Joyism 2.0 art car build

Our aim is to raise $6000 to complete the build of the Joyism 2.0 art car.  Hope you can help!

Joyism 2.0 is the replacement for the Joyism art car that was a tremendous success at Burning Man for all of 15 years. We are grateful over the years for the support (financial and otherwise) of many friends at the Joyism camp and Silicon Village theme camp. Joyism finally died in 2019, and graduated to the crusher in the sky. Joyism 2.0 has progressed to the state of being able to successfully start, stop and steer and has been tested at several mini Burning Man events in 2021. Uptime at the recent Everywhen festival was over 99%.

 

For those who have not been to the Burning Man "art festival," an art car is one of 750 vehicles that are allowed to drive around at 5 miles an hour transporting people from event to event. This is a tremendous contribution to the fun, atmosphere and community spirit of Burning Man. In order to be allowed to operate on the playa the Dept. of Mutant Vehicles (DMV) insists that the vehicles be radically modified and radically illuminated. This is a very serious constraint, given the enormous competition. The new design aims to overcome the limitations of the previous design, achieve more ready acceptance from the DMV, and have greater capability than the original joyism.

 

Rupert Hart, operator of the art car, and Cary "sCary" McHugh, fabricator of the art car, have tremendous experience in building art cars. Joyism 2.0 marks Rupert's involvement in six art cars; this is the third for Cary. Rupert built the original joyism and operated it for over 15 years on the playa, and is well-versed in providing the performance art that is playa transport. Rupert's career has involved engineering, project management and marketing. Cary is a mechanical genius, a retired CAT scan Xray medical technician, has a full workshop, and has been involved with building of custom vehicles for the Baja 500 car race.

 

The new Joyism 2.0 is almost a whole new vehicle. It has been custom built over a two year period by sCary in Valley Springs near Lodi, with Rupert working on wood aspects of the art car every other weekend for the last year. It rests on a tow truck moving chassis with tremendous weight-bearing capacity. Cary's innovative design puts the engine out of peoples’ view at the back and uses two driveshafts through a boat v-drive to insert power into the differential. This allows the engine to run in the correct direction and its low profile design sits below the deck, allowing maximum seating and performance space. In contrast to the previous Joyism, the driver on J2 stands at the back, enabling him to monitor entry on the steps, manage the passengers, and view farther forward. The for'ard deck is designed as a performance space with live musical instruments and amplification. Legacy equipment from Joyism 1.0 which is being re-used includes: heavy duty trailer with braking axle, distinctive yellow ripstop nylon canopy, custom tower, numerous musical instruments and speakers, some lights, 2200W generator, video screens, Joyism illuminated signs, basic sound system. 

 

What we are seeking are the funds to help finish the project and get it through the challenging regulation process of the Dept. of Mutant Vehicles at Burning Man in August 2022. The overall budget is around $16,000, of which some $10000 has been spent. What remains are: a storage carport, bladder and sounds, much better lighting, decorative side panels, custom seating from plywood, painting, new tower mounted behind the driver, repair and filling-out of musical instruments. 

Those who have been involved in art cars before will be fully aware that the true costs are quite a bit higher than this. An art car is a giant maw, consuming both construction costs and operational costs. In the unlikely event that we exceed the financial target, you can be quite sure that money will be used on this project to extend its capabilities, and keep it going perhaps even as many as the 15 years of the previous version.

 

For Joyism 2.0 we have previously raised $1500 from generous outside investors Adrian Lall and Victoria Bourne. The rest has been paid for so far by Rupert Hart. It is still a tremendous burden to finish the job. And that’s where we could use your help. We are keen to raise money for the next phases to continue work early in 2022 in order to get things done in time. We are grateful for any contribution, however small, to this creative community project. Many thanks in advance! 

Rupert and sCary.