Overview:

Welcome to the Project page (Part 1) for the on-playa HQ of the worlds first entirely crowdfunded, Burning Man-exclusive performance-art group - We are the 9Tails Collective!

We aim to be the first of our kind, a whole-Burn-long performance art installation made up of performers dressed head to toe in Morphsuits, who stay in character for the duration of the Burn - our stage is the entire festival, and we welcome viewer participation and interaction.

First in another big way too - our HQ will be a bachelor-pad style gondola suspended beneath and between two whale-form hemp-canvas Zeppelins - more details below, plus concept pictures, by the great Timon Sager, at the bottom of the page.

My name is Sam Ninetails - I'm the head of this crazy Collective, and I'm here to invite you, the awesome Burning Man community and anyone else willing and interested, to be a part of something extraordinary.

Inspirations

Inspired by the ancient Commedia Dell'Arte and the story of the Trickster-variant known as Harlequin, the 9Tails Collective plans to bring Harlequin, Columbine and their associates to chaotic life on the Playa and at Nowhere, in a silent riot of music, mime, acrobatics and improvisation - sounds fun? That's because it will be!

The Commedia was made up of what were once well-known stock characters, like Harlequin himself, who would follow their own archytypal paths within a more topical meta-story arc that would reflect contemporary issues and ideas. Usually satyrical, and always bawdy, these performances were once an integral part of life in the centuries before mass electronic entertainment.

Though remnants survive - most notably in the British seaside tradition of Punch and Judy puppet shows - much of the original Commedia has been lost over time, and is now known only to specialists and historians.

But we intend to change that!

The 9Tails Collective believe that the Burn is the perfect location for the reintroduction of the chaos that is the Commedia, but we can't do it without YOUR help - hence this project.

Split into several parts, the Project will not only help the Collective get up and running - with inaugural performances at BM/Nowhere '13/'14 - but it will also help begin the creation of our aforementioned on-site HQ, a fully-functional, "bachelor-pad" style gondola that hangs beneath two massive whale-form Zeppelins. The living area will be almost entirely composed of a single-piece, vegetable-plastic superstructure that will be made in a super-sized, self-created 3d printer, and the Zeppelins will be made from organic hemp-canvas. Other components will include recycled glass, and organic bamboo.

The entire structure will be fully flight-capable, and fully steerable too - always important... 

Part 1 - this project - will cover the funding of a desktop 3D printer, all the associated paraphernalia this involves, plus the purchase of simple costumes in the form of Morphsuits - google them to see just how awesome they are! Plus it will secure the purchase of a top-level CAD program, vital to turning designs into programs that the printer will understand. We have managed to source a german software website that sells full CAD programs, usually retailing at around a thousand, for only £200!

The desktop 3D printer unit will be used to build a super-sized version which in turn will be used to create the majority of the HQ superstructure as a single piece. It will also create and maintain all the props for the performances.

Part 2 will be for the hemp-canvas Zeppelins - their sourcing, manufacture and inflation with Helium; not Hydrogen - my love of the Burn does NOT extend that far...

Part 3 will be about the logistics of getting the HQ to BM/Nowhere - transportation, assembly/inflation etc. We aim to perform for the first time in 2013 but the HQ probably won't be completed before '14 at least... unless YOU want it to be

Exclusive

The 9Tails Collective Camp Lucidia will be a BM/Nowhere exclusive event, which means that you will only be able to witness the craziness if you attend either of these events - so this is going out especially to the crazy-amazing BM community. You, of all groups, know that this is precisely the kind of project you can be proud of giving your support to - and support doesn't need to stop at financial pledges; we are also recruiting new performers of all levels - mimes, clowns, acrobats, jugglers, fire-artists, musicians and actors of all skill levels. Willingness to try is more important than experience!

Conclusion

So if you are even remotely intrigued by this mad idea, please show your support by pledging here at pleasefund.us, and more importantly, please spread the word as much as you can - follow our twitter feed @Captain_9Tails and like/share our FB page The 9Tails Performance Art Theatre Collective. Also check out and share the Up, Up and Away article on DarkRoastedBlend.com

Tell your friends and family, walk up to a random stranger and tell them too!

This will only work with your support - so spread the word!

Anyone interested in becoming a part of the Collective can email me at samaelninetails@hotmail.co.uk, and/or Skype me at samael-iPad.

Be a part of something extraordinary - be a part of the 9Tails Collective and Camp Lucidia! You know you want to.....

Namaste

Sam