Truth is Beauty will be Lighting up the Playa

I have been blogging about the work that comes out of Bliss Dance Studios for a long time.  Two of my favorite posts, one about Bliss Dance getting ready for the Playa in 2010 is Assembling Bliss Dance and then when she went to Treasure Island, Bliss Dance Has Emerged. Well now I have the pleasure of telling you about Truth is Beauty by Marco Cochrane and his huge crew.  Truth is Beauty is the second sculpture in the series, The Bliss Project, three monumental sculptures of a woman, Deja Solis, expressing her humanity. Truth is Beauty is about 55′ tall, constructed of welded steel rods and balls, covered in stainless steel mesh skin with interactive lighting effects. These sculptures are intended to demand a change in perspective, to be a catalyst for social change; to de-objectify women and inspire men and women to take action to end violence against women, thus allowing both women and men to live fully and thrive. Truth is Beauty is being installed at Burning Man 2013.

She will be lit with over 3,000 pixels are individually addressable and are enhanced with 3D printed light shades (below).  The maquette that is surrounded by the head and torso is a scale model of the lighting plan.

I have been spending quite a bit of time out at the studios and I had a chance to see Ping, a lighting programmer actually working on the program that will light her up at Burning Man 2013

And for the first time in all of these years I actually contributed to the creation of Truth is Beauty by creating little pins out of wire to reach inside the mesh in smaller places on the sculpture, like her legs and arms.  I really had a great time, it felt great to do more than write about such a spectacular piece of art.  Wait until you see her lit up on the Playa. You will be amazed.

photos: Truth is Beauty and Ping by Jay R Houghton