Five-time burner, first post

Phinneas · Post by **Phinneas** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:25 am

My first burn was '02, and though I didn't make it back home until '06, I've only missed one year, '08, since. Not too shabby for living in Ohio. This year, my cousin is ecstatic to be returning for his second burn, his first having been in '07 when we drove cross-country three days each way.

Each burn surprises me by introducing me to compelling experiences that I hadn't anticipated -- couldn't anticipate, as well as inspiring, life-affirming people. There are a couple of recurring aspects, however. For one, I've been incredibly fortunate to have gotten adopted by like-minded campers who took me in as their neighbor almost five years ago. Then there is the deep playa and my love affair with that ethereal space going back almost nine years now.

Anyway, the funny thing about getting tickets so early this year is that the obsession began as soon as they were purchased in January, when it usually didn't get going until summer. Consequently, I think I may have enough time to pull off my first deep playa art piece. It's a concept that can be downscaled to a guerillla-style set-up if it doesn't get official installation clearance, and even upscaled in a future year to a mutant vehicle. The many months of anticipation and preparation really are as enjoyable as the week itself. Anyway, much love to all my brothers and sisters in BRC!

Post by **Elderberry** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 1:45 am

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

tamarakay · Post by **tamarakay** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 9:41 am

hey there and welcome to eplaya! i hope i find your installation in our wanderings. we too have been on a high since receiving our tickets! phinneas and ferb is my favorite cartoon these days. nothing better than snuggling on the couch with the grandsons and giggling!

shykat · Post by **shykat** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:06 am

What do you plan on making, or is it a secret?

Phinneas · Post by **Phinneas** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 1:12 pm

Thanks, jkisha and tamarakay! It's not a secret, shykat, I just didn't want my introductory post to be all hey-everybody-this-is-my-project-idea. But I appreciate your interest and welcome all critical or constructive feedback.

First, I should give credit to my favorite deep playa art installation from last year, the Black Rock Bijou movie theater with its classic film line-up. The Moroder industrial/pop score to Metropolis rekindled my fascination with synchronicity experiments blending disparate music with moving pictures and letting our pattern-seeking brains smooth over the rough edges. (It's a mode that goes back, at least, to Merry Pranksters on Kesey's ranch playing vinyl to TV images without volume.) I subsequently discovered on my own that b&w silent movies tend to have a uniquely eerie compatibility with electronic music including Dubstep, and so I got to thinking about various possibilities.

The downside to classical cinema on the playa -- to any cinema, really, is the relative passivity typically expected for an engaged audience. However, if some soul-shaking bass is reverbing all around, then the visuals would become a stimulating, but optional, background distraction from the music. The key for my concept is that the audience should feel free to dance or talk with one another. I knew I wanted an open-air deal, both for the ease of not having to erect a large structure, and because the darkness at night would suffice. I was still struggling to figure out a good way to erect a large, sturdy screen when it hit me: there's already a gigantic, wind-averse screen available, the ground of the playa itself!

By rigging a projector unit 40-feet high and pointing straight-down from a PVC-pipe lever that swings atop a 20-ft. PVC tripod fulcrum, a clear-enough image should shine through, more like a ghostly, silver campfire than a Hollywood production. For increased flexibility, the lever could rotate 360 degrees around the fulcrum, weighed down on the other end by a succession of burners buckled into a chair, walking in circles and moving the movie like a prison spotlight.

Ideally, this would also be an opportunity to invite interested DJs to set-up shop alongside the rig and add their reinterpretation in real-time to the flickering stories. I'm also weighing the merits of using original b&w silent movies instead of authentic source material, although there's a growing body of irresistible work that has finally aged past their original copyrights. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been done before, using the playa ground as the screen, but I've never seen it. Has. it. been. done. already?

tamarakay · Post by **tamarakay** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 4:06 pm

ok, now i REALLY want to find your project lol.
and indeed this does sound like something right out of phinneas and ferb.

Post by **Savannah** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 4:07 pm

. . . I'm fascinated!

And no, I have never seen anyone use the ground as a screen, personally. Doesn't mean it hasn't been done, but . . .

Welcome, Phinneas!

Phinneas · Post by **Phinneas** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:57 am

Thanks for the encouragement! Like many burners, I was for years stymied by an exceedingly overly ambitious art project dream: a mutant vehicle that was to be a remodeled city bus, black and buzzing bass on the outside, and on the inside a pastiche of interiors from various historical periods, complemented by a rotating crew of mind-fucking actors, each impersonating a recognizable figure from the past! (Marilyn Monroe, Einstein, etc.) Then this past burn, during the epic duststorm that hit a little after sundown on Thurs. or Fri., I found random refuge in a wonderful, steampunky time-machine art installation between the Man and the Esplanade. That magical discovery liberated me from the shackles of my time-vehicle dream and finally gave me permission to conceive a more practical piece from the ground up.

I'll need to do some night-time tests in low-light pollution areas to confirm the perpindicular projection set-up, and will also need to configure a solar-powered generator, as well as enough EL-wire for safety. But those details aside, it's my goal to keep the materials and design as simple as possible through each stage. We've all seen our share of gifted and valiant burner artists biting off more, or almost more, than they could chew -- and while the results can yield some of the most fantastic and memorable results, I've got to focus more on baby steps, myself, if I'm going to get anything off the ground for starters. That's also why I like the idea of outsourcing as much of the critical music component to any interested DJs who are looking for a novel venue. Anyway, I hope to have a 3D model rendered in the next month or so -- I've been teaching myself 3D Crafter after struggling to learn enough of either Blender and Art of Illusion, but more and more, I'm considering skipping that step and just going ahead and getting the 100-plus feet of PVC pipe and rigging it all up!

graidawg · Post by **graidawg** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:32 pm

in an oddly approriate example of synchronicity i was talking about what you are suggesting ie, listening to slayer while watch marilyn monroe dance in an elavator in old B+W movie (i cant confirm which one) just today it happenned almost 10 years ago but still freaks me out

Phinneas · Post by **Phinneas** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:16 pm

So I just quit my Midwest job of 10 years to take another job out West, in part so I'll be much closer to the burns! Don't get me wrong -- there were other reasons, but I felt swayed by the prospect of cutting my annual 2,000-mile trips down to a third of that, a 12-hour drive. I've been feeling this westward tug for the last several years now, and will be sharing the same coastal city as a couple of campmates from last year and a burner friend from '09!

It's almost like the playa has some kind of strong gravitational field.

Post by **Elderberry** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:26 pm

Savannah wrote:. . . I'm fascinated!

And no, I have never seen anyone use the ground as a screen, personally. Doesn't mean it hasn't been done, but . . .

Welcome, Phinneas!

I'm sure there are others, but the lobby at Harrah's Las Vegas has a great ground/floor projection of a pond with fish swimming in it. If you disturbe the light by stepping "into" the pond, the water actually ripples.

The Hustler · Post by **The Hustler** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:50 pm

Welcome!

Bob Bitchen · Post by **Bob Bitchen** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:17 pm

Welcome

kevin428 · Post by **kevin428** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:56 am

Hey Phinneas, fellow (former)buckeye here...welcome