Mant Farm the Blog

Post Burn Report

Lazlo — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 23:33:43 +0000

The project, in all, was a huge success. We received great responses from everyone; burners, friends and family, strangers, the press and Burning Man, Thank you all!
Let me briefly recap our adventure for you:

Saturday, August 21st marked the departure of Mr. Majestic (our old school bus) transporting all of Mant Farm (minus the scaffolding of course) and all of the sober Free society theme camp infrastructure and 5 of the crew, which I was not one of. I left with 3 others in the “chase vehicle” the following morning. Our rendezvous was planned for Alturas, CA. Mr. Majestic arrived before us with only 2 flat tires and no casualties, a welcome surprise, to say the least. After spending the better part of the next day we were off on our final leg to the playa via Gerlach.

Arrived on playa and to our camp location without further holdups in the late evening, just before dusk, Monday. With 100′ x 100′ of camp to set up, we quickly got to work. When we awoke the next day we had a complete camp built and ready to support our long pre-burn work week – home base – the sober Free society.

Tuesday – our first Mant Farm work day. After waiting for the scaffolding truck (full semi trailer – 35,000+ lbs) to arrive, DPW began swiftly unloading for us. Hottest week on record, so I heard, 105 – 111 degrees F, made for tough going on the scaffolding erection. Damn dangerous stuff, that scaffolding, no tie-offs, 10 feet up, 20 feet up, 30 feet up – no hand rail until you put it there. No injuries, thank the maker – good playa Karma. Finished the scaffolding on Friday if I remember correctly, but by then, days and time had fallen out of my peripheral along with the cell phone and showers… The next couple of days consisted of hanging the facades and DPW anchoring the structure with steal cable. All went more smoothly than we had anticipated, even in 60 mph winds. When I finally stepped back and looked at this thing for the first time (nearly visually complete), it kinda blew me away. Actually it totally blew me away. It looked exactly like it was supposed to. It looked fake. We were elated. (pic below)

Finished up the remaining components – electrical, lighting, signage, safety checks, generator, etc. Mant Farm opened to the playa early Sunday night, ahead of schedule – before the event officially opened! Congrats everyone for working so hard to make this happen successfully, completely, safely and ahead of schedule! Thank you!

Oh one last thing!

Lazlo — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:08:26 +0000

The Seattle Times interview should be out on newsstands sometime during Burning Man, so keep an eye out and save a copy for us!

Last post before Burning Man

Lazlo — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:18:41 +0000

This will be our last post before we leave for the playa. Thank you everyone who has helped put together the Mant Farm!! Thank you everyone who has supported us in any way, we couldn’t have done it without you! We do, however, have our greatest task still ahead – constructing the whole damn thing on the playa! Wish us luck and we will see you in the dust.

~ Lazlo

Generator Box

Lazlo — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:20:27 +0000

Therapist and I built, or over built, the coolest Generator enclosure you’ve ever seen. Or, well, that I’ve ever seen. And I haven’t really seen many… The build goals were: light weight, cheap, quiet, self ventilating, and packable – as in, breaks down flat. Success! It only took us about 40 hours, which isn’t bad considering we carved the whole thing by hand out of a single piece of wood… Unfortunately these pics don’t do it justice…

Mant Farm Fundraiser follow-up

Lazlo — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:38:55 +0000

Wow! What a great fundraiser! So much great support and love, thank you all!! We had a long and exciting day putting this together, including being interviewed by the Seattle Times just before the opening…

Seattle Mag interview is out!

Lazlo — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:07:43 +0000

The interview with the sober Free society about Mant Farm is out! Find it through the link here or on news stands!

http://www.seattlemag.com/0p120a2266/local-authority-mant-versus-nature/

Burlap construction complete!

Lazlo — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:22:28 +0000

Between last Tuesday and today, we did the following:

Completed Green Tower A
Seamed the rest of the green burlap
Completed Green Tower B
Created green skirts for the tunnel sections (x 2)
Created the silhouette farm scene for the top of the structure out of green felt and fish net
Re-glued all the edges of burlap with proper glue for more strength

Still to do:

Re-glue edges of Facade side B
Build a generator box
Create signage
Paint “Mant Farm” along skirts for bottom of structure
etc…

Fundraiser for Mant Farm & Mr. Majestic

Lazlo — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:37:17 +0000

MANT FARM & MR. MAJESTIC

Vehicles for community collaboration.

___________________________________________________________

WHO: Audiophiles, fashionistas, creatives, people who like to dance, MANTS, art patrons, people who care about building and supporting community. You, you, and YES you too. 21 and over inside Sole Repair – all ages can leave their ‘MANT’ mark on the Mr. Majestic.

WHAT: MANT FARM fundraiser, featuring Mant Art and the debut of the official Mant Band.

WHEN: July 30^th, 2010. 6 PM to Midnight.

WHERE: Sole Repair, 1001 E. Pike Street on Capitol Hill. Look for the Mr. Majestic parked in front.

WHY: To purchase new tires and other needed safety upgrades for the Mr. Majestic.

The MANT FARM is a five story tall vivarium that debuts at Burning Man Labor Day weekend, the Mr. Majestic is the school bus that moves the ‘MANTS’ from Seattle to Black Rock City, and “WE ARE THE MANTS” is the soon to be released single for the project. The lyrics tell the story like this, “We are the MANTS, when we start to dance, you won’t stand a chance, we put you in a trance, dance to the MANTS.”

The yet to be named band was formed to create the sound for the MANT FARM by emerging musicians Robert Francis Swords III (Keyboards, Vocals, and Songwriter), Erica Walker (Guitar and Vocals), and Eric Sullivan (Bass Guitar). The sound is grounded with solid bass and creatively set free by four keyboards, one from each of the last four decades: 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and the turn of the millennium. The sound is in a healthy evolution with a simple goal to have fun, dance, and bring people together.

The first public debut of the ‘MANTS’ will be on July 30, 2010 at the Sole Repair on Capitol Hill. This event is being held to engage the Seattle community, thank them for their support, launch the single “WE ARE THE MANTS,” and raise money to buy new tires and safety upgrades for the Mr. Majestic. The event will be featuring MANT artwork for auction, MANT music, and an opportunity for all participants to leave their ‘MANT’ or ‘WO-MANT’ mark on the Mr. Majestic.

Facebook event page

First green tower started

Lazlo — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 05:07:07 +0000

Started the first green tower today, it’s mostly done. Lots of grommetting and gluing… Also finished the ring-tooling on Facade Side B. Great crew turn out again, thanks everyone!

Green Burlap. Finally!!

Lazlo — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:35:03 +0000

Received the green burlap today, 11 roles. Waited a long time for this stuff. Also cut it all to size, ready to be seamed…