The Futura Deluxe Bubble Fountain & Porta-Temple

Abstract

The Futura Deluxe (Fig. 4) was a bubble fountain; a portable temple, compatible with all major belief systems; a public park for future-minded conversationalists; and a catalyst for personal change. The product of a 7-month commitment to an absurd vision, it was many things to many people and was as much a state of mind as a tangible object and installation. In 1999 the Burning Man theme was the Wheel of Time. I thought there should be some kind of grand public monument and gathering place that stimulated thought about the future and how people wished to shape it. I liked the idea of a fountain because it suggests life and eternity; and I wanted to incorporate bubbles because they are inherently optimistic, but also fleeting—not to be taken for granted. Together, they created a fitting metaphor for the future, as well as for personal aspirations. Thus began a preposterous saga: the bringing of bubbles to the Black Rock Desert. I teamed up with sound artist and physicist Aaron Wolf Baum and found volunteers through the Burning Man web site. Naysayers said we would not succeed because the climate was too dry. It became a quest for those who worked with me to prevail. After testing different bubble fluid formulas and overcoming numerous technical challenges, we completed The Futura Deluxe on schedule; the associated performance was as much an affirmation and invocation of the future we all wanted as it was theater. Physically, The Futura Deluxe was a two-story, three-tiered white acrylic automated reinterpretation of a traditional Italianate water fountain. The words “HOPE,” “WISH,” “PRAY” and “DREAM” illuminated the four sides of the base and supported the fountain. It created hundreds of thousands of bubbles while emitting intermittent laughter, birdsong and sonic tones. It also periodically broadcast predictions about the future that were variously amusing, unsettling and suspect (e.g. “In the future everyone will get 10% more”; “In the future rainbows will be manufactured for special occasions”; “In the future small spelling errors will lead to the downfall of entire nations”). The Futura Deluxe sat at the center of a 150-ft-diameter circle of 30 white pole lamps, four public bubble-blowing stations and 30 bubble seats. Participants sat around the fountain, socialized and blew bubbles at the bubble stations. By night, the levels of the fountain and words were illuminated to create a beacon of inspiration for those who wanted to consider the future by “bubble light.” The fountain was fully mobile and functioned independently from its installation site. It was guided along the promenade and through Center Camp on several occasions. It also functioned as a performance platform near the end of the event, when it was the centerpiece of a 30-minute performance incorporating sound, narrative and choreographed movement. The performance featured four avatars, 30 Bubble Sprites, 30 Bubble Scientists and the audience itself. Together, the fountain, installation and performance melded technology, mythology, design, science fiction and a sense of humor to create a place and experience that was both civic and sacred in nature. It was exactly the kind of work Burning Man inspires: a preposterous flight of the imagination that must be made real and shared with others to become significant.