2004 Art Installations

The Sun is ninety-three million miles from the Earth, a distance so large that it is beyond the comprehension of most humans. We know how long a mile is because we can walk it — we understand how far Tokyo might be since we can imagine how long it would take to get there. But how big is our solar system, which, huge as it is, is inconsequentially tiny in comparison to our galaxy, one of billions? Most people are not even conscious of the vast scale of this little planetary system we call home. In conceiving of this project, we have come to stand in awe of it. We invite others to stand with us.”1 to 2.7 Billion” is a precise scale model of the solar system, extending from Center Camp to the farthest reaches of the playa, inviting participants to appreciate the reality of our isolation.
URL: www.2point7.org

11:11 Diamond Portal is a structure manifesting the threshold to the next dimension we are approaching. It houses the Quasar Wave Transducer, a device that transduces the transmissions of quasars into a complex sonic waveform that is both audible and physical.

The Observerorry is an observatory with a spin. (An orrery is an apparatus showing the relative positions and motions of bodies in the solar system by balls moved by a clockwork.)

The heavenly bodies rotate and orbit in circles and ellipses in space; planets spin their way through the cosmos in a circular motion. A steel gazebo containing dozens of orbiting planet-like elements driven by the wind reflects the spins and orbits of the universe. In the center of the gazebo is an abstract representation of the Earth spinning on its axis and lit from within at night. Surrounding the upper reaches of the gazebo is a Saturn-like ring depicting the 12 signs of the Zodiac. COSMOS is an abstract microcosmic representation of the macrocosmic order of the universe.
URL: www.zenzibar.com/bman/BM2004/default.htm

A metallic pyramidal alien mothership and its nine robot rovers have landed at the Black Rock Desert. By day the solar-powered rovers will roam the playa.

This large kinetic white light sculpture features twelve lines of light whose formation and dynamics are controlled by participants.

A rest area for the explorers of the Cosmos, Ambient Armchairs is a place to relax and to be with the magnificence of the sky above and the desert below, within a never-ending stream of soundscapes. Open and operating 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, 60 seconds a minute. Seats 6 people.
URL: malchik.net/aae/

Plato’s term Anemnesis means “the act of remembering what we already know.” Up to one hundred round 6" paintings of interstellar space scenes represent the Cosmic Ancestry Theory.

“Close your eyes and hold your breath. Prepare to fall into the sky.” As Above, So Below is that magic space on the playa where you can see yourself becoming one with the heavens above. A space for reflection…
URL: pauseandponder.homestead.com

Astrokhan is a model city of the future, like those found in World’s Fairs. The entire city – buildings, streets, monuments, radio telescopes and other urban architecture – exists within a 30′ equilateral triangle.

An ancient race of extraterrestrials from the Proxima Centauri system, visiting Earth for the first time, chose the Playa as an ideal location for touchdown. The aliens perished when exposed to the unexpectedly high levels of oxygen in our atmosphere, but their tetrahedron-shaped landing craft is still functional. All of its remaining power cells have been put to use powering an enormous beacon, calling others of their race to make the 4.2 light year trip to Earth. Are they hostile, or friendly? Who knows. All one can do is sit beneath the enormous beacon-craft, watching the skies…
URL: dusk.org/beacon/

“Black Hole of Desire” is an interactive installation using video projection, sound equipment, PC based interactive software, and a round video projection screen mounted on a 10′ x 10′ wall. We are using the metaphor of a black hole – a dense force drawing all matter around it inexorably into it – to portray the human capacity to relentlessly desire, never reaching a point of stasis.

Upon entering this polyagonal dome, one must leave behind all earthly posessions in order to objectively observe and be observed within space completely void of light and time. “Even the blind man sees the cosmos, become unseen in seeing the unseen, and the vault of heaven shall open unto thee.”
A Saturn’s ring-like protrusion extends from the Bobservatory, and may be accessed for heavenly viewing once internal initiation has been achieved.
Near the Bobservatory participants may enter the Polaroidascope, where they can photograph Uranus as viewed from behind a Black Hole.
URL: malchik.net/aae/

Using a hemispherical projection system within a dome, Bok Globule presents immersive nightly tours of the vaults of heaven. Based on Carter Emmart’s Digital Universe, a highly accurate three-dimensional map, it takes participants on interactive journeys that span from our own solar system out to the very edges of the cosmos. Viewers, seated on gravity couches can see video works about space, time and the cosmos in between tours of the universe. On the outside of the dome, the sequenced patterns of Leo Villareal’s Supercluster beckon people from across the playa. The installation is active from dusk to dawn and closed during the day.
or carter (at) amnh (dot) org

A “mouse-trap” contraption launches a shooting star, which contains a message to you from the cosmos.

A large, hollow metal pod emits subtle sounds and mysterious lights. Upon approach, the vertical pod responds to one’s presence; entering and climbing around its intricate interior excites the cell-like organism to louder and brighter responses.
URL: www.michaelchristian.com

Walking across the playa at night, stars overhead, whole universes unseen, it feels like you are stepping over the face of the moon. In the distance you see faint lights, and the playa earth looks stripped back, ruptured from the inside out.
You walk through ripped earth, zigzagging to reach the center. Once there, you see a large thin Chasm, stretching through the buckled playa. Arcane periscopes are pointing down into it, as if inserted there by an earlier civilization. There are portholes to look through, and as you do so you see the cosmos below the flat earth on which you stand. Except the heavenly bodies on the other side are closer, much closer.
URL: www.horg.com/chasm/

Chimera’s Chimes is a groined vault with arches facing out in four directions. The sructure is steel covered with a wire filigree depicting the creation of the cosmos and the four cardinal directions. In the center hang a series of copper tubes tuned to various cosmically chosen tones that sound their notes when agitated. Chimera’s Chimes is a place for ritual, drumming, contemplation, or playing with the chimes.

When we look above into the night sky, we see the moon, the stars, and the planets. While we focus on them as individual, discrete objects in the cosmos, we also know that they are held together by invisible strings of connectedness that we learn to call gravity or space-time. The unique constellations and movements of these heavenly bodies gives meaning to all of our lives as we too spin and move in space. “Constellations” honors these invisible strings, the space in-between the cosmos, our memories, and the matter around us. It is envisioned as a connective, participatory piece that signifies particular connective arrangements within a celebratory Black Rock City playatime and playaspace. It will be a participant-reconfigurable set of elements at the city limits where playaspace merges into a greater void beyond. It will consist of three pieces anchored in three modes of space-time: one in the cosmos, one in memory, and one in matter.

A walk-in canvas cocoon contains a luminuous painting of the birth of the universe at the time of the formation of the stars, which are depicted as mandalas emerging from clouds of gases. The painting is accompanied by sounds creating a sense of deep space.

All that we are and perceive, including the fundamental foundation of the earth itself, is truly in motion through the larger Cosmos. In the stillness of the vast desert, Black Rock City rotates through endless spirals, mostly outside of our awareness. The Cosmic Dance brings this perpetual motion into the realm of our ordinary senses, using a centuries-old yet still relevant technology, the Foucault Pendulum. The continual spinning of our planet Earth, and the passage of what we call time, can be remarked as the pendulum swings, pegs are toppled at regular intervals, and audible tones are emitted by the resonant harmonics of Celestial Motion.

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight… the Cosmic Wish Launching Machine is a hand-operated Rube Goldberg-type of machine with mechanical and electronic sound effects.

A radiant object, part meteorite, part spaceship, has crash-landed on the playa. Its wooden structure supports a large inflatable pod which acts as a reflector for spotlights concealed within it.
URL: www.akairways.com/crashlanding.shtml

A digital Tin Man comes to life when his finger is touched by the participant, playing the role of God.

Deeper is a stroboscopic zoetrope depicting a diver plunging through the four elements of our limited reality: earth, air, fire and water.

No cosmology would be complete without its Earth-battering comet: a planet-sized mass of ice and rock on a dangerous orbit, slowly circling the solar system on a long ellipse. Not just any comet, but the one our distant ancestors worshipped as a god and made sacrifice to: Tiamat, Pallas, Quetzalcoatl. Zoroastrians called it Lucifer, the fallen angel. And to the Babylonians it was Typhon, the destroyer of worlds. Built on a square and solid frame of two full-sized American cars, The End features a 20-foot spherical nucleus and an integral tail, surfaced in a basket-weave of reeds and light wire that, when illuminated from within, will give the appearance of a burning asteroid. A slowly rotating central armature, coated in a mosaic of reflective “space junk,” will refract a kaleidoscope of orange light inside the sphere, which will be broken up once again as it spills through the gaps in the comet’s fractured surface. Additional lighting will project backward, beaming through the tail and illuminating its reflective surfaces. The End is a rolling comet on eight wheels, with a glowing 20-foot nucleus and a brilliant tail. Inspired by the controversial scholarship of Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky, author of the notorious Worlds in Collision, The End is a global vector of catastrophism and pseudo-science, a mobile sphere of influence on an intercept course with our most deeply held superstitions about the night sky. Science will square science fiction, Shibboleths will be shattered, and the survivors will go home telling stories about the great comet of ’04, and how it moved them.

Communication is possible… Therm presents… an other… worldly… experience… transmissions… to space… through… fire… light… sound… and electricity.
URL: www.therm.biz

The GravityBowl is unlike any other vehicle you’ve ever been in. It’s omni-directional, meaning that is has no front or back. It can move in any direction and smoothly transition between directions. It can spin in place. It can spin while moving in a straight line. Its computer-controlled micro-controllers allow for complex waltz-like pre-programmed movement sequences.
URL: www.gravitybowl.com

A metallic latticework arch contains glowing lights depicting stars, reflective material, glowing planet models, small spaceships, beckoning angels… items that reflect our relationship to the heavens.

A live video feed of the Sun, Moon, Saturn, Venus, a few constellations, and the star Aldebaran will be projected onto a big screen inside the Observatory. The images come from a video camera attached to a 10" Newtonian telescope. By day the full orange disk of the sun will be projected. You will be able to see sun spots and also get a feeling for how the sun rotates. By night the projection will be primarily the full disk of a full moon. Around 4am Saturn and Venus will be visible as a couplet, and the constellations Orion and Perseus will rise, followed by the star Aldebaran, the Eye of Revelation, used by the ancients in navigation. It is approximately 40 times the size of our sun, and rises just before day break.

With heightened senses and hungry minds, earthlings are invited to explore their very existence inside this museum of the metaphysical. Starting from deep within the mind and spanning through the vault of heaven to the farthest reaches of reality, explorers will gain wisdom and insight to many mysteries and questions of our existence. Provided with Cosmic Spectacles of Infinity, prepare to be plunged into an entirely three-dimensional environment. Learn about unexplained and altogether dismissed anomalies of our time and space. Participants will come to realize that the lines we draw – the borders of our minds and the barriers of science- are not so definite.

A massive object born of the cosmos, Jadu Beta descends into the playasphere. Looming in the distance, animated by the wind, it awaits our approach. Adventure near to this astral body and discover an organism whose form mimics fractal imagery and the architecture of cellular membranes. Tunnel through its thick walls, built of an intricate network of organic shapes, touch its translucent skin, and discover an inner sanctum alive with other-worldly sounds. Space is the primary material for this conceptional entity, a physical manifestation of Inflation Theory. Describing this idea of parallel universes, scientist Max Tegmark writes “Our universe and contiguous regions of space is a bubble embedded in an even vaster but mostly empty volume. Other bubbles exist out there, disconnected from ours…”

The swirling colors on the outer walls of this structure were originally created over 2,000 miles away on the side of a barn in the middle of a cornfield. As a gift to Black Rock City, they’ve been transplanted here in their new form: a wondrous swirling silo with a platform for star-gazing, whose only roof is the canopy of stars high above. The soft sounds emanating are perfect for quiet conversations and galaxy-finding.

The wide open Black Rock Desert offers a unique context within which to build a scale model that can impress upon the viewer (more accurately than mere statistics) the size of our universe and our significance within it. In this model, The Observatory represents the center of our solar system, the sun. “Little Blue Planet” is a model of the planet earth whose size and distance in relation to The Observatory is proportional to the size and distance of planet earth in relation to the sun.

On orbiting this constellation of fragile oil lamps, one may discover a galaxy, mirroring those above, with its own central bluge and “milky way” effect visible on a personal scale “M” is the designation in one nomenclature given to galaxies as celestial objects.
URL: www.quietamerican.org/bm2004.html

Out in the deep unknown, erupting from beneath the playa surface, appears a vast city of an unusual composition. To those who wander through it, it might be a place of peace and serenity, where existence is based upon thought and awareness. Those who gaze into it from afar might see nothing but a spiralling pattern of light, much like what humans see when they peer deep into the night sky toward places untold.
Upon encountering this world the mind is free to explore and wonder where this place came from and why it might be here…

Once in a blue moon you deserve to cry for it. A lunatic climbs a ladder to paint the moon with purest light; moon away your time by discovering the sense in its shine. Be prepared to be moonstruck by this fluorescending sculpture.

A life-sized Apollo astronaut floats above the playa, having planted the American flag.

Sixty-five hundred light-years from Earth, there is an ovoid, luminous (and tempestuous!) cloud of gases and other matter approximately 10 light-years in diameter. Near the middle of this cloud – the Crab Nebula – is a pulsar which spews out energy 100,000 times faster than our Sun.
Visitors will be drawn to our model of the Crab Nebula by the mysterious wispy glow of its cloud and the flashing of its “pulsar”. As they get nearer, it will at first appear that there is no way to walk inside the cloud. On closer inspection they will find several winding paths to the center. The colors, textures, wire and propane jets will evoke a swirl of raw electromagnetic energy. There will be space to sit or lie and take in the experience of being inside a nebula. All the power needed by Nebula will be provided by another star, the sun.
URL: www.schardt.org/nebula

In space, the physical laws that govern motion may be demonstrated with a simplicity and clarity that appears almost eerie to the earthbound observer. A spacecraft set rotating by the blast of a rocket will spin forever, or stop suddenly when an equal opposing force is applied. Newton’s wheel suggests an abstract object spinning in the void; vistors operate the fiery rockets to control its motion.
URL: www.sonic.net/~mattpb

From Black Rock City, a gateway leads participants to the Nova System where cosmic laws do not apply. Here, unusual planetoids stand in static orbit around a fiery, swirling sun. On the outskirts of this System is an active graph representing the gravational forces of the sun. Mad scientist stations are interspersed outside of the System, controlling the operations of planetoids and other galactic bodies. A mysterious monolith makes an electrifying interaction with the Sun.

Two 100" tall sticks of LEDs display persistence-of-vision images from the Vault of Heaven in 12 bit RGB color.

On the horizon sits a mirage, a shimmering mosaic vault of reflected light, a 10x10x10ft hollow cube made of 125 panels of two-way mirror. During the daytime, it is a sparkling jewel, beckoning people to gaze at the mountains, the playa and their own refracted reflection. Meanwhile, in the vault’s dim interior, those inside will (while remaining unseen), observe those on the outside observing their own reflections… in a most voyeuristic way.
As the sun fades, a transformation occurs: illuminated by a giant mirrored ball, those on the inside will see themselves reflected to infinity on the mirrored walls. But now they cannot see through the two-way mirror to the dark night outside. Instead, those standing
outside the cube become the unseen observers: watching the revelers in the translucent sparkling interior, while remaining unseen.

At Burning Man 2002, hundreds of messages were sent over a lightbeam to the stars via the Ship to Ship project. Now, a closed manifold of spacetime has turned the light of these messages back to the playa. Look at the blinking stars through the optical acoustic telescopes and hear the messages return to earth.
URL: www.mad-scientists.com

Swirling Orbital Winds whip the Earth, Sun and Stars. The dust of the cosmos splashes through the funnels of creation, splicing in and out of yet viewed dimensions in this wind-spinned mosaic of celestial harmonies.

The Pagoda uses optical technology to link heaven and earth. It is a study in repetition and, like a giant wooden diffraction grating, the structure’s repetitive symmetry interacts with sunlight and moonlight to generate a myriad of alternating bright lines and dark shadows on the playa surface. A collaborative project, the Pagoda plays host to several pieces of art, the largest of which continues the repetitive theme. Inside, the Vault of Infinity–an elaborate infinite mirror–invites reflection on the infinities within us. On Wednesday night, after a city-wide processional, the upper tower of the Pagoda will be fired into heaven in a blaze of color, consuming the entire structure in flame.
URL: wizzard.com/bm2004/plan.html

Like the paper moons from 1920s photo studios, this crescent moon invites you to nestle into its curve and pose for a picture.

While the Vault of Heaven does not necessarily involve a place called heaven, historically, it has implied a world which is outside ours. The pearly gates, the portal to another world, are certainly outside our present reality. Simply by walking through these gates you may try another world… experience something better than reality, perhaps…
URL: www.rodmanstudio.com

From the apex of a linear pyramid, a live star map from that GPS location is projected onto the playa floor in monochromatic green. Star and planet names will be shown with the outlines of the constellations plainly visible.

Quasars are the oldest and most distant objects we can observe, producing immense quantities of light and radio waves. It is only fitting that an antique radio be used to interpret these ancient signals. Visitors use a large silver knob to select from an infinite variety of quasi-stellar radio stations, and a laser display provides graphical interpretations of the sound.
URL: nosuch.com/tjt/bm/radio/

A glass-blowing studio features a 14′ glass Phoenix, whose feathers will be made by participants on site, and will be used to complete its wings. Once the wings are complete, the cycle of the Phoenix begins with a hot glass performance, and continues as participants use the Internet to create the Diaspora of the Phoenix, a global sculpture. The feathers will be stamped with a website URL; when participants return home they can log into the site and indicate the location of their feather. A global sculpture will result, consisting of the area defined by the locations, and transferred onto a world map. We are creating constellations – not in the sky but right here on our planet.

The Seven Sisters are a cluster of flaming stars surrounding a massive spinning sculpture which shoots spiraling plumes of fire 100 feet into the sky.
URL: burningart.com/mizpoon/seven_proposal.doc

The fundamental theory of angular momentum animates several important theories of the universe, including the discovery that even galaxies spiral toward a central point. That central point is called a singularity. It’s the point at the center of a black hole where matter accelerates and is stretched towards – something that is beyond our understanding.
The gleaming silver Singularity Machine is a 25′ marvel of machinery that serves as the cradle for towering yellow-orange vortexes of fire. The fire represents a possible model for the path of time as it speeds toward a singularity. A colossal column of flame is produced as burning fuel is introduced into a cauldron of swirling air generated by the machine’s three rings of powerful fans. The shining metal skins glow with the reflection of the amazing spectacle above: tightly twisted coils of spinning fire, licking at the sapphire skies of empyreal night.
URL: www.fire-arts.com

Combining tips, tricks, and techniques from ancient astrolabes and nocturnals with playa-resistant art, SkySHow provides observers with simple keys to unlock, explore, and understand the nightly sky show.

By adopting the name Sol, we pay tribute to the science, tradition and power of our sun and the light it bestows upon us. To honor this burning star, we assume the responsibility of preserving the sun’s light throughout the dark of night. Daylight is absorbed and stored in the stones of our monolithic observatory. The pulsing glow of these stones, synchronized to the beat of music, keeps the sunlight active while our earthly bodies, through the motion of dance, continually fuel the energy of the light. This pulsing light is then shot, at the speed of sound, down a single ray 1000 feet into the playa and caught by a statue of a human figure receiving the gift of sunlight. Throughout the night, participants will interactively release a solar flare – a burst of light rippling across the entire installation. At sunrise, we return the power of light to the Sun.

Sound Sun Pleasure is a device that people can enter to rearrange the stars in the night sky, and contains an extra little treat.

The sixth century Greek scientist Pythagorus spent twenty years in Egypt studying, developing and testing his theories: art and science are inseparable and their common numerical origins contain the secret of harmony and health. He observed that Natural Phenomena, especially of the astronomical world, may be expressed in mathematical formulas. Numbers are not only the symbols of reality, they are the very substance of real things. 1 is the point, 2 is the line, 3 is the surface, and 4 the solid. 10 is the perfect number, as the sum of 1+2+3+4 = the point, the line, the surface and the solid. In addition, the union of pervasive and observable opposites constitutes the harmony of the real world. The ten heavenly bodies (stars, planets, sun, moon and earth) all move in the Harmony of the Spheres at speeds proportionate to distance and thus create musical tones, Musica Mundana or Music of the Spheres, the sound of which is so exquisite and omnipresent that it governs all temporal cycles, such as seasons, biological cycles, and all the rhythms of nature. This sculpture implements a spiral sequence following the pathway of the Sun over 24 hours with 48 tetrahedrons of progressive size designed using as inspiration, the “root of eternal nature” or Tetrad of Pythagorus. This huge spiral wil allow visually focused exploration of the Heavens and the shapes marking the playa surface below. Music based on Pythagorian calculations will be presented as will Egyptian pagentry.
URL: www.burningmanopera.org/2004/2004_spiral_eye.html

A sparkling silver star hangs from the apex of a glowing linear pyramid, which changes color each day. Desert wanderers may take a glow stick from the pyramid to light their way home.

We are part of the machine of the universe; wheels turn within wheels propelling us through an uncertain cosmos. Star Wheel is a twenty-two foot diameter rolling Ferris wheel. The inner wheel is a bicycle ferris wheel powered by three riders. It sits within a larger wheel, which looks like two giant bicycle wheels side by side with the rims connected by stancheons. The spokes of the wheels form a five pointed star. Participants can climb Star Wheel and mount the seats of the ferris wheel. Pedaling the cranks spins the wheel; the spinning wheel propels Star Wheel across the playa. The inner wheel resembles our life routines – waking, eating, sleeping…. the outer wheel represents our larger life path – commitments, loyalties, goals and dreams.

The StarField is a glimmering, blinking field of lights designed to evoke the universe as it would be if humans could see color at night. From a distance, pure changing hues beacon an invitation to the weary playa traveler to come and explore their own pocket universe. Tributes to past art installations will be recognized by longtime Burning Man attendees.

On the open playa, a cluster of long thin flexible poles grow from the playa like sinuous hairs. The sun’s rays provides energy during the day. At night, bright lights dangle from these poles, moving with the wind with the wind. The participant wanders into a sea of captured stars, bobbing above their heads.

Inflatable Systems presents an expanded family of giant inflatable stars (stellated dodecohedra) from 2m up to 15m in size. These tactile pieces are scattered onto the playa as if crash-landed from space. Pure in math and colour, the white crystalline environment by day turns into a surreal arena of coloured glowing forms at night, also becoming exquisitely animated in the playa winds like huge alien anemones. Our spiralling Firetube slices through this galactic environment like a burning transtellar worm.
URL: www.designsinair.com
or info (at) designsinair (dot) com

A 10′-tall wire frame head ponders existence while holding a spinning galaxy in the palm of its hand.

The watchers of the night sky report sightings of an unidentified curiosity – a strange, luminous, disk shaped craft flying high above the open playa, then stopping in mid course, shooting down laser beams, and darting off again… to who knows where.

Sunrise Moonbase is a remote, lost mission in the far reaches of the Playa.

The sundial was invented in 3000 BC by the Sumerians, the citizens of Sumer in southern Iraq, the first city in recorded history. The Sumerians invented a base 60 mathematical system, the 360 degree circle, and the measurement of time. They worshiped many gods and believed that they controlled natural forces and were associated with astronomical bodies, such as the sun. Sumerians were struck by the wondrous regularity of the movement of the heavens and speculated that this movement might contain some secret to the intentions of the gods. So the Sumerians invented astrology, and astrology produced the most sophisticated astronomical and mathematical knowledge ever seen to that date. Synchronicity is a sundial sculpture inspired by the community of Burning Man. The sundial is cradled in an abstract of Black Rock City. As the heavens move across the sky the Synchronicity displays the solar time as a showdown cast inside the sphere held within the city abstract.
URL: www.manicmechanics.org/sundial1.htm

Somewhat grander in scale than previous temples, but horizontal rather than vertical, the Temple of Stars arcs a quarter mile across the Playa, inspired by Japanese sculptural landscapes. A central Temple, 40′ wide by 100′ high, is surrounded by walkways, platforms, and fabricated gardens. Walkways will extend to smaller towers at each compass point. Further outposts will extend from the left and right of the Temple, in turn leading to a bridge on each side. Long approach paths lead up to each bridge. Benches and other contemplation areas will be set up along these paths. The entire structure will be primarily composed of wood, with some metal support elements.
As with previous Temple projects, it will be a place for participants to reflect, honor, remember, and celebrate those they have lost.

On the surface of a 16′ luminous time capsule, featuring over 4000 feet of animated el wire on a 512 channel sequencer, the stars and planets appear out of nowhere and disappear into infinite space. A central alien console allows visitors to transport themselves into hyperspace, traveling light years to a distant planet. Deep inside the planet’s very core, continents revolve around TerraSphere’s axis. Barely audible sounds emanate from the sphere as if all the sounds from the past and present are still out there, traveling through the vault of heaven.

To Infinity and Beyond is a nighttime audio show at the “Observatory” (a 35-foot diameter space on the Playa floor). The Observatory is marked by a ring of 10-foot vertical masts with softly twinkling lights. At night, visitors hear recorded messages about the stars, the cosmos, and the vault of heaven.

On the distant playa rests the 10′ X 10′ corpse of a creature from a place unknown to any human eye. This unearthly bleached carcass, with no discernable human characteristics, symbolizes the unknowable descendants of the Vault of Heaven. It represents a simple possibility of what might be, yet only exists now as a parched weathered husk of its former incarnation. One can only wonder what it experienced as it crashed to earth and perished in the Black Rock desert, alone, so long ago.

A trio of tweaked infinite mirrors within a mirrored environment creates altered views of space, time, and the humans viewing them. The Infinity Drill punches visual holes in empty space using light. The Wormhole displays a spinning multitude of reflections suggesting an alternate galaxy. The Face Flipper reverses left and right to show viewers their faces the way others see them, displays the backs of people’s heads, and spins to twirl it all around. Photons are the only evidence available that the Vault of Heaven exists, but can they really be trusted?
URL: wizzard.com/bm2004/observatory.html

A UFO has landed on the playa and may be entered safely. Once inside participants can use the switches, potentiometers and sensors on a control board to alter its lighting patterns.

In this interactive media installation, participants can visualize their place, both large and small, in the universe. As children or adults, we lie under the stars and wonder what is beyond. It is this sense of wonder that keeps us engaged in living our lives… we are driven by our sense of endless possibilities.

An 8′ X 8′ pachinko machine uses ping pong balls to represent planets/celestial bodies bouncing through galaxies of pins.

The Vault Altitude eXperiment (VAX) is a construction of laser beams that end at the top of a dusty layer of air, far up in the sky. Two lasers 1000 feet apart aim four beams to two other points 6000 feet (2km) above the ground, where the beams seem to disappear because the air above is cleaner. This reveals the height of the Planetary Boundary Layer, which is full of dust and vapor from the earth’s surface, lofted there by the heat of the sun. VAX suggests the end of the earth’s atmosphere at the boundary of space (which is actually much higher, at 100km). It also serves as a scientific instrument because it reveals the unseen workings of nature. As the earth’s surface cools during the night, it is expected that the height of VAX will change. Who knows. It’s an experiment.

The Wheel is a ritual-oriented interactive installation representing the eight holy days of the earth year as they relate to the cycles of the sun and moon. The alignment of these two universal bodies governs the rythms created on the home planet.

On the horizon is a small white house. The white picket fence, white tree and glowing window all have a sense of ghostly familiarity. Entering a darkened bedroom one discovers a bed, an end table, a shelf with a few books and a window. Everything is white, undefined – even the books have no words and the white picture frames hold a field of white. Participants can rest their tired bodies on the bed and watch the lights of a car come through the window and slide across the wall, onto the ceiling and away. They will be left alone with distant sounds of the hum of cars and of trees rustling in the breeze; nearby a dog barks and another joins in. Far away a train rumbles by while soft sounds of footsteps, talking and laughter pass outside the window.
Deep in outer space participants will find themselves in the last place they would have expected. They will find themselves at home.

YOU ARE HERE is an interactive map of the earth and sky. A magic window shows participants the constellations, stars, and planets. The horizon, and the continents below, are visible in outline, making it possible to look down through the earth and see the stars on the other side.
URL: nixfiles.com/youarehere/