What is Heavy Meta?
Heavy Meta is an interactive mobile art project that doubles as a kinetic sculpture and concert stage featuring amplified sound, fire and light show components. Heavy Meta can be driven on public highways, then transformed into a terrifying fire-breathing dragon upon arrival at any destination. We envision the dragon as much at home at a winter fair in Québec, to a forested bass music festival in British Columbia, to the dusty deserts of Nevada. It is inspired by Burning Man, but bound for festivals, shows and events across the continent. Help bring life to a piece that is truly one-of-a-kind.
Pictured: Matt Von Wilde. Current progress photo: April 12th 2017
Where is my money going?
Our total budget for the dragon this year is $40,000. We have already built the head, neck and chest of the dragon, and we are nearly done wrapping it in sheet metal. The car is fully operational but could use a few repairs. This is not the kind of dragon that lives in a mountain full of gold – we need your help.
Nighttime shot of the dragon on the playa, featuring flame effects, programmable LED strips, and disco dragon heart.
Still to be done:
Coming soon to a city near you.
The Dragon’s Lair (aka About the Team)
Special thanks to: Dani Cullimore, Petro Vesna, Site3 Fire Arts, Dustin T. Hoffman, Austin Simpson, Chris Polley, Nikki Sin, Elliot Coombe, Alina Dee, Dian Carlo, Geordie, Lindsay Millard, Priya Sarin, Jordan Snyder, Oz Carroll, Caspar Cash, Simon Plashkes, Mikale Pilgrim, Tiphane Leonard, Stevie Klick, Pavel Tchourliaev, Brian Dunseith, Miruna Toma, David Fradkin, Matt Languay, Patrick Brambley, Patrick Leckie, Ryan Smythe, Laura Brien, Emma Duggan, Ben Retan, Andrea Shehara, Jacqueline Fernandez, Tamara Moskaliuk, Jay Ould, Christine Irving, Emilie Coutts-Hurren, Becca Shenk, Mell Barry, Sam Jarvis, Darryn Coleman, Jesse Champagne, Marina Izvekova, Ryan Wemyss, Maaor Ziv, Tim Sandik, Darcy Holt, Alex Lebedev, Alex Porins, Brittany Wharton, Dustin Nantais, Air`leth Aodhfin, Mike Dineen, JELO, George Hatiras, Robb G, Stephan Larose, Kyle Bernard, Thomas Cardin, and Kevin’s mom.
Perks
Risks and Challenges
If you have ever been to Burning Man, you know that the number of things that could possibly go wrong cannot even be imagined. Things break, the weather can kill you, objects explode unexpectedly, engines seize, the gods get angry and try to smite us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Everything you see in the photos is removable, and is able to be stored inside or on top of the bus. During transport, Heavy Meta will simply look like a black school bus with things strapped to the roof, and measure 11.5′ high, well below the legal maximum height of 13.5′.
We are going to drive it; it’s a bus!
We are always looking for volunteers to help us in the shop, which is located near Dupont & Ossington in Toronto. We also need people to share this campaign! Please e-mail hello@heavymeta.ca to get involved.
So far we have funded this project with the help of personal money, private donors, grants from Great Lakes Experimental Arts and BurnT, and a fundraiser party. We have enough to limp by, and Heavy Meta will get created in some form no matter what, but the full project will simply not be possible without reaching this goal.
Heavy Meta is the physical manifestation of The Leviathan, the Hobbesian concept of an all-powerful sovereign that rules over a land in order to prevent its subjects from living a life that is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Heavy Meta captures the creeping sense of dystopianism that has come to dominate western democracy, and the slouch toward the despots of an age long-past.
However, it is also a symbol of hope: armed with our own dragon, we can liberate a space for ourselves, and create what Hakim Bey called the “Temporary Autonomous Zone,” where we may express our own desires and principles in a land we control with the help of our dragon. The name is a punny, self-referential take on an object that is literally a “heavy metal dragon,” as well as a nod to the 1981 Canadian film Heavy Metal, particularly the final story, where the amazon Taarna, the last surviving member of a warrior race sworn to uphold justice, avenges the evil slaughter of a civilization of philosophers.