Who is The Bad Hatter? 🎩
Legend speaks of The Bad Hatter , a giant, mischievous spirit lurking deep in the dust of Black Rock City. He dons a magnificent, musical hat adorned with thousands of super-bright LEDs and a badass drum machine inside.
But beware! His hat holds many shocking secrets for those brave enough to touch its magical, pulsing brim. Are you bold enough to hold your hand on the electrified (and totally safe) hat long enough to unlock his musical portals? Those who dare will find their whoops, yelps, and squeals becoming part of his twisted rhythmic masterpiece, transforming them into a living piece of his enchanting, mischievous world.
Help Us Bring Bad Hatter to Life ✨🎶⚡️
Creating something as magical and ambitious as Bad Hatter requires a community effort. We have an amazing team designing and building custom circuitry, structural elements and the baddest music to make this project the highest quality we can possibly achieve.
We hare honored to have received an official Burning Man Art Honorarium for 2024. Our team is based out of New York and Albuquerque is the only New York recipient of an honorarium this year. We've also received an art grant from the NY League of Arts. The honorarium covers around a third of our expenses so we still need your help to make this a reality!
Please consider helping with one of the items below.
$1,500.00 - Electronics: We made it bigger and badder, so we need updated circuits and a bunch more of em. |
$2,400.00 - Generators: more light, sound and LED fans means we need MORE POWER!
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$1,200 - UHAUL: will allow us to ship all of our backups and bigger generator! |
$1,500 - Shocker Pads: super custom presence detecting percussive electrodes |
$1,200 - Ventilation Update: new and improved cooling system for all of our sweet tech |
$2,400 - Interactive LED fans to bring Bad Hatter's eyes to life at night |
Your contributions will also go towards:
- 3,328 full color LEDs embedded into the structure of the hat, durable enough to withstand the harsh desert environment and the rowdiest burners
- CNC milled connectors to turn our hardware into a hat.
- Custom electronics and software to drive the installation
- 20 electromechanical drummers to provide ever changing music for the duration of the festival
- Transportation and setup logistics to ensure Bad Hatter shines bright on the playa
- Sound equipment to complement the robotic drummers
- CAD design in Autodesk Fusion
Join Us in Creating the Magic!
By backing this project, you're not just funding a piece of art—you're becoming a part of the Bad Hatter story. Together, we can create a spectacle that will leave a lasting impression on everyone who experiences it. Let's bring the beat, the light, and the shock to Burning Man 2024!
Thank you for your support. Let's make magic happen on the Playa!
Many thanks and much love,
Winslow, Neil and the Bad Hatter Team
About the Team
Neil
Mendoza is a UK born, US based artist who blends
sculpture, software and engineering to animate objects and
spaces. He has showcased his work globally at exhibitions and
museums around the world including at the Barbican, the
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Da Vinci Museum, the
Exploratorium, among many others. |
He has shown his multi-sensory VR experience, Tree, both in 2019 and in 2022 at camp Alborz. Off Playa, Winslow’s art has been shown at Sundance, Tribeca, TED, UN General Assembly, SXSW, SIGGRAPH and Venice Film Biennale. This is his fourth burn, his first being in 2011. He is a huge drum nerd and a karaoke junkie. |
Will Patrick is an engineer and entrepreneur working on Bad Hatter’s structural design. Will typically camps with Luxurious Vagrants, which he helped start in 2015. |
Berkay Daver is a creative technologist working
on Bad Hatter's electronics. He is camping with Galactic
Cruzaders and this will be their 7th burn together with Asli. |
Vincent Rebers is a creative technologist specialized in creating interactive installations and experiences of all scales. For the Bad Hatter he is focusing on the software and assisting with the construction of the build. This will be his third Burning Man experience and second project on the Playa. |
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Jordan Snyder is a software/hardware engineer and musician helping to program beats and game logic for Bad Hatter. She has extensive experience building large interactive installations, and spent 4 years at Meow Wolf creating OmegaMart and Convergence Station with hundreds of other immersive artists and creative technologists. Jordan has camped with So Far So Good in the past, but is not attending the burn this year. |
Julia Margaret Lu is an operations guru and
emerging architect working on logistics and fundraising for Bad
Hatter. This is her first year at Burning Man, camping with Nobo House.
Started by Jack Kalish and Rachel Ciavarella, Everything Good Studio is a multi-disciplinary design and technology agency based in Brooklyn that specializes in creating innovative experiences using digital technologies. We collaborate closely with clients and brands, to bring their unique visions to life. From interactive installations to brand activations and product development, Everything Good Studio transforms ideas into captivating realities. |
Yeseul O is a New York-based digital artist, utilizes XR and 3D technology in her works. She is helping with 3D modeling to form structures and develop ideas for Bad Hatter. This is her first Burning Man. |
Nadya Nam is a bad-ass architect and wicked hip-hop dancer, she is helping keep the wheels and the hats on the NYC team. This will be her first time on the Playa, camping at Alborz |
Witness the Badassery Take Shape
While we continue making progress on the Bad Hatter build, we would love any help on our off the PLAYA! And we will be publishing badass updates to our campaign... subscribe to our Crowdfundr updates to follow along! (blue button at top of page).
Help the HATTER!
If you would like to help us build this in Albuquerque or on the playa please email us at hello@badhatter.fun
Perks
Ready to peek behind the curtain and see what makes the Bad Hatter tick? Join us for a personal tour of the BADDAST sculpture on the Playa—discover the secrets of the LEDs, the beats, and the shocking surprises, and maybe even learn a trick or two to prank your friends!
Calling the BADDEST hatters to step up to the plate! Now’s your chance to take complete control and be the ultimate trickster at Burning Man—the lights, drums, and shocks are all yours for 15 minutes of mischief!
Tie the knot with a shock and a beat! Stage the most electrifying wedding ceremony on the Playa, right next to the dazzling Bad Hatter sculpture—celebrate your love with LED lights, rhythmic beats, and a jolt of joy!
Ready to un-tie the knot and celebrate your newfound freedom? Join us for the quirkiest divorce ceremony on the Playa, right next to the electrifying Bad Hatter sculpture—where you can light up your new chapter with beats, shocks, and a whole lot of fun!
Why let the Playa have all the fun? With this perk, bring the electrifying Bad Hatter sculpture to any spot in the continental US—light up your backyard, drop beats at your BBQ, and give your guests a shocking good time!
Highlights
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Ready to peek behind the curtain and see what makes the Bad Hatter tick? Join us for a personal tour of the BADDAST sculpture on the Playa—discover the secrets of the LEDs, the beats, and the shocking surprises, and maybe even learn a trick or two to prank your friends!
Calling the BADDEST hatters to step up to the plate! Now’s your chance to take complete control and be the ultimate trickster at Burning Man—the lights, drums, and shocks are all yours for 15 minutes of mischief!
Tie the knot with a shock and a beat! Stage the most electrifying wedding ceremony on the Playa, right next to the dazzling Bad Hatter sculpture—celebrate your love with LED lights, rhythmic beats, and a jolt of joy!
Ready to un-tie the knot and celebrate your newfound freedom? Join us for the quirkiest divorce ceremony on the Playa, right next to the electrifying Bad Hatter sculpture—where you can light up your new chapter with beats, shocks, and a whole lot of fun!
Why let the Playa have all the fun? With this perk, bring the electrifying Bad Hatter sculpture to any spot in the continental US—light up your backyard, drop beats at your BBQ, and give your guests a shocking good time!
