Research and Technical Design          

Design and Construction

Construction of a steel obelisk ~16’ in height needs to resist wind forces and anchored securely to the ground, enough so to provide a stable platform.

We expect to transmit messages to planets visible in the night sky (Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn) and also what appear to be stars, but are galaxies such as Andromeda, M13, etc. Given that nothing ever happens according to a schedule out on the playa, the system must track these objects in real time and so we need to model basic celestial mechanics and control the guidance mount precisely. This will be the project’s main technical challenge.

Designing and building the platform, spike and the antennae will present the primary artistic and fabrication challenge. The skin should appear bio-metallic, almost organic in texture and the antennae graceful but purposeful. It should appear to have erupted from the ground, with upward motion, like a stem sprouting from deep underground. The sculpture will be constructed offsite in 3-4 pieces and assembled in the Black Rock Desert, so its design must accommodate assembly/disassembly with well understood requirements for electrical, human and hydraulic power.

Designing and conducting the survey on the participant’s sentiments and the role of the arts community in their lives will require some human psychology guidance. Making sense of the information participants volunteer and writing a short paper is an important project objective, we need the right lead here!

The project may be displayed like a science fair exhibit, as if it’s a research project on the purpose of this alien artifact. A scientist or two, dressed in white lab coats, will be on hand to explain what’s been learned and also survey participants during the event (for a few hours each night). Poster boards will explain the findings for people to read anytime. We will need some low fencing to keep vehicles at a safe distance.

The sculpture will be interactive in that it requires cooperation to trigger the message sending routine. 3 individuals will interact with a simple mechanical puzzle on the surface that appears to be the controls for guiding the target mechanism. The sculpture’s lights will provide feedback to the 3 participants to guide their actions to a successful outcome. Designing the interaction so it’s simple yet meaningful will present a creative challenge for the team; building the controls and lighting will be part of the technical effort. Software and a new lighting system is already being developed so this will not be a last-minute issue.

Logistics of transport, on site power requirements, human oversight, must be considered by the team.

The Transformative Power of Art

I’m just learning about this myself, so I’ll just share what inspires me:

On Sending Messages to Outer Space

Is anyone listening? In 1974, we used a powerful radio telescope to send The Arecibo Message to Messier 13, a star cluster in the Hercules constellation comprised of several hundred thousand stars. M13 is 25,000 lightyears distant, so the message will be long in transit (25k years). If there’s intelligent life out there, and they’ve heard those signals, then they may respond with a message of their own (25k years on the return journey). But surely, they are listening intently and perhaps heading our way!

Is this a good idea? Many would argue that this is a controversial idea. Clearly there are benefits and risks. Just read, “The benefits and harm of transmitting into space” (Haqq-Misra, Busch, Som, Baum).

But is anyone out there? When I was a kiddo, in the last century, we knew of no planets outside of our solar system. Frank Drake had penned his famous Drake Equation in 1961 as a way to start a discussion about the probability of extraterrestrial life at the first Search for Extraterrestrial Life meeting.

What has changed is the discovery that exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) around stars are the rule, not the exception. Just take a read of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration. 5500 planets and counting! With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, we can now probe the atmospheres of these planets for signs of chemicals associated with life processes we observe here on Earth. Just recently Webb discovers Carbon Dioxide, Methane and possibly Di-methyl Sulphide on a nearly by planet. This planet lies in the “habitable zone” around its parent star and evidence points to a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and possibly a water-based ocean. More on this as observations continue.

A Reflection on the The Archeon Project

Admittedly, the project is a bit of a ruse. Maybe “ruse” is not the right word, as it’s not a deception. The project, then, is clearly a tactic with clear objectives:

The Archeon project builds community within a large and growing group of artists, fabricators, makers, doers, clowns, producers, performers, and instigators who have camped, played, cooked, wined, dined, suffered and laughed together over the years in the Black Rock desert. Building the art piece will sustain and strengthen our connections and inspire others to transform through participation and to create a brighter future for themselves.

Yes, we are building a system that will send a beam of light to real celestial places. It will send encoded messages as collected by our team. On a cloudless night, the laser can be seen by the naked eye from the ground and be detected by instruments for some distance beyond.

But the true purpose of the project is to build community through its construction and to use it as a platform to engage a wider audience on on the topic of their feelings of isolation and how best to reconnect and recover.

If the project’s structure and presentation elicits real dialog and introspection, and encourages even a few hesitant people to reconnect, to deepen their participation, then we’ve succeeded.