Introduction:
The Sock-o-Tron 4200 was a larger than life sized dryer (14'x12'x15') that was featured at Burning Man as a 2024 Honoraria Art Grant winner. The dryer featured a large drum that rotated as you walked, simulating a "human hamster wheel". Its purpose was to evoke feelings of joy, as you experience your childlike curiosity of what it would be like to be inside of a giant dryer. It was a gift to the dusty burners and explorers at Burning Man only to be found in deep playa.
Concept:
Every year I would apply to the Burning Man honorarium art grant program. The program was created by the Burning Man organization designed to assist artists in creating and bringing their art to the playa. It is open to anyone and they accept submissions of any kind. It was a dream that maybe one day, I could get funding to make one of my crazy ideas come true.
The Sock-o-Tron 4200 concept came naturally in conversation with Shawna (our camp and project lead). We were discussing how to use more sustainable power options instead of generators. I jokingly questioned how many hamsters she thinks it would take to generate enough power to run a stage (I suggested AT LEAST 5). Shortly after this very important discussion, I received an email that the honorarium program was open for submissions. While brainstorming project ideas and how we could relate it to our sock-themed camp, hamster wheels were still on our mind.
What does everyone have in common that could combine socks and hamster wheels? And then...it clicked! A larger-than-life size dryer! The endless battle everyone has with losing their socks in the dryer and the fascination we have all felt at one point. The interactive combination of a sock eating dryer and human hamster wheel was a clear winner!
Planning and design:
I spent some time drafting up a mockup design to send in with my application, and within a few months my piece was accepted to the second round! I had no idea what it would actually take to make this happen. We frantically began to make projected budgets, project timelines, and did my best to work on more thought out and detailed designs.
I submitted part two of my application and after a long wait it was officially accepted! We were offered a contract and money this piece to life! I didn't actually expect this to go this far, and I felt totally unprepared for this project.
As soon as I signed the contract, I had to start building a team, gathering resources, and finding more funding as quickly as possible (the grant only funds about 60% of the project). From the second I signed the contract, we were already behind! After filling out countless forms, and attending meetings with different stakeholders and Burning Man organizers, this piece was starting to become more and more real. We had deadlines, performance reviews, and had to answer to stakeholders with pictures and write-ups throughout the whole process.
Pre-build:
I had many conversations with friends and family asking my network what they thought would be possible. I watched countless videos and did hours of research on how to make sure it was safe, efficient, and as low cost as possible.
While scouting locations and prices, our close friends acquired a warehouse space they could donate for us to build in. The only problem was that it was three hours from where we lived, which added some stress due to having to add travel time to our timeline. But with such a small budget and the chance to spend more time with our friends collaborating on an art piece, we couldn't pass up the deal.
This made all of our project timelines and build plans extremely important to get right. Distance was hard because of the amount of time, cost, and extra organization that goes into each trip. If we forgot one tool, material, or didn't hit our pre-planned goals, we would lose valuable time and money. Due to our limited resources, bad planning could have easily ended this project during this process. Shawna really came to the rescue on this one with her late nights nonstop planning, coordinating, time management, and countless spreadsheets.
Build:
Not too long after the honorariums were announced, we had a fellow artist, Bibi from New Zealand, reach out to us. She was a previous grant winner and had a piece similar to ours. Her project was called the "Tinkle Drum", which also featured a human hamster wheel. As you walked it played musical instruments simulating a music box (such a cool idea!).
Bibi mentioned she had a large wheel sitting in storage and donated it to us (along with solar panels and some lighting) to help give us a head start on the build! This was a huge help and would have been a very difficult challenge to figure out on our own. This was the official start of our build and gave us a big feeling of confidence moving forward.
We planned the whole build to take about three to four weekends. With the help of our team and some friends we were able to finish the majority of the build in about two and a half weekends. Brett helped me with some redesigns in making the structure sturdy, Rona helped with framing and giving us creative solutions. And our good friends Mike and Sofia came by to help us build. While barbequing and enjoying each others company, we framed up the pieces and designed them in a way that they would be easy to transport and simple to reassemble on playa. (or so we thought!)
Transportation:
Transporting the piece was definitely one of the hardest challenges we were not expecting. We knew logistics were difficult, but this was a whole different level of stress. It felt similar to those cake shows, where they build this masterpiece cake, but they have to move it from the rack to the table to present it to the judges - hoping that all their hard work doesn't come crashing down at any moment!
We made a pretty solid plan for how to get it there and found a place close to Black Rock to store it. We estimated it would take two to three 12-hour round trips over the course of a little less than a month due to our availability with our full time jobs and life in general.
Our first trip up, the transmission on my truck blew and left us stranded in Reno with half of our piece on the trailer. It was a very heavy load and my old truck couldn't take it. It was a devastating moment for me as I really thought this project might be an impossible task and on top of that, my only vehicle to get to and from work was now out of commission. Luckily my mom was able to save the day! She drove four hours to Reno to help us tow the piece another three hours to our storage near Black Rock City. Once we got our piece to the storage destination, it was back to Reno to load the truck onto the trailer to tow it back home. Beat up and torn, we somehow still accomplished the mission and managed to still be in line with our timeline. 
Now that we were down a vehicle and unable to make our additional trips to storage, we ended up being left with no choice but to rent a box truck. We thought about this at the beginning of our project, but they are expensive and we would have to rent it the whole time we were at the burn (over two weeks!). With the help of friends, family, and our camp, we raised just enough to make it happen! The box truck actually made our lives so much easier and looking back, I'm not sure how we would have realistically done this with just a pickup truck and a trailer. Everything felt like it happened for a reason.
Arrival:
When we first arrived, we spent the first day with the Burning Man Org finding our home for the piece. We were placed at 12:30 and 5500! 12:30 was the location in relation to the city and 5500 was distance in feet from center camp.
Assembly on Playa:
We began by spreading the decomposed granite (to prevent burn scars on the playa) and giving our piece a nice level base to build on. We got the base put together fairly quickly and were then met with high winds and whiteout dust storm conditions, which made it impossible to work in and postponed our build. We took that opportunity to go back to our storage and grab the rest of the frames for the build.
Of course our quick "be right back" trip 30 minutes down the road, turned into an 10-hour nightmare. As we drive the truck to our storage to get the remaining wooden panels, we realized the frames were three inches too long to fit in the truck! The frames were originally built to fit on the open trailer we had, once we had to get a box truck we were unable to re-measure since the frames were already in storage. This meant Shawna and I had to disassemble most of our pre assembled piece to make it fit. It was a frustrating but doable task, and also had a significant effect on our timeline. This affected our energy levels and pushed back other responsibilities such as building our camp before our campers started arriving on playa.
The next day, the dust storms cleared, the rain showers dried up, and we were met with a beautiful day. We went out early to get started on the piece and began unloading the heavy frames out of the truck. One of our eager team members yanked a heavy frame get it out of the truck, not realizing my hand was on the other side to help, and jammed my hand in between the frame and truck. It was a sharp tingling pain and I knew something was seriously wrong. It quickly swelled up and turned black and blue making it so I could not use my hand. 
The rest of the team finished unloading the truck, put the frames back together, and got the base built before the day was over. The next morning I went to medical to get my hand checked out. Four hours later, they took an x-ray (yes they have x-ray machines at the burn!) and determined it wasn't visibly broken, but that they needed a radiologist to make the final determination. I didn't have time to wait and since there wasn't anything they could do anyway, they gave me a splint, some medicine, and advised to not use it. Our project (and camp) was already behind, but now we were nearly another day behind and I was less useful, slower, and added so much difficulty to the build.
The next day, we got all hands on deck and had most of our campers come out to help put the walls up. Within a few hours we got most of it finished and the wheel spinning!
Once the walls were up, the roof was ready to go on! We came across lots of red tape at this point with the Burning Man Organization. There were a few more steps and sign-offs we needed before it was safe to put the roof on. It took another whole day, but we finally got the approval and calm weather for them to bring out the heavy machinery to help us attach the roof.
Now that the piece was finished, we still had to add night lighting and do some "dummy proofing" to make it safe. Due to my injury we decided it was best that I spent my time focusing on the camp build, while they took care of the finishing touches. I stayed at camp to help open our stage, while Brett stayed late working on the piece to open it to the public.
Grand Opening:
By Tuesday night of burn week the piece was finally open! There were so many bikes and people checking it out and playing in the wheel. However, By the time I made it out to see it open for the first time, it was already broken. The wheel had snapped at the joints and was officially out of commission. There were no last minute repairs that could fix this one. The piece was still mostly intact, just frozen from spinning. I added my last touch of a mailbox with the help of my artist friend Cozy to get any fun messages or notes. It was officially finished!
Within minutes of adding my last part to the piece, the Burning Man Organization met with me to go over our burn plan. They loved the piece, but informed us that the plywood we used was not thick enough to be approved for a burn. We were told that we must take every piece of plywood off before ignition, meaning we would have to spend another full day disassembling the piece. This was on Wednesday, and the piece was set to burn Thursday at Sunset. We rallied the team Thursday morning and went out to take the plywood off to prep for burning later that night.
Final Moments:
When we arrived we were greeted by a vandalized art piece. Someone had now broken the wheel in a way that no one could enjoy the piece anymore. They took a sharpie and wrote insults and made sure to close the piece for us in a rude way. They also took the time to vandalize and rob the mailbox, leaving me with a ripped open empty envelope marked " for the artist only".
You might think I would have been upset or angry, but at this point in the journey it just felt like it was part of the lifespan of the piece. I'm proud that it was able to cause so much emotion in someone, and their need to destroy my art feels like a badge of honor. This person's goal to was to make me feel bad as an artist or like a failure of some kind. Ironically enough, their reaction made it a complete success.
The Sock-o-Tron got destroyed sooner than I'd like and I wished more people could have enjoyed it, but even just one dusty traveller leaving with a smile on their face made it all worth it to me. Nothing could take away the journey we've had and happiness that it brought everyone involved!
When we showed up there were people inside hanging out having moments with each other and doing yoga next to it. Even after "destroying" and "closing" it, people were still enjoying the art. It was truly a beautiful piece on so many levels. It felt exactly like the ending it needed to have.
The Burn:
Burning art at Burning Man is one of the most sacred things an artist can do. It's what Burning Man is named for after all! Many people ask, why we would want to burn something that we put so much work into? It's true, it was such an awesome art piece and did take on a life of its own. However, everything must come to an end. Burning the piece represented the ending of the story. It was a phoenix burning up and making room for it's next life. We watched it be born and grow with us as we grew. It represented the bonds we made, the struggles we overcame, and the lessons we shared together. 
The night before the burn, we prepped our wax pies (wax and wood chips used to help burn) and a few hours before the burn we began hobbling the piece. Hobbling is where you strategically weaken parts of the piece so it can fall and burn the way you plan. Having the piece collapse inwards on itself was the goal to optimize the heat and the fire size (and easier cleanup!). We used about 10 pounds of wax and about four gallons of gas strategically placed by our burn lead Brett.
Once the perimeter was set and the fuel was loaded we were given the go ahead to ignite. I lit a road flare on a stick and stuck it into the sweet spot where the piece was fueled. Within minutes the Sock-o-Tron was engulfed in flames during while the sun was setting over the far away mountains. Just like that, it was over and this enormous weight was lifted off of our shoulders. It was now just a memory. The feeling was surreal. All of the stress, hardship, work, sleepless nights, worries, all melted away. We had succeeded.
Takeaways:
The most interesting take away was the meaning of the piece. The piece changed and evolved every day since its first concept. Redesign after redesign, planning and replanning. As people became more involved, they became more invested and a part of them was now a part of the piece. We grew a small community focused on bringing joy to the larger burner community. We had a common goal and even when things got tough, we persevered and made it through. This piece wasn't about being flashy, or the most important piece, or even being the best art on the playa. This piece was about friendship, making something from nothing, and working together to make something that would have been impossible by ourselves. I'm so proud of my team and so thankful for all of the support we had throughout our journey.
What's Next:
I'm not sure I can begin to think about what the next thing will be right now! Next year we want to focus on our camp and more on growing connections and building our team. We accomplished a big thing, but we were spread thin and had so much on the line. Our circumstances were what made the art so special, but next time we want the next piece to come when we have more resources and people involved. The dream will never stop, and neither will the wacky creations! We hope that we can inspire others to make art, and help teach the joy and passion of giving back to the community. Nothing is impossible, you can do anything you set your mind to even when it seems far out of reach. You define your own limitations, and don't be afraid to learn or ask for help.
Special Thanks!
Of course large scale art is impossible to do alone. We are so thankful and grateful to have the help of our friends, family, and community.
Artist Community
Bibi - donating the wheel and solar stuff from your past project to help give us a head start. Also for your helpful tips and tricks on making playa art.
Phil - allowing us to build in your space and helping us figure out how to get the wheel spinning. We are so thankful you had some wheels you could loan us and are grateful for your support! You are such an inspiration to us!
Cozy Jossi- Thanks for stopping by and giving us good vibes and ideas. I'm so glad you were there to help me add the mailbox and appreciate your support! I wish I could have been around more to return the favor, but hopefully we can work together soon!
Ivan - for volunteering to help us take off all the plywood off our piece to prep for our burn. It was your very first burn and we were so grateful that volunteered your time to help some strangers disassemble part of our piece. You are what Burning Man is about!
Burning Man Organization
Dave X - Being our burning man liaison, point of contact, and helping us throughout the process. Thank you for your knowledge and insight You have inspired me to burn more things!
Kenna and Doxxie - for helping guide us with our burn, announcing our burn on BMIR, spending your time with us, keeping us safe, and making sure we got to burn the piece no matter what.
Bunny & Mongo - being our art supports on the playa and working so hard to get us where we needed to be, checking in with us, being there from the beginning, and going out of your way to find us a few volunteers to help.
Spiral- another one of our artist supports who spent a good part of your day helping us find what we needed for rigging and even getting out some tools to help us. You made all the moves to make sure we could get our roof on!
Rocco - helping guide us through our burn and being there for us from the beginning.
Temple Crew - for being so accommodating by letting us borrow tools and helping us find the rigging we needed.
Hookers - coming out to help us figure out the necessary rigging we needed to anchor our piece, donating chains, and showing us how to properly stabilize the piece.
Countess and Cannoli - for helping us with our burn perimeter and organizing help when we needed it.
Black Rock Fire Department- keeping us safe, overseeing our burn, and teaching us a little about the magic of art as it transforms while it burns.
Build team
Burn lead Brett - One of my best friends and people I can truly count on. You were a big help to the piece and i'm so glad you were involved. You made time to help, gave us great (and much needed) design input, and even taught me some things along the way. I am so proud of how the burn went and you were the perfect person for the job. It was such a special moment for me and I hope it was for you too. I can't wait to see what adventures we have next!
Perimeter lead Rona - I am always so thankful to be your friend. You have so much creativity and fun and kind energy. I know you were a little nervous about the responsibilities at first but i'm so proud of how you stepped up and grew as a leader. You helped us get the perimeter figured out and helped us every step of the way to make this all possible. You were out there when it was fun and when it sucked, and i'm so happy you were a part of it. You gave us so much support and let us build in your space. Thank you so much! Building this with you and Brett was a dream come true.
Builder, camper, and good friend Mike - I am so glad we connected and you came out to help us with our prebuild. You were so supportive and went out of your way to be a part of this. It was so fun building with you and hanging out. You are so talented and have so many great ideas. I was blown away by how driven you are and i'm excited to see what you do next. I know the build was a tough experience, but i'm so thankful you were a part of it and i hope you got to feel some of the magic I felt throughout the process.
LNT lead Michael (Dad) -Thanks for coming out and helping me make this happen. It was such a relief to have another person I could count on and really be there for me. You took care of so many tasks that would have slowed us down and dealt with cleaning up the entire piece with Shannon. I was so stressed about that and it was such a big help. Thanks for being there and helping me through it.
Perimeter Lead Shannon (Step mom)- Thanks for experiencing your first burn with us! It meant a lot to me when you and my dad were there, even if it was just to stand around and wait. Having you take on some of the tasks we didn't have time for was such a huge help. I am so grateful that you and my dad woke up early on Friday morning to take care of the cleanup and make sure we were able to enjoy the rest of our burn. It was nice having company and I'm so glad you got to enjoy the process of the art with us.
Camp Sockdrawer
I know the art piece bled a little bit too much into the burn, but I appreciate all of your hard work and support. Everyone that brought us beers, hung out, talked about our piece, helped us lift and build - we love all of you. I genuinely hope you had fun in some way throughout the process. I'm proud to be a part of the best camp on playa and create lifelong memories with you all.
Family
Cousin in law Michael - for teaching me how to weld and showing me some cool techniques
Aunt Pam - for allowing us to store the wheel on your property
Mom - for saving the day when we got stuck in Reno, loading us with food and snacks, and for all of the support you provided throughout the process
Step Dad - for your help brainstorming the designs and for allowing us to borrow your workshop and tools
Last but not least...
Shawna (Project Coordinator/Manager) - There is no one that worked harder on making this piece happen than you did. From all the sleepless nights, budget spreadsheets, planning, emails, phone calls, timelines, timelines again, more timelines, you were really the conductor of the show. You stepped it up when I needed you the most. You brought me up when all was lost, and you stuck with me throughout the worst and best moments. It was a rollercoaster of emotions and i'm so glad I got to share them with you. We made it happen! We accomplished everything we set out to do and it was not an accident. You have been growing every day and it always impresses me. I love you and i'm so glad you found me. I can't wait to see what's next, and this is only the beginning!