The Machine - Artworks inspired by The Machine

omtaiyoqi · Post by **omtaiyoqi** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:58 pm

I had a great experience with The Machine this year. I met Tom Hall while he was sketching the ruins of the Machine. Tom is one of 20 people designed and created this incredible machine in the last year and a half. In our conversation, Tom said the Machine was scheduled to be destroyed by Playa Participants to make a number of statements. The destruction of the Machine gave me a new meaning to the word "mandala". A sand mandala took days or weeks to create and destroyed in seconds. Before talking with Tom, I didn't know the Machine was to be destroyed. When I was free on Saturday morning to photographed the Machine thoroughly, it was already in ruined. As an engineer, I know what a monumental task it was to create this art work. I remembered how exciting it was to climb up the Machine and be part of its moving cogs and wheels, an excitement I felt when I was a child. For a few minutes I no longer exist. What exits was the marvel and beauty of The Machine.

If you experienced The Machine, you may find the photographs and artworks inspired by The Machine are in these webpages meaningful.

http://www.webarches.com/omtaiyo/pics/b ... chine4.htm
http://www.webarches.com/omtaiyo/pics/b ... ctures.htm

Best,
Tom T.

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 6:18 pm

I'd love to see some photographs of the flame thrower procession prior to the collapse on Friday night. Anyone have any to share?

omtaiyoqi · Post by **omtaiyoqi** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:23 pm

ThinkCooper, Marc might know of flame throwers pics . Did you check
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=10953

Let me know if you find them.
-T

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:10 pm

omtaiyoqi wrote:ThinkCooper, Marc might know of flame throwers pics . Did you check
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=10953

Let me know if you find them.
-T

No luck on flamethrowers from the Friday night Machine procession. I'll keep looking@!

camengine · Post by **camengine** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:23 am

I was invited to be part of the fire performance team that circled 'The Machine' before its demise. I would love to get photos and/or video of the 'Mothtrap' with the Pyrocussion team I was performing with that night, if it exists..

This year was my first visit to Burning Man, and Pyrocussion became my way to 'participate'. We also played at the Angel of the Apocalypse and a few other places. There are a few photos of the Pyrocussion team at Marc's photo page.. thanks for those Marc. If anyone out there can help, please post a note.

I believe, the 'flame thrower' performers you speak of on the ground utilized 'recreational flamethrowers' made by Bob 'Bonefire' Hofmann, the creator of the Pyrocussion instrument I played on. Lucky for you, thinkcooper, Bob lives near you in Aptos..you may get to see one up close and personal someday soon..

The Machine - Artworks inspired by The Machine

The Machine - Artworks inspired by The Machine

Performances before the Machine went down..