home.