It’s time for our annual reminder that Burning Man—this year suffering from a bug infestation—is an art festival. Among the many installations is this giant complex of towers and a Tesla coil that will create a coordinated lightning show:
Our installation creates an architectural space where we discover how to collaboratively control a large musical tesla coil. Participants ascend into one of three control towers placed radially around the coil. Each control tower is a two-layer Faraday cage, built in the austere and elegant style of old lighthouses. Inside, they find an odd artifact that can manipulate an aspect of the tesla coil’s performance. Through collaboration, the coil reaches its peak performance and sends 20′ arcs of lightning to the control towers.
