The Sensatron (2011)
8th Voyage of the Sensatron
I'm Jason Siadek, designer of the Sensatron art car. I've been going to Burning Man since 1998, and 2016 will be my 18th burn (I skipped '99). I met my wife Julianne on the Sensatron's first ride on the playa in 2009. The car and our relationship have been evolving ever since.
The Sensatron is my 3rd art car. My first two were the Lunar Rover and The Oasis. I've been creating art on a shoestring my whole life, now I'm reaching out to our community to build on this beautiful chassis.
I want to share the experience of the Sensatron with you, let's go on this journey together.
What We Would Love
The Sensatron was made on a low budget of whatever I could afford and whatever people were willing to donate. Every year we've made incremental improvements. With your support we can take our art to the next level, and the people that are involved deeply can be compensated. That includes me, our coder, and whoever else who steps up to help in a big way. This is still a labor of love, and as an art piece I consider myself lucky just to express this into the world, but I can't afford to do it without your help. The Department of Mutant Vehicles raises the bar on what vehicles are allowed on the playa every year and I want to rise above the challenge.
What We Need
The Sensatron has made it to the playa for seven amazing years. Now for its 8th year we are ready to go into >>HYPERSPACE<<
Here's what we need to achieve liftoff, roughly in order of importance:
-
Repair the radiator fan: $100
- Decorate the front of the vehicle: $200
- Yearly Storage: $600
- Gasoline for the Playa: $150
- Tune-Up: $100
- Spare Tire: $100
- New Flags: $600
- Repair Tail Lights: $100
- New Fur: $500
- 2 New Strands of LEDs: $200
- 4th of Juplaya Work/Play Adventure: $1,000
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Playa Exit Plan: $1,000
- Unforeseen Costs and Fees: $500
- Work Budget: $2,000+
Other than that final hope of a work budget, these items are all priced close to their cost. At the bare minimum the Sensatron can be funded to pay for its maintenance and some key changes the Burning Man organization needs us to make. As the producer of this project I want to pay anyone that needs to put in serious hours to make the Sensatron awesome incarnate. If you can help with some money or time then we can do this together.
Stretch Goal Unlocks
RAISE $7500 - New Computer!
The Sensatron is running at capacity on a tiny computer. With more computing power we can animate the lights more smoothly, and add additional strands to the workload. A computer is relatively cheap at about $350, let's make it happen!
RAISE $8000 - New Sensors!
The Sensatron is a portmanteau of "sensation and "electronic". It was designed to take in the stimulus it experiences wherever it is and report it back with light to its home star, P-Cygni, which is about 5000 lightyears away in the constellation of Cygnus. For $500 more we can add a microphone, accelerometer, or other sensors to provide data for the array of lights to shine and have some money to pay for that coding. Help us reach that goal, the fate of the Cygnans rests on all of us!
RAISE $10,500 - New RAD Lights!
The Sensatron uses beautiful "Total Control Lighting" pixel strands. We want to up the ante and add more lights, and maybe at more frequencies (like 395nm) so that the Sensatron can shine deeper. $2,500 would be a rad budget for the lights, cabling, and coding.
RAISE $15,500 - Sensatron Festival Travel Budget!
Let's set the Sensatron loose on the Earth and see where it goes! With a budget of $5,000 we can afford a trailer and make the necessary mutations and travel fees to allow the Sensatron to participate in local Art Car shows across the country.
The Road Ahead...
If we raise more than $15,500 we will be rolling on the "HOLY WOW!" highway, where we can reinvent the Sensatron with resources that can pull off things like:
- RAD New Skin With Interior Lights: $2,500
- Newer Larger Chassis: $10,000
- New Larger Steel Pyramid: $5,000
- A Real Work Budget: $10,000 or more
This is where the world gets to see what I can do with my amazing friends. The Sensatron is only possible with volunteer help, but I want to pay anyone who needs to make sacrifices to help make the Sensatron incredible.
Our >History and Our Future>
The Sensatron has been inspiring artists and transporting adventurers to the far reaches of the playa since 2009. We want to take you with us!
We have been featured in articles about what it's like to be
inspired. We made new friends that fell in love on the Sensatron as they watched the sunrise, and then got
married the next year using the Sensatron is the bridal chariot.
The Sensatron has been photographed by many talented artists, such as
Scott London,
Trey Ratcliff, and
Patrick Roddie. Let's make the Sensatron more beautiful so that those pictures blow more minds.
Risks & Challenges
If we don't raise enough money to handle all the costs then I will have to make hard decisions about what must be funded. At the bare minimum, this money will go into the gas tank!
Before being allowed onto the playa, the Sensatron must be accepted with a provisional license from the Department of Mutant Vehicles, which is flooded with requests for licenses every year. I'm reaching out to the community to see how ✨AWESOME!✨ we can make this veteran burner be. We want to sail through the playa DMV's long lines to the sound of cheers.
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What We Can Do Together
The Sensatron has been the touch point for a lot of beautiful friendships and the vehicle for at least five weddings. It's more than a mutated vehicle, it's a rolling philosophy based on love and adventure. Your contribution will launch amazing people into amazing places.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you can't contribute money, help spread the word!
- Share this link on Facebook!
- =Log in= to YouTube and click "Like" on the video there!
- Share those videos!
- Talk about this campaign with friends!
- Use the Indiegogo share tools!
- Contact me to help with fulfillment!
- Help us set up on the playa!
- Enjoy the ride!
My Previous Art Cars:The Lunar Rover (2003)The Oasis (2005)