Fuel the ADA LED Koi Fish Art Car Project with Disco Lips

Hi, I'm Jane daPain, a proud citizen of Black Rock City since 2004, and this year marks my 20th year as a burner and 6th return visit to the playa—a reunion I'm incredibly excited about.

Over the years, I've had the pleasure of camping with Image Node, Entheon Village, and Panda Camp, and I've contributed to the creation of several art cars, playa art and more. My passion lies in building large-scale LED art installations and sculptures, projection mapping and I'm excited to bring a new vision to the playa this year.

Image: Jane daPain and Derek aka (OsVinci) 2014 Apogaea Colorado Regional Burn.

Image: Jane daPain 2004 at Burning Man

In 2015, my partner Derek, aka OsVinci, and I created an HDPE koi fish art installation for Subduction Zone Events. The installation was 15 feet long and 3.5 feet high, illuminated with LEDs.

Image: Koi HDPE LED Installation 2015

Building on this experience, we are now planning to create a giant koi fish with disco lips art car from a Polaris 4x4 Ranger 500 for Burning Man. This project will not only add a unique and captivating element to the art car experience but also serve a practical purpose for my husband and me. If funded we should have enough room to give a few people a lift around playa.

We are both mobility impaired—my husband broke his hip last summer while skateboarding and has undergone multiple surgeries, and I have Ankylosing Spondylitis, which flares up and limits my mobility at times. We both have disability parking passes in the default world

I've already applied for my accessible DMV pass, and my husband will apply for his too, so we both can drive the vehicle alone if needed or desired.

*Update, we have our BRC DMV ADA pass approved.

To make this project a reality, I purchased a used Polaris and will transport it to Black Rock City in my cargo trailer. The funds will be used to buy materials and supplies for decorating it into an art car, including HDPE for the scales, PVC for the structure, rivets for securing it, and LED lights to illuminate it at night.

This koi fish art car will not only enhance the visual landscape of the playa but also provide essential mobility assistance for us. Additionally, our art car will have a couple of extra seats so we can always give a lift to a few extra folks, sharing the experience and helping others get around. The LED lights will ensure it can be seen at night, while the colored HDPE panels will make it look like a vibrant koi fish during the day, and may provide a little shade.

The budget for this project is $1,200, broken down as follows: $600 for ramps for cargo trailer, and the remaining $600 balance for HDPE, rivets, and LEDs for the art facade of the art car. I already have a huge amount of mirror tiles to make the lips.

I manage a makerspace at a University so I have a lot of access to laser cutters, 3D printers, full electronic bench and basic tools and shop space to build this project. We have a cargo trailer that we will transport our project in. But we need to buy ramps to drive the golf cart into the trailer and secure it to our tie downs.

This year, Derek are looking for a new camp to join, or we will just go solo and camp in the outer limits, which means this vehicle is even more needed.

As I celebrate my 20th year as a burner and 6th return to the playa, I seek your support to make this an amazing experience a reality. Thank you for considering supporting this project and helping us bring this dream to life at Burning Man.

Budget Breakdown for Koi Fish Art Car Project with Disco Lips

Trailer Ramps or Flatbed Trailer: $600

Ramps for the existing trailer.

Materials and Supplies:

HDPE Sheets for Scales: $200

PVC Pipes for Structure: $100

Rivets and Fasteners: $100

LED Lights for Illumination: $200

Total Budget: $1,200

I'm trying to raise these funds by my birthday so that I have a few weeks to complete the build. It's going to take all my time to get this thing together, but it will be worth the effort to bring one more art piece to the playa.