The Tower of Babel – Burning Man 2010

The Tower of Babel was my debut large-scale projection mapping project, created for Root Society at Burning Man 2010. The stage was built from an eight-bay-wide by three-bay-tall scaffolding structure, with a DJ booth embedded into the center and dancers framed inside the architecture.

The mapping approach was beautifully direct: two 20,000 lumen 4:3 projectors were aligned side-by-side across the facade, turning the scaffold skin into one massive panoramic video surface. The result was a towering canvas for live visuals during sets from The Crystal Method, Bassnectar, DJ Dan, Santiago & Bushido, and more.

The Tower later evolved beyond Black Rock City, traveling to Ultra Music Festival in 2011 as The Tower of Ultra and appearing at WEMF in 2011 and 2012.

Camp: Root Society
Location: Burning Man 2010, Black Rock City
System: two side-by-side 20,000 lumen 4:3 projectors
Structure: eight scaffolding bays wide by three bays tall

2010Burning ManBassnectarDJ DanLive VisualsProjection MappingRoot SocietyScaffolding StageThe Crystal MethodThe TowerThe Tower of BabelThe Tower of UltraUltra Music FestivalVJ

Original archived URL Root Society writeup John Kane Tower of Babel build photo Tower of Babel screen clip The Crystal Method at Root Society DJ Dan at Tower of Babel Santiago & Bushido at Tower of Babel