No one even considered that it would be breaking the conventional laws of physics when she found it.
A lone woman, artist, penned in by humanity and seeking the inspiration of the desolate realm of the desert, a place void of the obvious and living. She was seeking a vision when she spotted something else, a large unusual boulder with cut angles, too sharp and uniform to be crafted by the wind and sand. It was covered in dust and illuminated so fully by the moon. Wait...it was more than that. Its slight pulsing excited and startled her.
They came from all over the world to study it. These scientists, intrigued by something not ever seen before, marveled at its simplicity. Its physical alignment to the celestial bodies was a principal engineering exercise. The language was easy to decipher, basic yet elegant, and the elements of frequency were easy to align. From the lowest audible sine waves to the highest spectrum of light, the result of the code and combination was stunning, a passageway structured by a wide cacophony of spectral elements, combining to form a tunnel.
And yet it is all in the cradle of something suspiciously like a beating human heart. Right now and for you, it reveals a method, a process, and a vehicle-- to travel well beyond the speed of light.
Is this a machine? Is it living? Is it intended for us to travel, to meet our neighbors? Why did they put it here….and is everyone’s destination the same?
Or are they here, the builders of this marvel, coming and going freely upon their will and undisturbed by our lack of consciousness? How long have they been here and where do they go? Are we welcome there? Shall we welcome them here?
A lone woman, artist, penned in by humanity and seeking the inspiration of the desolate realm of the desert, a place void of the obvious and living. She was seeking a vision when she spotted something else, a large unusual boulder with cut angles, too sharp and uniform to be crafted by the wind and sand. It was covered in dust and illuminated so fully by the moon. Wait...it was more than that. Its slight pulsing excited and startled her.
They came from all over the world to study it. These scientists, intrigued by something not ever seen before, marveled at its simplicity. Its physical alignment to the celestial bodies was a principal engineering exercise. The language was easy to decipher, basic yet elegant, and the elements of frequency were easy to align. From the lowest audible sine waves to the highest spectrum of light, the result of the code and combination was stunning, a passageway structured by a wide cacophony of spectral elements, combining to form a tunnel.
And yet it is all in the cradle of something suspiciously like a beating human heart. Right now and for you, it reveals a method, a process, and a vehicle-- to travel well beyond the speed of light.
Is this a machine? Is it living? Is it intended for us to travel, to meet our neighbors? Why did they put it here….and is everyone’s destination the same?
Or are they here, the builders of this marvel, coming and going freely upon their will and undisturbed by our lack of consciousness? How long have they been here and where do they go? Are we welcome there? Shall we welcome them here?
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The Structure
The Harmoniscope is a 9-sided structure roughly 20’ high X 18’ wide at its base. The exterior frame is steel, with plywood skin that has a 7-fold symmetry relief pattern cut into it.
From the outside, you see a red pulsing light emanating through the pattern, and light shining out from the cupola at the top. Inside the structure, the walls are lined with red fabric, pulsing red like the exterior. Bass transducers in the floor vibrate the structure in a heartbeat-like pattern that is synchronized with the red pulsing lights. In the middle is a 15’ tall, 8-sided center column, where the interactivity occurs. It contains the reactor core, a spiraling 5’ array of 28 Acrylite rods that are driven by two high power LEDs per rod. The interior is mirror lined, reflecting light to a mirror array in the cupola, which then reflects light to an outside ring around the exterior. Users are presented with seven Kaleidoscope stations: each contains a rotating kaleidoscope penetrating into the core, four rotary knobs, a speaker, and a small viewport. Each knob controls a single rod in the core, varying its brightness and color, and an audio sine wave that plays back through its respective station speaker. The 8th side is a Rosetta Stone which provides clues to aligning all rods in the core, using a graphic language to be developed for this project. Audio/lighting cues are also provided to assist in achieving the alignment of the rods. Once completed, a very dramatic event is triggered that synchronizes all audio and lighting elements, including the floor transducers and exterior lighting. |
The Mission The Harmoniscope requires participants to work together to decipher the mystery of how it works, and why it’s here. It will be fascinating to look through the kaleidoscopes and turn knobs, generating sine waves and changes in the reactor core. Those willing to make the extra effort of aligning the reactor core will be rewarded with a dramatic sound and lighting event that energizes it, and triggers the journey to another location in space-time. Multiple clues will be given to participants through language, lighting, and sound. Our project goal is to make it easy enough to decipher that a group of people will align it successfully a majority of the time.
As with any journey to Burning Man, the ultimate destination will be determined by the participants. As they leave the Harmoniscope, they will be different from how they entered by virtue of their Harmoniscope experience, and their dreams and desires. |
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