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Time Machine Mutant
Vehicle
"Time
is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." -Douglas Adams
August
12, 2005: Then again, all may not be lost. Could it all
have been a load of cyber performance art? Due to recent radio
silence, it's hard to tell what the enemy is up to...
February 12, 2005: I have to type fast because they
are watching me...
Myself and the Time Machine Mutant Vehicle have been stolen by the
jack-booted hoodlums and lovely Interrogation Squad of Kamp
Apokiliptika. The outraged Black Rock International Burner Hostel
"Flags Of All Nations" will not stand for such an outrageous siege and
are joining forces in a secret plan to steal it back. Since I trained
other pilots prior to my abduction, they are well prepared. It is
vital that the Time Machine be saved from the evil Kernul Killbuck
before his minions can use it to travel backward in time to
destroy things before they were ever created. If something can't be
done before the night of the burn, it may be too late.
You must listen to me. I can not take these k-rations any longer.
"Striper" stands guard
June 13, 2005: Got the old betsy out of the storage facility today.
Added nuclear power, or at least the radioactivity symbol done in el
wire of the clock face. Looks foreboding as part of the hand
sequence of the clock. Countdown to apocalypse don't you know..
Click here for a mini-movie
or click the picture below to enlarge it:
February 27, 2005: Got a new, larger gas tank with a float/sensor from
ebaY. This should make for longer voyages than last year.
December
19, 2004: Success! Put it all back together and took my five
year old for a put put around the block. Nice to have the old
girl (the tractor, not my daughter) back and running fine. They
don't make 'em like this in China.
December
18, 2004: Managed to remove and free up the seized transmission.
Works almost too well now and has me puzzled. I'll take the
wheels off and grease the bearings, maybe that will make me feel
better.
I'm
now playing with a wacky idea called "Kilroy the Konscious"
that will be a huge el wire Kilroy half-head above the time tractor
with LED eyes that dart in different directions as the conscious mind
tends to want to do. Sign the guestbook and let me know what you
think.
December
16, 2004: Eureka! The engine is not seized after all. Now
the transmission, that's another story. It's a good thing the
engine I ordered on ebaY arrived damaged after all. This stuff
is small and not too complex or I would be out of my element.
I've got that triangular shade tarp and am trying to rig it onto the
top of the the time tractor. Support bungee two of the corners
back on the vault trailer and suspend the third from the pole on
the snout of the tractor. If I could make the tarp pitch and yaw
when the tractor turns, all the better!
December
8, 2004: I don't know how, but I am determined to embrace this
theme. Much of the Mutant Vehicle already does, I suppose.
Mostly the play with the perception of time in the Vault and the Wheel
of Memory trailing behind. Our biggest challenge is the mini
tractor that pulls it all. I really want to transform it from a
hodge podge to a single theme idea recognizable from far across the
playa. It occurs to me that no matter what I name it, people
will still call it a "time machine". So I may just
surrender to that and enhance people's experience of it that
way. Last year, the three cars in the train represented the
future, present, and past. I see an opportunity this year to
assign them, starting with the tractor as "The Conscious, The
Subconscious, And the Unconscious, as the theme suggests.
Engine
update: Instead of spending lots of time rebuilding the 1968 Briggs
and Stratton engine, I ordered a cheap knock-off brand new on eBay.
It arrived damaged so we are trying again.
Photos
from last year:
Thanks
to Morgan from New Zealand for the great shot below. I remember
that moment when I was crouched over gooping a foam clock on to the
wheel right before driving it to the DMV (Department of Mutant
Vehicles) for their approval.
If you would like to contribute resources, work, ideas, or a donation
to this project, please click the appropriate link on the left and
sign the guest book to share your vision. Be sure and check the Progress
2004
page for pictures and history on planning and construction.
Cheers!
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