My friend and Burning Man campmate Bruce Tomb built the greatest art car I've ever seen: Maria Del Camino, made from the body of a '59 El Camino perforated by thousands of hand-drilled holes, which form a pointillist portrait of Maria, the robot from Metropolis, on the hood; connected via a hydraulic arm to the tanklike body of an industrial grader.
Maria is a fixture at Burning Man, Maker Faires, and at events all over the world, where she brings joy to all who see her. Seriously.
Bruce needs $25K to maintain and upgrade Maria, from teaching more people to drive her, to finishing films documenting her glory, to serious hardware maintenance (this is the lion's share of the fundraiser).
Backers get calendars, tees, the chance to sponsor a hole in Maria's skin, driving lessons, buckets of holes drilled out from Maria, and shrouds featuring "rust prints" of Maria's whole body.
Over the last year, Maria's engine has overheated and seized on three occasions. There are now major repairs needed, as well as deferred maintenence. A preliminary worse case scenario estimate has over $12,000 in parts alone, $8,000 for labor and shop rent. The Kickstarter fees and perks total $5,000.If this work comes in below the estimate or there are funds raised beyond the goal, they will be used to edit existing raw videos of SuperTask #1 & 3, by Anne Klint, and SuperTask #4 by Peter McCandless.
Maria del Camino Redux
[Bruce Tomb/Kickstarter]
