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Storm and Light

Late in the week, dark gray clouds appeared on the horizon, and warnings of a windstorm circulated. After my experience with 50 MPH winds two years before, I worried, so we battened down the hatches as best we could. The storm came and went, not nearly as severe as what I had expected, almost a dissappointment. Mike and Molly were caught out on the far side of the playa, however, where the storm had wrought whiteout conditions, and they came back looking like it. That evening, the dust in the air resulted in an amazingly beautiful sunset, to which these photos can't do justice.

Mike and I wanted to complete some kind of art project while we were on the playa. Our concept was scaled back several times, and in the end cosisted of a computer controlled dimmed neon piece themed on water. I made wavy blue neon tubes back in Chicago, Mike handled the programming and electronics, and we actually made it work! You can't see it in the photos, but each tube was independently controlled, and actively dimmed in such a way that it looked like a slow wave of light moving across the tubes. In the third photo our fellow Burnstreamer, Monte, looks in on our progress. Thanks to Monte for the 12 volt hookup to his solar-recharged battery array...otherwise our nice sculpture wouldn't have stayed lit for very long.

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