Vision

Light Curve is a new interactive installation piece for Burning Man 2024 and beyond. The installation is a geometric Star of 30 jets of variable-intensity fire, mounted on a 15-ft long gimbaled steel pendulum arm, moved by groups of participants acting together via kinetic linkages, creating a thrilling and joyful shared experience. Light Curve explores advanced flame effect design and control, robust kinetic interaction systems, and aesthetic engineering challenges, on the way to creating a special object. This work is being created in San Francisco at the Box Shop, home to generations of Burning Man installation art, and the last such burner-art space in the city.

We need your help to make this project a reality!

Follow our process on instagram: @samFabricates

Encounter Report EK4-6051 :: NOVEL OBJECT OBSERVATION
-- BLACK ROCK CITY --

Flight Narrative 6051-850-2GR -- 1:42am Wednesday, mid-left playa

Departing the city following a short tour of sound camps, our crew of 7 explorers pilot bicycles into deep playa.

At T=0 a compact light-emitting body is detected at 13 degrees right, approximately "past the temple." The object darts left, then right, then holds position relative to the larger nearby planet Earth. Spatial analysis shows an orbital radius of 3.11 m, which is designated as "pretty-big." Further motion behavior complexity suggests possible deep intelligence.

At T+6.5 s a significant brightness increase is detected. We begin track the light curve over time, which reveals a mass of 206.1 kg. Several candidate planetoids are catalogued, some with detectable atmospheres.

Electromagnetic spectrum analysis indicates propane and ethyl mercaptan combustion products alongside human-body volatiles of diverse cultural origin.

Initial assessments are promising. The object is assigned a high value score, and given the name-code: "that star thing." Fleet wide comm-link chatter ensues as plans are harmonized.

Our fleet heading is reassigned to the novel object at T+22.1 after crew assessed as "cold but not that tired, feeling art-y." A standard porto-stop-on-the-way is requested and confirmed. Crew pilots orient to point the way.

Flight Narrative 6051-850-4KN -- 1:45am Wednesday, mid-left playa

From our cruising path we execute a precise approach maneuver with a burst of acceleration, and insert into an elliptical orbit around the object with period 38 sec. We observe a black steel lattice-framed pendulum device, 4.2 m in length, gimbaled on a 2.9 m diameter rigid base. Flexible hoses route gaseous fuel into a manifold feeding a helical block of 30 robotically-actuated valve sets. Several crew members decrease their orbital radii.

At periapsis, we observe 30 copper tubes running from the pendulum core into the peripheral rhombic triacontahedron Star body, from which jets of flame, varying in height and duration, are emitted in all directions. Thermal imaging shows intricate heat dispersion patterns, with temperatures peaking at 1980°C. Copper lines interface with helical arrays of organic polymers and crystalline iron and copper metals, within a lattice iron outer crust. Archival record search suggests this is the highest-count variable flame effect assembly yet observed.

Flight Narrative 6051-850-7ST -- 1:53am Wednesday, outer-left playa

Life-form sensors have now calibrated to the local structures. Social atmospheric analysis reports several groups engaged in play and discovery, with a mood of joyfulness nearing the 97th percentile of recent observations.  A subset of the creatures lay at incline, low to the surface, with detectable increases in body surface temperatures due to the radiant heat flow from the primary novel object.

Participants are seen interacting physically with apparent rods, levers, revealing social markers of discovery and excitement. Levers, wheels, and seats interlinked with the flaming pendulum via cables beneath the surface foster a shared meditative experience. Observations suggest parallels to alien social dynamics, as individuals synchronize their movements with the communal rhythms of the installation.

Our crew glides smoothly to a stop at a radius of 4.2 m, transitioning to ambulatory mode with the coordinated deployment of several kickstands and furry coats. Our group members exchange glances, reaching a unanimous conclusion: this thing is extraordinary.

Our Team

We're a small, scrappy team of experienced Burning Man artists operating out of the Box Shop in San Francisco. Some of us are affiliated with large and small art groups, including the Flaming Lotus Girls in SF and Glass House Arts in SD.

I’m Sam "greene" Cooler (she/her), the project lead. I love designing and making things that enable people to experience joy and wonder with new social connections. I have been working on Burning Man - style installation art for the last decade. My notable past pieces include several iterations of the Seraph Sundial and the Dancing Forest, an inter-meshed field of tilting poles that enabled groups of people to interact physically and dynamically, in a safe and robust way. Light Curve builds on these aspects of play and motion. 

I strive to learn new techniques and skills, push the boundaries of my abilities, and make new, beautiful, compelling, joyful art. I follow my passion for skills and techniques, integrating them into the design process. As an artist, I conceptualize interactions that I want to experience and then create machines to bring those experiences to life. I aim to create unique, memorable, shared moments that can only be achieved with large-scale art.

I’m joined by some awesome artists in the Bay and elsewhere, including: Max K, Ray S, Eric G, Sequoia, Margaret L, Tinker, Jean, Sage, and others! Look forward to learning more about those folks in the coming weeks. Interested in joining us? Message me anywhere.

Supporting this work

Your contribution enables us to build this art. Simply put, we think this piece will be very good and fun and interesting, and we are excited to make it for you.

Burning Man offers a canvas for unbound creativity and play with new ideas. It's an opportunity to build the unbelievable, to delight and challenge perceptions, to explore our abilities, & to create community. We recognize that a better world is possible, and part of the way towards that is through group play and interactive experience.

Flame effect art is a rare and atypical medium. The knowledge of its mastery is esoteric, and the chances to experience it in-person are few. We all know the wonder and joy of an amazing fire art piece. But sometimes it seems like all we see are poofers! As a team of artists, we working to push the boundaries of what is possible with the medium. Similarly, we are making pieces with unique physicalities: fire and a machine operating in synchrony together with participants bodies.

Funding Light Curve and our team is an investment in flame effect art at Burning Man and elsewhere. The plumbing core of the piece, that is, the Star, manifolds, valves, and hoses are robust and reusable. After the full piece has toured several events, we have plans to reconfigure the Star to return to the playa yearly with expanded control software, and use other parts as the basis for further exploration of the medium.

We try to achieve the maximum effect with a conservative budget. We were very fortunate to receive a Burning Man honorarium this year, which will cover about half of the project expenses. We need to raise an additional $5000 to cover key expenses, such as $3000 for shop rent and storage, $300 for propane, $2000 for steel, $1000 for transportation, $1000 for plumbing, $300 for tools, $300 for safety equipment, etc. Stretch goals include high-temp powder coating in some gorgeous colors and patterns for $300, and comfortable cuddle-pile seating for $500.

If you are excited about Light Curve, excited about fire art, or excited about community participatory art, please support us by contributing money here (and picking up some nice perks), and sharing word of our project with your community.