For 2009 CO2 Camp brought the Time Travel Booth to Burning Man. The Booth plays out a complicated narrative about travel to another time and place, and back, from the convenience of the playa. immediately upon entering the booth the machine comes alive; you are asked to make a  multiple-choice [...]]]>

Time Travel Booth portrait

For 2009 CO2 Camp brought the Time Travel Booth to Burning Man. The Booth plays out a complicated narrative about travel to another time and place, and back, from the convenience of the playa. immediately upon entering the booth the machine comes alive; you are asked to make a  multiple-choice selection, from dinosauric prehistory to futuristic post-apocalypse, (umm, by some *accident* only “mystery destination* actually worked…); once START was pressed the Traveler was assailed by the workings of the machine… DING! you have arrived, please exit now!

The Booth project itself was a wonderful collaboration: Artists Benji, Emily, Erika, Eve, Mykl, and tomic each worked on parts of the Booth, from four different cities, and only on the playa did the parts come together, and it all worked first time. Though technologically complex (reactive electronics and mechanism and sculpture open unattended to all visitors to our street) it ran flawlessly for the entire week.

The Booth consisted of a structure made from rebar and tubing covered in repurposed billboard material, with a custom-built machine inside. The machine was a fiberboard panel with back-lit images and a few switches and pushbuttons, a controller and sound source. The one-minute narrative was largely driven from a very carefully crafted soundtrack (play the video below to hear it), and required visitor action to play it out. Operation was triggered by a mat switch on the floor, unavoidably stepped on when the visitor entered the booth. The booth received hundreds of visits during the course of the week.

A three-minute video of the Booth in operation can be seen here: http://gallery.wps.com/v/BM/2009/2009-Time-Trave-Booth/ttbooth1.mp4.html

David, Mary Lynn and I worked on the booth back this week. The skin is recycled bilboard and attaches with marine snaps. The frame is half inch conduit. The whole thing breaks down into a nice small package.

Okay people, this is a rough idea of how we might put this together. It’s basically a conduit or similar frame with a skin over it. The front is all decorated up nice and pretty and bolted on. This is just a basic construction plan and doesn’t include the electronics or power supply. Some [...]]]>

Okay people, this is a rough idea of how we might put this together. It’s basically a conduit or similar frame with a skin over it. The front is all decorated up nice and pretty and bolted on. This is just a basic construction plan and doesn’t include the electronics or power supply. Some things I imagine that different groups could take on different projects, i.e. one group builds the frame, one the skin and one the facade. The control panel speakers lights etc… will be built later but it should be designed to run on 12 volt. Batteries solar that sort of thing. If we’re having problems getting the power supply together maybe we could contact the Alternative energy zone people and see if they have any ideas. Anyone want to volunteer to build a section?