H2O project: a collaborative effort

H2O is an interactive land art project by Burningmax, created with the help of a task force of volunteers from the roman community of Burning Man (aka Roman Burners), and with the active contribution and support of many friends across the alternative creative roman scene (in alphabetical order):

• a long list of bars, restaurants, hotels and other establishments in the neighbourhoods of Pigneto, Tuscolano and Esquilino, who have helped the project by supplying the used plastic bottles we needed for the installation
• ambient techno producer Camilla Pisani who helped producing the installation’s sound environment
• Pigneto-based co-working space Famo Cose, who put our team in touch with several project contributors on the interactive/Arduino front
• the community of the occupied social space Forte Prenestino, who hosted the final part of the production and pre-build of the project at their location
• Gruppo Porcarelli, the Rome-based environmental company who will collect and recycle all the plastic bottles used by the installation, at the end of the 3-days showcase at the RGB Light Experience 2019
• MADE-BCN, a Barcelona-based maker space and coworking hub created and run by some friends of the European community of Burning Man, who gave us further expert advice on the best way to manage the interactivity features of the H2O project
• visual artist and videomapper Nicola Pavone who contributed to the tech design and coding for the installation’s LED mapping
• the creative co-working community of Officine Zero, who hosted the first part of the project production at their location, where we recovered also the materials needed for the installation’s metal structure
• interaction designer and sound artist Federico Peliti (from the Polisonum collective) who designed tech and coding for the installation’s sound interactivity
• very special thanks to RGB Light Experience for selecting H2O for RGB 2019, and for supporting the physical creation of the installation at any production stage
• the Garbatella-based Spazio Chirale, for giving some advice on the best setup on the Arduino front

Discover all H2O project team members, supporters and friends at the dedicated project team page.

Conceptual and activism references

There’s a thick, multilayered conceptual dimension behind the H2O project, and this conceptual level also intersects with a few social activism references.

The environmental alarm linked to the scarcity of drinking water as a vital resource on a global level crosses paths with the role of big water/drinks corporations in controlling and monopolizing the water resources, to constantly output unsustainable volumes of consumer products, and way too much plastic, to the point that it has became a real threat for the environment.

The interactive elements shift the focus on the responsibility, both at global level and at each individual’s level, for the planetary degradation caused by the negative impact of plastic, as the installation’s state of quiet turns into chaos as soon as the artwork interacts with people.

This radical change of state is the real key alarm to raise awareness on the dangers that come with indiscriminate and irresponsible use and waste of plastic, a real problem that constitutes a serious planetary danger, bringing instability to the global Earth’s environment.

To learn more about the H2O project read our project blog (coming soon), check out the art installation details at the project page, discover the members of our project team and network, and follow the H2O project on Instagram and Facebook.

Is H2O a Burning Man project?

The H2O project has been design and developed as a site-specific art installation for Parco Sangalli in Rome, to mirror the roman Acquedotto Alessandrino that crosses the entire park, to be featured as a public space art installation during the RGB Light Experience festival weekend, November 29-30 + December 1, 2019.

Nevertheless, since the core group of our team is composed by volunteers of the Burning Man community living in Rome (aka Roman Burners), our team has decided to give the H2O project another chance and, with a conceptual twist on the site-specific issue, in summer 2020 we will bring H2O to the Spanish desert of Los Monegros, where every year takes place Nowhere, the official European event and gathering of the Burning man community. 

[UPDATE]: Nowhere 2020 and Nowhere 2021 have been canceled due to the covid pandemic, so also the participation of the H2O Project to the Burning Man gathering in the Monegros desert has been canceled. Bummer.

In full Burning man inspiration mode, our project team has also adopted and embraced a number of the principles that makes the worldwide burners community one of the most powerful creative and transformational hub. Read more about our team’s Burning Man inspirations at the #BurnersBuildStuff page.

H2O photo + video galleries

Discover the places, the people and the entire process of making the H2O Project happen.