Comments on: Kickstart a sculpture that lets you toss around 80,000 lbs of stone and steel

By: wysinwyg

wysinwyg — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:52:00 +0000

Because it’s there.
Motto of the sportsman.
Because it isn’t there.
Motto of the artist.

By: wysinwyg

wysinwyg — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:49:00 +0000

If it gets to Burning Man then naked biologically generated women will be included.

By: phlavor

phlavor — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 19:28:00 +0000

Safety Third!

By: Doctor Haggis, B.Sc

Doctor Haggis, B.Sc — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:32:00 +0000

The judicious application of sand to railway track helps adhesion and keeps the wheels from slipping.

By: Erik Denning

Erik Denning — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 06:47:00 +0000

Before you mock and trash talk him, why don’t you google some of Zachary Coffin’s previous creations? Or better yet, talk to some of the people who have enjoyed them (including me). He’s built some incredible, fun, playful, beautiful interactive sculptures at Burning Man for a few years now and no, no one has ever gotten hurt by them, although part of the awe and grandeur comes from the instinctive reaction that they are dangerous, beacuse of how he tinkers with massive objects, suspension, and gravity. He puts a lot of time and energy into making these things for others to enjoy. If your art is so much better, then please, grace us with a link to it.

By: Timothy Francis McGillicuddy I

Timothy Francis McGillicuddy I — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 04:04:00 +0000

This guy is the perfect mixture of Danny Bonaduce and Louis CK. Help him make this crazy crap already.

By: Clemmer

Clemmer — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:09:00 +0000

This isn’t so much about “Kickstarting” a project that has a thought-out plan and needs funding to get going and execute… this is a project that has already started, has apparently spent-up any liquid assets, and is now using the “Kickstart” platform to try for a bailout. I should RTFKickstartRules, but this seems not-quite-of-the-spirit… and would, in my eyes, set precedent and therefore open the floodgates to every personal project that’s over budget and “deserves to be finished”, debt-free. But, as the mantra goes: “vote with your wallet” — time will tell what the voting public think.

By: flickerKuu

flickerKuu — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:05:00 +0000

The “sand” out there is smaller than an atom. I’m, serious.

By: flickerKuu

flickerKuu — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:04:00 +0000

Meh. Those SF kids have it easy. It’s just like 5 hours away. Talk to the people who drag crap out halfway across the country.

By: flickerKuu

flickerKuu — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:04:00 +0000

Because it’s there.

By: flickerKuu

flickerKuu — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:03:00 +0000

No, flame throwers would make it PERFECT.

By: flickerKuu

flickerKuu — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:56:00 +0000

No, I think you are underestimating the friction and weight bearing of railroad track and wheels. I’ve swung from his rocks quite effortlessly in the past, and they were multiple ton boulders. Worked then, I’m sure this will work as well.

By: flickerKuu

flickerKuu — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:55:00 +0000

You get it, Pizzicato, definitely doesn’t.

By: flickerKuu

flickerKuu — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:54:00 +0000

I’ve played with one of his sculptures before. Yes, they look dangerous. Luckily, class-act engineering makes them safe. It’s funny at Burning Man, there is always a rumor to the effect of “Someone took out a key cotter pin” or something to scare off noobs from swinging on 8000 pound boulders. Dying is covered in the TOA of Burning Man, it’s why we go.

By: Jardine

Jardine — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 23:39:00 +0000

Other than it massing a lot more, it looks pretty similar to a piece of playground equipment we had locally. A Witch’s Hat. The only really dangerous part with that is how it could swing towards the centre and crush limbs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebackyard/453682415/

By: elisd

elisd — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 23:29:00 +0000

Yup! I was going to post a link to demonstrate, but was worried my comment would therefore get flagged as spam. Let’s try now: http://www.zacharycoffin.com/work/colossus/

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 23:23:00 +0000

I was wondering that – I immediately thought of that thing at the maker faire and now I know it’s by the same guy, cool.

By: elisd

elisd — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:58:00 +0000

Meh. They had dozens, probably hundreds, of small children playing on his piece “Colossus” at the Bay Area Maker Faire. Zach knows how to pull this sort of shit off without squishing anyone.

By: Cyran0

Cyran0 — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:39:00 +0000

Maybe add a couple of these on there.

By: Super Bueno

Super Bueno — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:05:00 +0000

Woohoo… i just watched this film Dust & Illusions (http://dustandillusion.com) where Zachary’s sculptures are shown a few times. That guy is a great artist. The film was not the standard “I want to marry Burning Man and die there” kind of film… actually it was a real documentary, the first time I saw a film like that on that event. Usually they’re cheesier than thou! But to my point the film was great in demonstrating that artists like Zach, or the Flaming Lotus Girls are at the core of Burning Man… without the art, it’d be just a party… but the art is the true thread of the event for the past 30 years…. the 30 years of history that is covered in the film… really a great documentary… and finally critical of the event not so great aspects, a nice fair and balanced thing!! Another scary piece of art… let’s see who dares to challenge it!

By: timquinn

timquinn — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:59:00 +0000

Inertia! Momentum!

edit: they will spend the first day getting it going and the rest of the time waiting for it to slow down.

love it, though.

By: nixiebunny

nixiebunny — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:55:00 +0000

There is a fine powder called playa dust, but no sand.

By: Werther deGoethe

Werther deGoethe — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:55:00 +0000

There hasn’t been any rain on the playa for months. The sand there is more like dust and ubiquitous, in piles six inches deep in some places, already. “Low friction?” I doubt it.

By: jandrese

jandrese — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:34:00 +0000

That makes it perfect for Burning Man.

By: gellfex

gellfex — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:29:00 +0000

Yeah, spinning that should be as easy as……..pulling a train car. Hope nobody kicks any sand on the rails, that would mess with the roll. But there’s no sand in the desert, right?

By: Art

Art — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:24:00 +0000

But….But…. I thought that all of us on the internet were already at the center of the universe!?!

By: Ethan Cantil-Voorhees

Ethan Cantil-Voorhees — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:05:00 +0000

* hurls rock *
“Read your ticket!”

- Concussion -

By: Ethan Cantil-Voorhees

Ethan Cantil-Voorhees — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:04:00 +0000

This is essentially a critique that can be applied to any art or charity, so…yeah, “F art,” I guess?

That said, I’d venture a guess that a majority of the funders of this project will actually be the very monkeys who swing about on it later.

By: Ethan Cantil-Voorhees

Ethan Cantil-Voorhees — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:02:00 +0000

Welcome to Burning Man.

By: Andy Tibbetts

Andy Tibbetts — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 20:53:00 +0000

Yay, hippie crusher part 2. Zack’s art scares the shit out of me. Every time I look at it I expect a granite boulder to split in two and crush someone. With that said I love it, from a physics and engineering point of view it is incredible to see.