Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Uira Engine Collaboration

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

0900H GMT, Sol System, 3rd Planet
Uira EngineThe Raygun Gothic Rocketship crew is pleased to announce our joint collaboration with Dr. Wade Enright and Dr. Alan Rorie, with support from Nathaniel Taylor. Dr. Enright is a leading high voltage researcher at the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, and Dr. Rorie, a high voltage artist working under the name Almost Scientific. Nathaniel Taylor is an artist and fabricator working under the name of Radio Robot Labs.

The result of their collaboration with the Raygun Gothic Rocketship is the the Uira Engine, a kinetic, high voltage sculpture serving as the power source and engine for the Raygun Gothic Rocketship. The word uira means lightning in Maori, the language spoken by the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. The high potential of this collaboration will undoubtedly extend beyond the Uira Engine, and serve as a model for how aesthetic and scientific inquiry inform each other.

The Uira engines will be tested throughout the week at Burning Man, with an initial test launch planned for Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 10 PM PST.

2009 DESERT ARTS PREVIEW

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor, and David Shulman (progenitor of the mysterious “Shulman Resonance”) presented on the past, present, and future exploits of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship at the Burning Man Desert Arts Preview. Questions will be answered. Death rays were autographed. Mysteries revealed.

GALACTIC GALA

Friday, June 5th, 2009

Photo from PhotoBoof.com The Galactic Gala was a smashing success. Pilots rubbed elbows with debutantes, explorers cavorted with bespangled performers, and mechanics cut a rug on the dance floor in the arms of pan-galactic ambassadors. All were united in common cause: Raising funds to launch the Raygun Gothic Rocketship from Black Rock City. Even an alien invasion could not dim the high spirits of those assembled – the attack was quickly quelled and all that remained was dancing, romancing, and the orbular eye of the friendly rectangular photo robot.

Introducing the Raygun Gothic Rocket

Monday, June 1st, 2009

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship (RGR) is an 80 year old vessel of scientific discovery and exploration. In her time she has crash-landed on the frozen seas of Mars, gathered specimens from every last one of the 400 volcanoes of Io and charted the caves of Mongo.

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is also a large-scale, interactive sculptural art installation, being built this very moment at a warehouse in West Oakland, California. Both realities coexist simultaneously, and will do so until the Raygun Gothic Rocketship arrives at Black Rock City, Nevada in late August of 2009, to embark on her next voyage.

The Rocketship is 40′ tall, 8′ in diameter, and is estimated to weigh 7.5 tons. It is being crafted in part from recycled, reclaimed, and reused materials. A fuller description can be found here.

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is intended to creatively explore our ideas about evolution and technology as they relate to our notions about progress and The Future. This project exists at the blurry edge where science and fiction blend and become both our reality, and the stories we tell ourselves about that reality.

Laughing Squid Update (by Burstein)

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Raygun Gothic Rocketship Galactic Gala poster

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is the new art piece by Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor, David Shulman, which is the same crew that gave life to the Steampunk Treehouse. Art, however, does not exactly grow on trees…[More]