Burningman 2012:

Fertility 2.0

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Black Rock City is a kind of Petri dish. Theme camps cling in fertile clusters to its latticework of streets, artworks tumble out of it, like pollen on the air. These nodes of interaction mutate, grow and reproduce their kind, only to effloresce and spread across five continents. This year's art theme contemplates the tendency of any being or living system to create abundant life.

Project

Mayan Tricycle

Some Good Mayan Calendar Links

People I need. (email sent out mid March 2012 to several local lists looking for helpers)

Wizzard here.

I've got a huge project this year called the Mayan Tricycle* (a three wheeled Mayan calendar) and I can't do it all myself. I need HELP! I need people with some specific skills and I'm looking for folk that can take over/own their part of the project with confidence. Those skills I can't find I'll need to learn myself, and there are only so many hours in a day. So here is who I need:

Gearhead/Odometer Maker
A) I've been making prototypes based on free gear designing programs but need someone who understands gears at a fundamental level and can draft up a set of gears to take the kinds of abuse I expect these to experience out on the playa. B) I need someone who can build a working 5-digit mechanical (possibly electronic if ROBUST) odometer large enough to be seen from 20' at least and that can increment at a fast pace. The odometer is the 3rd wheel of the tricycle and just as important as the 2 big visible ones.

Woodworker/ShopBot Master
I need a master ShopBot operator to draw up and cut the 4 main gears that are the guts of this project. At this time I see the larger wheels-(73 tooth gears) as a laminate of up to 4 layers of plywood and a core of 2x wood. I'm looking for someone who can build this or convince me of a better design to use. Wouldn't hurt if this person was also the Gearhead A from above.

Lighting/Power Generation
I need someone who can design and install a human driven generator to collect the power we need to light the piece at night. That generator is to be attached to the main treadwheel of the project. Energy needs to be stored in batteries for night use. The piece and surrounding area need to be well lit all night.

Painter/Colorist
I can build this, and I'm drawing up Mayan Symbols in Illustrator to draw on the flanks of the tricycle, but would like someone who could give the whole project more style than I can manage.

Kickstarter(KS) Manager/Fundraiser
This project is gonna be expensive, and won't happen without raising a few thousand dollars more than I can kick in. I've started a Kickstarter site (not up yet) and need someone to push it along. This person would also help make and fulfill KS rewards. (I don't anticipate needing more fundraising activities other than KS, but that is a possibility and would probably fall largely to this person.)

Potter/Jeweler
A) Part of Kickstarter's rewards. I'm planning a couple rewards that would be better if made of fired clay. I need someone with access to a kiln and skills in clay.
B) Another of the rewards is to be a pendant with 2 working gears. I can design it to work, a jeweler could make it gorgeous.
C) The Legend board will explain the 3 main mayan calendars and include hand propelled gear pairs. I originally thought about a steam punk look, but think that since we mostly know the Mayans from their sandstone temples, a fired clay legend board is more fitting. Again, I need someone with access to a kiln and skills in clay.
D) The stairs leading up to the treadwheels could be made like those on a mayan temple if the potter choses to get ambitious and we have the funding.

A Fire Marshall/Clean-Up Chief (one person?)
A) I need a person to act as liason to the org, direct the preparations for burn night and probably rig the way the fire starts and burns.
B) I need a person to be in charge of the clean-up the next morning after the fire. The DG platform needs to be cleaned as if there had been no fire on it. Any debris that is left, we will need to cart away off=playa.

Videographer/Storyteller
This is gonna be my most complicated piece and I never have the time to document my own art. I usually end up begging for photos from others. I'd love to have someone really document the making of a big playa project.

Social Media Director
I've never sent a tweet. I'm ON facebook, but rarely GO there. I'm looking for someone who does those things and can help raise awareness about this project once we launch the Kickstarter site and send out pings to keep everyone informed of progress on the project.

Lino Block Maker/Rubber Stamp Maker
I can go to local businesses to get rubber stamps made, but wonder if maybe someone in our midst is just waiting for someone to ask them about their ability to make custom rubber stamps. These will be useful in labeling the 260 days on the Tzolkin calendar wheel and the 365 days of the Haab calendar wheel that make up the core of the project.

Requirements
This isn't a "for profit" gig and isn't yet certain. I'm looking for makers/do-ers who do their thing at burning man because they love it. While I am going to try to raise funds through Kickstarter, I don't expect to cover all the cost with what is raised. If we don't hit the KS minimum, we get nothing, and the project probably won't happen. If, on the other hand, we exceed our goal and raise more, we can plan bigger and flashier and make better rewards.

If you are part of the on-playa build team, you must be going to BM 2012 and have a ticket. (Availability and desire to go out early a plus.)

This project will require early entry for some or all of the team members. I MAY be able to get a small number of folk in early-I still haven't had the conversation with the ARTery-but it's always a fight as to how early and how many they will let in early. If you also have another way to gain ealry entry (mostly because you volunteer for some department), that is a definite plus, but not required.

Is this you?
If you fit the description of one or more of the people above and are looking for a project that should be well seen by tebs of thousands of folk at burning man this year, please contact me at: wizzard@wizzard.com and tell me what part of this project you want to take charge of and a little about your background.

For more information
*see: wizzard.com/bm2012 The main elements are a 13' tall treadwheel that people run in, caged in a ~24' tall wheel that rotates with/because of the other wheel. An odometer keeps track of the rotation of these 2 wheel. A legend board explains the whole piece. It will burn.