Burning Man: Christopher Schardt

Spin is a large sculpture that projects images in the eyes by spinning colored lights high in the air. Vertical columns of red, green, and blue LEDs (light emitting diodes) are rotated around a vertical axis at 90 revolutions per minute (41 mph). The LEDs are turned on and off by a computer in precise synchronization with the rotation of the columns. Due to an retinal characteristic called Persistence of Vision, the eye doesn't see the LEDs as moving but as being in many places at once. Spin's software uses this illusion to draw images across the resulting cylindrical digital display that is 121 inches tall and 121 inches in diameter.

The images displayed are text and simple pictures, animated in various ways. Sequences of images can be created and saved for later playback. Since mid-2000, the software used to create the sequences has been available for free to anyone via the World Wide Web. Nearly 100 sequences have been submitted thus far.

The first inspiration for building Spin was a piece at Burning Man 1999. It was a 9-ft vertical shaft around which were spun a pair of television sets. Powerful and dangerous-looking, it mesmerized me. The second was a frisbee-like toy with eight LEDs on the rim. The LEDs seemed to flash meaninglessly until someone threw the disc. As it flew through the air, the LED flashes became readable text.

In March of 2000, I started writing the software for Spin. By May it was drawing simulated images on the screen that were interesting enough to convince me to proceed. I started to design the physical machine and there the real learning process began. How big can I safely make it? Do I use steel or aluminum? Should I use a gasoline engine or an electric motor? The process of answering these questions led me to new friendships with several artists and machinists. It also led me to discover the vast but previously unknown worlds of industrial equipment, power systems, LED signage and Midwestern go-cart racing. This was my favorite part of the process of building Spin, not just getting what I needed, but making contact with so many new people.

Spin was first installed at Burning Man 2000. It stood tall through the dust storms that would be its eventual undoing. When the weather was finally calm enough, I fired it up and it ran well for a few minutes. Then I stopped it. The second time I started it, the dust that had permeated the engine's centrifugal clutch caused the torque to be applied in a jerky fashion. This put too much twisting stress on the main shaft, which cracked in a spiral path. The playa teaches many lessons. This one was hard.

Back home, I replaced the main shaft and the centrifugal clutch and Spin ran beautifully in San Francisco at Decompression 2000, a private winter-solstice party, the March 2001 ArtAngels launch party, The Crucible's Feast of Fire festival in June, and the Sonoma Museum of Visual Art's Art of Burning Man show in July.

In preparation for Burning Man 2001, features were added to the software to allow Spin to interact with PlayaNet, a wireless network to be set up in the desert. Visitors would be able to go to a PlayaNet booth, access the Spin website, and type in a message and/or draw a picture to be displayed on Spin. Messages and pictures would be played on Spin in real time. I was looking forward to the unpredictable mish-mash of input and interactivity. Unfortunately, last-minute tweaking of the radio system (in order to get it to work with PlayaNet) rendered it inoperable and Spin didn't make it to Burning Man 2001.

The future development of Spin will mostly be in interactivity and content. The machine runs reliably now. What shall we show? I look forward to fully utilizing the interactivity features created for Burning Man. An installation in an urban area would allow people from around the world to submit text, images, and full-blown animations for Spin in real-time. I also look forward to broadening the content-creation options in the software, particularly algorithmically generated images.

Christopher Schardt
237 Sanchez St.
San Francisco, CA 94114