By the Entrance at The Loom: Hero Armor at Decompression

A few weeks after the Burn, Hero Armor was invited to Decompression, the Burning Man community's gathering in Oakland. The invitation came by email from the organizers' art team. We wrote back that it meant a lot to us, and that yes, we would be joining.

This is a short account of that weekend. The story of the Burn itself is told in another post.

Planning by email

Most of the work happened in a thread of letters before we ever reached Oakland. Our questions were practical.

The first was time. Assembling the podium and the robot takes about four to five hours, depending on whether we have an extra helper. The event's own install window was shorter than we wanted, so we asked to install on Friday, October 16, the day before the event. That gave us a reserve if something went wrong. The organizers agreed.

The second was light. The base version of the piece is the podium with its built-in LED strip, plus small lights inside the robot. At Burning Man we also set spotlights around the perimeter to light the robot itself. At our indoor shows we left them at home because the rooms were bright enough. We did not know how well lit the Oakland spot would be, so we sent the organizers photos of both options and offered to bring the spotlights.

The third was sound. The robot has a speaker and a voice feature. When people come close, it plays a short speech. It is not loud, and we asked whether it would even be heard in a busy outdoor space. The organizers were fine with it.

What we brought

We did not need heavy equipment, because the piece travels on its own wheeled transport frame. We only asked whether a large cart or dolly could be borrowed. We planned to arrive around midday, since installation had to be finished by 6 pm.

We also planned to put a small stand next to the piece with a description of the project and a QR code to our fundraiser.

The spot by the entrance

We were given a place right by the entrance, at The Loom in Oakland. We wrote to the organizers afterwards that it was a real honor, and we meant it. Anyone coming in passed the robot first.

At some point during the event, a few official Burning Man photographers took pictures of the piece and of us next to it. A couple of people from the Burning Man documentary team also stopped by to talk with us. It meant a lot to us that they connected with the story. We would love, someday, to put together a short film about Hero Armor and share it beyond the community. We have asked the organizers whether someone on their team could introduce us.

Load-out

When the event ended we took everything down and loaded up. We were out by around 3 a.m. The next day went to recovery and sleep. Only after that did we write our thank-you letter.

What comes next

Right now the piece is staying in a friend's backyard. We are slowly looking for a more permanent home for it. We have no budget yet and no sponsor, so we asked the organizers for pointers on storage in the Bay Area and ways to find support. We also asked who we should talk to about press, so that more people can hear about Hero Armor.

Hero Armor was made by Liza Kormilets in memory of her cousin, the 3D artist Zakhar Zakharov, from his character. If you know of a place where the robot could stand, or a way to help it keep appearing at shows, we would be glad to hear from you.