Almost Done!

Twenty five days until we launch out of here with a trailer full of Vishnu's Dream. And "The List" is down to a few days of miscellaneous work plus the painting party. So... I may have time to have a life this summer after all!

I've gotten wonderful support from Carla who sewed the lotus petals (that saved me a week of work) and Terri who sewed the windmill petals this weekend.

Here's a picture of the cone with the fabric on it and one of Carla's petals. It's finally looking like something!

Burning Man confirms great placement for Vishnu's Dream!

Burning Man confirmed that the location for Vishnu's Dream will be in the 9:00 plaza (also called "keyhole"). This is one of the two most coveted spots for art to be displayed since there is lots of action in the plazas meaning that lots of people will see it. So... woohoo!

Also, we have confirmation that B-man will be paying for our entry plus for our set up crew's entry. Further affirmation that this folly is worth the effort!

Now the pressure is on to be sure it all works right, survives the wind and gets there in good condition. Hope to try out the camera obscura mechanism this weekend. Then next weekend it's the painting party (see blog entry below) and we're just about done!

Mark Your Calendar!

Vishnu's Dream is nearly built so mark your calendar for the send off party which will be held at Joe's house the evening of Saturday, August 22nd at 6:30PM. Just like Burning Man, this will be a "Leave No Trace" event: bring something edible to share and your own plates and utensils, etc. We'll have Vishnu's Dream set up for viewing and you'll be able to go inside it, etc.

If you can't visit for the party in the evening stop by Saturday anytime or Sunday morning because we'll be in the process of erecting it and then taking it down and packaging it for travel.

Also.... I'm hoping to have a painting party to get the mural scenes painted on Sunday, August 9, location TBD. Bring a paint roller and tray and old clothes and have some fun!

Stickers Arrive!

Check out the sticker I made for playa gifting!

You can get one too without having to go to Burning Man - just contribute to the greater good of the project by donating time or $ and I'll send you one (or more) to put on your water bottle or car or intergalactic transport vehicle. Cool, huh??

Here's how you can contribute: Just go to the SUPPORT link on my web site and click on the PayPal link. Credit cards or PayPal accepted! Or show up for the painting party which I'm hoping to hold sometime around August 1st through 8th. (details soon). Lots of other tasks to help with too. Use the CONTACT link on the website to send an e-mail if interested. And if you do contribute, be sure to send me an e-mail with your address so I can mail you a sticker.

We're also working on flags that will be on the guy straps that have the same image on them. For $20 donation we'll give you one of those too!

To date we have received nearly half of the project costs from generous donors and dozens of hours of labor. Your support really helps both in terms of time or dollars but also psychologically in validating your interest in this insanity!!

Thanks!

Joe

Rope Lights

The rope lights work! How cool is that?? At Burning Man I'll be using controllers that allow the option of turning these lights on full time, or they can "chase" or I can have them be sound sensitive, pulsing when people talk or to the beat of music - that might be fun.

You can see in the photo that the top portion is shaping up. It's mostly done. It took quite a while to get the proportions right but I think it looks pretty good now. I welded the base drum today. A few more days of smaller tasks and then I can begin sewing the cone and drum covers....

Stay tuned!

Friends Save Artist's Sanity!!

Seems like whenever I get bit overwhelmed with this project someone lends a helping hand! Deedee came over Monday and spent the whole day, painting poles and a wonderfully creative cobra on the generator enclosure. And Carla has finished the cobras that will wrap around the anchor straps - great job Carla! Or someone contributes to the finances and my spirits lift. Deedee says self-doubt is just a normal part of the artistic process: wondering why you put so much time and energy into something, particularly something as ephemeral as Burning Man. But it's that very ephemerality that makes the event so special - blink and it's gone, so plunge in and experience it all, because it will be gone tomorrow.

Above is a picture of Carla with a few of the dozen cobras she sewed and of Deedee painting the generator enclosure.

welding and cutting and brazing - oh my!

Have been so busy welding and cutting and brazing lately that I haven't had time to post a blog entry. Burning Man has the reputation of taking over your life, at least if you do it well, and Vishnu's dream has been no exception.

At this time the top cone sits in the driveway with struts and straps and tubing flailing about. A big challenge was getting everything plumb and leveled so that when it is reassembled on-playa I won't have to take any time  aligning anything - it should all fit together like a pop-up tent and everything will be color coded and numbered which will make reassembly easier.

Welding and brazing have been the biggest tasks to date. Friend Bruce Vaughn helped weld a few weeks ago.  Another friend called Bruce a "tool whore." I thought that was a compliment, after all he has a very cool welding rig that made quick work of the support poles and anchor stakes. Bruce is great for doing male bonding things like creating sparks with tools that can cause explosions or burn down your garage. How cool is that??! Actually Bruce has a little welding shop that he recently built that is as nice as my house. I'm totally jealous...

Assembly of all the parts has been both fun and tedious. Things are fun when you successfully braze together the first tubing socket. Then you realize you have 23 more of these to do! And dozens of other similar tasks.

Hope to finish the cone next weekend then I can try out the camera obscura mechanism and see if the concept actually works!