Tower pix

I'm back from Burning Man and most of the dust has finally settled. The Tower was a big success - we estimate maybe 10,000 people climbed it as it seemed like it always had people on it or around it.


Thanks to the crew: Rigger, Bapu, Bluebeard, Nacho, Cheers and Roller for all the help building and taking down the art on-playa. And thanks to all the many donors: with your generous financial contributions and the Burning Man grant we raised about 80% of the costs!


Here are some photos from the playa:




Before the dust started. Hey, it looks a lot like that photoshopped image of the model above!

The Artist:

The crew:

Night:

 The Octopus art car that shot fire balls from the arms and head:

 Sunset:

Sunrise:

 The Man:

The Temple - largest temporary wood structure in the world at 140 feet tall:

One of my favs:

Ourobourous:

Ready to Go!

The trailer is packed and it all fit! A few days to get everything else ready and then we're off to the playa. Packing for Burning Man is like packing for the moon - you have to bring absolutely everything you need since it's in this completely barren desert and nothing is bought or sold there.


Consulted with Steven aka Rigger tonight regards who's bringing what... extra bolts, two sets of tools so we can run two crews, camp gear,etc., everything down to the cable ties and  wire nuts!


btw, over $900 has been donated to our Kickstarter site but its all or nothing and only 6 days left to go to reach the $2,400 threshold for the funds to be released... pass the word, and thanks to everyone for their support!

Donation Opportunity ( ! )

Set up a donation site on Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1757936152/the-tower-of-transformation?ref=email

Check it out and please pass the link on to fellow burner friends, art supporters and rich uncles! Getting the word out is critical to getting Kickstarter support. Thanks!

DONE! (mostly)

The Tower is mostly done! Looked good for the party last week ( or so I thought) and now is being disassembled for transportation to the playa. Just a few minor items to finish and then on to all the logistical details to get this packaged so that we can remember how it all goes together when we're in the middle of a playa dust storm... Here's a photo of the completed tower:

Hey, howdy! It looks a lot like that photoshopped image of the model above!

ARTIST MEETS ENGINEER (or vice versa??)

Paul and Rex came over yesterday and we assembled the hyperboloid. That's the middle part of the sculpture and the piece I have had the most worry about getting right because there is a lot of math involved in getting the dimensions all to work out. We tried to bend the ribs ourselves but it was just too much work with our little machine, so I got a fabricator to do it. Cost some $ but they did a great job matching my pattern. We did bend the step rings ourselves and yesterday I was thrilled that it all came together as the math predicted. It has been pointed out to me that even though I am aspiring to more explore my artistic dimension when I retire  I couldn't have gotten this built without some engineering background. Well, hopefully my brain can accommodate both the artist and engineer....

Here's a picture of Paul and the hyperboloid. His experience as a climber was a big help this morning using Z-rigs and rappel brakes getting the hyperboloid lowered and raised so we could get the top on.

Here's a guest blog from Steven Wright aka "Rigger" my main man for help both on and off the playa. Couldn't do it without you Rigger!

"Seattle is a good place to find rusty chain and Rigger when he’s not on the Playa.  Jim Dwight of Bowhead Transport  connected us with Rasmussen Marine Supply. He also convinced them to let us “borrow” 200 feet of rusty loggers chain for a few months to install at the base of the tower. The chain is all twenty foot sections of 3/16 to 3/8 steel link chain, used to tie down huge diesel powered winches, windlasses, and lash massive spools of tow cable to decks of barges and tugs that ply the Salish Sea. So this week we went down to their yard to pick it up.

Here is a picture of Jim standing next to ten sections of chain after helping to load them into Rigger’s car, listing a bit to “aft’ under the extra load! All measured about 350 pounds of chain will help dress the base of the Tower once it’s assembled on the Playa. So another piece of the assembly is now ready!"

ON A PIPE BENDER...

Paul came by today to help with bending the ribs and rings with the new pipe bender. Although it can bend the 1 1/2" pipe it is so tedious and difficult we gave up on that and just worked on the 1" pipe step rings. We got about half of them done. So it's back to getting a commercial outfit to bend the ribs...


Here's a photo of me with grease on my face. It was a tough day. We think we could sell this bender to a gym - it was quite a workout...