Cargo Drop is nearly finished! All that's left to do is some last minute touches, and then we pack it on the shipping container and hope it gets to the Playa on time!
You can still help us cover the cost of this project. Please donate on the right side of this page, and check out the donation rewards. We're super thankful to all the people that have already donated, and we can't wait to see you in Black Rock City.
While looking for recycled lumber from local theater companies, I found out about a company in Philadelphia called The Resource Exchange. They collect lightly used lumber, and anything else from theater companies and other sources, and sell it at high discounts. It's a great place to get cheap supplies for art projects, and they have a ton of other awesome stuff as well. They had office supplies, fabric, lighting, lumber, and all kinds of trinkets. Check it out, they're located at 2829 Cedar St Philadelphia, PA 19134.
We got several 2x4s, 3 sheets of 3/8ths plywood, and some 2x3s, all for under 30 bucks. They let us use their tools to cut everything down so it would fit in my car. I was amazed at how much cool stuff they had inside, and also at how cheap it was. I would have spent twice as much getting the lumber new, and the appearance doesn't detract from the project, so this was a great option for us. I'm definitely planning on using this service again in the future.
Freeform Festival was this weekend, and we debuted Cargo Drop! It seemed like people really responded to the project and enjoyed it. People played with the parachute, and liked the interior of the box. Some people walked right by, but I think it really rewarded the curious participants. Here's a video, and some pictures!
This is the last weekend that I have to work on the Cargo Drop project before Freeform Festival. Tim ran into some trouble with his bus and couldn't make it down today. I build the remaining three walls with the puppet mounts and got started on the roof. I also cut out some swinging doors in the walls. Lana cut some fabric to cover the inside walls and the back of the doors so that people won't get splinters on the door. Tomorrow I want to finish the roof, install eyehooks for the parachute, and start working on the interior decorations. Here's some a video and some pictures.
Construction of the Cargo Drop box for Freeform Festival has begun. We got a $500 grant to bring our Cargo Drop puppet theater to Freeform Festival in NJ. I was fortunate to be able to get most all of the wood that I've used so far for free. I used some scrap from friends, and my landlord donated a bunch of lumber. I started by constructing the interior frame, and each wall will be built separately so they can be transported easily. The interior frame will be assembled on site. I still need to finish this one wall, and build 3 more walls, and add head hole doors. Also, the Great Quentini gave me about 12 puppets to choose from for the interior of our project. Things are coming along!
The other 3 sides will have walls like this. The puppets will be attached to the inside of the wall, and a head-flap will be installed to blend in with the box's walls, but reveal the puppet theater inside.
So we didn't get an art grant to bring Cargo Drop! to Burning Man 2013, but we're going to try to bring it anyway! We're going to start fundraising money to pay for construction and transportation of the art across the country. We'll need to rent a truck or trailer to transport the art, and this will most likely be the largest portion of our budget. We might try to have a prototype built for Playa Del Fuego. Keep checking back for updates, and we'll post a link to our fundraiser soon!
