The Machine-How many folks interacted with this piece?

Ken Wheels · Post by **Ken Wheels** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:42 pm

So far I am an Unemployed, Fag, Troll, Republican, terrorist (according to this forum) But I would like to know How many folks interacted with The Machine which was destroyed Friday night at BM05, I felt bummed at the destruction of this giant interactive monster and went into Burning Man Therapy over this "Why destroy the interactive art pre-maturely? Why not interact with it fully-and then recycle/dismantle/and I hope re-use the materials. I have realized that I cannot understand ALL that happens at my favorite event, Tell me about your interaction with the Machine- were you a slave?

Peacekeeper · Post by **Peacekeeper** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:31 pm

well i had loads of fun spinning the wheels for the first day or two... that was fun...

but i felt a bit spectatorfied by the demolition on friday... which was for safety reasons i know, but it still felt like watching a show, and not being involved.

vis a vis it being destroyed rather than dismantled and rebuilt - its their art, they can do what they like.....

Ken Wheels · Post by **Ken Wheels** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:34 pm

How many people didn't even see the Machine? Tell me-I'm dying to know, this piece was funded with an enormous grant so DID YOU SEE THE MACHINE? OR NOT?

The CO · Post by **The CO** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:26 pm

I missed the actual deconstruction, but I had a GREAT time watching the sun rise from the top of the structure on the morning it was to be destroyed. The wife & I hung out with a new playa friend and chatted with one of the several artists involved in the design. Good memories for me personally.

But to answer the question...

I was not a slave. Quite the reverse, we sat on top and demanded that passers by move the wheels so we could get the view of the sun coming up that we wanted.

I did see it, I did interact with it, I thought the mechanics of it were brilliant, but I didn't see it come down.

Is that what you're looking for?

Ken Wheels · Post by **Ken Wheels** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:34 pm

Yes! Thank You! That is what I'm looking for, mostly what bothers me is that the structure was destroyed Friday and thousands of burners didn't get to see the thing let alone interact with it. What I saw Friday night was ONE guy in a giant crane, with a granite wrecking ball, having his way destroying the thing-Hardly what I would call Interactive Art. If I am missing something about what went on Please Enlighten Me- thousands of you saw Critical Tits but so far 3 of us have mentioned the Machine- What Gives?

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:13 pm

Here ya go:

"Near the end of the week (I forget if it was Thursday or Friday) the machine was to be torn down. It was built in such a way that the whole thing would fall apart if three pins were pulled out. On the night of the destruction, the machine was surrounded by hundreds of people and huge ropes were attached to the pins. People pulled rhythmically on the ropes for about a half hour with absolutely no effect: apparently the designers had underestimated the total weight or overestimated the strength of a crowd of crazed burners.

Anyway, after a half hour of failure, they decided that it was hopeless to pull it down with just people power, so a giant DPW (Department of Public Works) truck with a huge winch was attached to one of the ropes and it started to tug. But still, no luck: the structure was too heavy for that. After some consultation, they decided that maybe the truck should pull from a different direction, and finally after moving the truck, the winch was capable of pulling out the pin, but the machine, instead of falling apart, only tilted slightly in the direction of the missing pin.

But it was clear that this tiny tilt was enough to unweight the other two pins, and huge gangs of human volunteers started tugging on the ropes connected to the other two pins and within a minute or two, they managed to pull out the remaining pins, and the machine, as advertised, collapsed. "

http://www.geometer.org/bm2005/

Looks like they did have a community-oriented tear-down planned but it didn't go as planned.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:18 pm

I was a little surprised at the briefness of its tenure on the playa...Shows the value of getting out there early, what with (even gigantic) things coming and going like that. I was glad that I climbed up inside while I had the chance!

Ken Wheels · Post by **Ken Wheels** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:08 pm

Hugh Thank You for your insight-I would not have known this without your participation. Does anyone remember David Bests first temple in 2000- that piece was burned on Thursday night, I remember the freezing cold rain (it SNOWED in Tahoe that night!) You could have showed up at Burning Man Thursday and you would never know the thing existed. There lies the value of a single photograph![/img]

PlayaPetal · Post by **PlayaPetal** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:24 pm

I missed it - but I have seen some great pics.