The Cradle of Mir is a massive art installation by a group of artists from Russia for Burning Man 2013. It is a giant pyramid with a wooden model of the Soviet space station inside. It looks like a temple that has been built by aborigines of Melanesia.
Who we are:
We are "Pustye Holmi" (translated literally as Empty Hills) - a team of artists, engineers and producers involved in organizing a Russian festival of art, music and endless creativity that goes by the same name. In 2008, about 45,000 people attended the festival. It is based on the same principles of radical self-expression and environmental sustainability that Burning Man is based on.
We believe that one can travel to Black Rock City as a tourist just for the night when Man burns, have a couple of drinks and get back home without even tasting the dust OR becoming a citizen, being a part of the movement, spending a whole week with burners, volunteering for art projects or any of the core camps. Although most of us have never been to Burning Man before, we decided to contribute our efforts, money and love to the community, which we believe makes our world a better place. And we hope that you will do the same.
Why are we doing this?
The sculpture raises an important question: "Have humans ever created anything that would matter to living beings from other planets, to the Universe or even to planet Earth?" We believe that people can come together, eliminate borders and visas and live happily if only they come up with an idea to build something so great that it affects every person on the planet. What could it be? Sending a space mission to the nearest star or stopping climate change? We urge the audience to think about past creations which we may be proud of as human beings!
Space Station Mir
We believe that the Mir space station was an amazing example of human cooperation and friendship. Mir was launched in 1986 and orbited the Earth for 15 years. The station has been visited by astronauts from 12 different nations until 2001, when it was sunk in the Pacific Ocean, near Fiji. The Russian government decided to abandon the space mission, citing a lack of funding. Mir became a prototype for the International Space Station (ISS).
For us, Russians who were born in the 70s and 80s, thinking of Mir always evokes a feelings of nostalgia for the good old days when space pioneers were driven only by the passion to explore and not by money or power. If people from all over the globe were able to create something so great on a small neutral territory in Earth’s low orbit before, maybe we can again unite to create something great that matters to all of us. "Mir" (Мир) is a Russian word meaning both "peace" and "world". Therefore, the Russian language has an equation: "world = peace".
For background on the space station, you can watch a 20-minute movie from NASA astronauts John E. Blaha and Shannon W. Lucid who spent about a year on Mir.
In 1997, IMAX filmed and released a movie called Mission to Mir.
The Installation
The pyramid is 36 feet (11 meters) high, which will be higher than "The Man" this year.
It is a bit scary for people who have never been to Burning Man (most of us are the first time burners) to build such an enormous art object, but we believe our excitement will only help. The vertex of the pyramid is open, representing the idea that members of the cult who built it believe in Mir's resurrection. According to their legend, one day, it will fly through the opening into the sky.
We will offer everybody an opportunity to write a message that will be delivered to the station "Mir". The messages will be burned with the whole structure and its message will spread through the air. We also plan to play some tracks from the Voyager Golden Record.
Our camp The Cradle at Burning Man 2013
Our small camp will be located at Biggie Size & 5:15. Come visit us if you are on the Playa. Or even better - camp with us! We have a few backer options left just for that!
What are we kickstarting for?
We won a Burning Man art grant. However, it covers only the cost of material (wood, plywood, etc.). We are asking for your support in buying tools, renting two workshops and transporting the installation from the workshops to Black Rock City. We will send you some memorable gifts for your donation:
Check out our handcrafted clay mug, we got only 20 of them!
Like our facebook page and follow on twitter to keep updated on our news!
Risks and challenges
We are excited to bring our first project to the Playa! Although we have extensive building and camping experience, we are coming from the "other end of the world" and we cannot bring our favorite tools with us - try to explain a TSA officer why you have that chain saw with you :-) We are spending a fortune on the plane tickets (more than 20 of us are flying in), car rental, warehouse, tools, room and board.
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Funding period
- (30 days)