In 2022 and 2023 I had the pleasure to participate as Creator to the event in the Monegros desert called Nowhere. This is a co-created event held each year grounded on the principles of Burning Man.

In 2022 I created a LED installation called “OptoPortal” and in 2023 another one called “Pinguinus Desertis”. Both were designed and assembled on site by me.

It was a truly exciting experience and the main challenges included: 

• Design of an interesting piece of “Art” that could look beautiful both during the day and during the night
• Presentation and documentation of the project to obtain the grant
• Safety of the installation under harsh weather conditions (from extremely hot dry days to heavy thunderstorms and strong winds)
• Safety of the electrical part

For the “Pinguinus Desertis” installation, I equipped each “ice” platform and each penguin with an esp32 board to keep the 6 pieces modular and independent, but still with the possibility of synchronization. This installation was also presented at some private festive events.

Using the WLED app on my phone, I created a personal hotspot on the phone itself to control the installations and this allowed people to interact with the pieces by changing colors and effects.

Creating these installations brought me a lot of joy and it’s something I want certainly to repeat.