It might seem like the end of the world, but that's not why these artists are building an ark

If the apocalypse strikes in the next few weeks, these Toronto artists saw it coming.

Since the new year, a crew of volunteers has been building themselves an ark inside a Geary Street garage. Or, rather, an Ark Car — a steel boat on wheels that will soon be a roving art installation of Biblical proportions.

It'll stretch 18 feet high and 32 feet long and it'll be big enough to hold more than 50 passengers — party animals who'll arrive two-by-two to enjoy the Ark Car's DJs, dance floor, kaleidoscopic porthole dioramas and pizza ovens, among other on-board amenities that definitely didn't exist back in Noah's day.

Right this minute, though, the ark looks as though it could still use at least 40 days and 40 nights of extra work, what with photos suggesting a sort of two-level, rust-busted lobster trap. But barring any unforeseen disaster — the actual End of Days included — the Ark Car's on track to be completed by July 14, when it's scheduled to roll up at Metaverse 004: Expansion, a Toronto party/gathering of similarly enormous vehicles that have recently sprung up in the city. They include the Jackalope-inspired "The Heart of Tarna" (also a work in progress) and "Heavy Meta," a fire-breathing 19-foot-high dragon that claims to be "Canada's largest art car."

Watch this CBC Arts short doc about how it came blazing into the world.

This fire-breathing dragon is saying thank you to Canada before it heads to Burning Man

7 years ago

Duration 4:01

Artist Kevin Bracken is revealing his team's new creation and how it's indebted to Canada and a 1981 Canadian animated movie.

Jonathan Stein is a part owner of "Heavy Meta," and the local promoter is also one of the team leads on the Ark Car project, along with David Fradkin and Matthew Languay. And while Heavy Meta has heated up all sorts of festivals and parties around the city (the beast was even parked at the Distillery District's Toronto Light Festival for much of the winter), both it and the Ark Car have the same original purpose: to drive down to Burning Man, that annual gathering in the Nevada desert where cars and trucks are outlawed, but DIY "mutant vehicles" shaped like fire-farting kraken are a hallmark of the scene.

This year's Burning Man runs from August 26 to September 3, and to get the Ark Car seaworthy, its team has launched an Indiegogo campaign. So far, Stein says that he and the Ark Car's other seven investors have contributed more than $20,000 of their own money; the $15,000 they're hoping to raise online will go toward the things they need to nail their design, including a sound system, lighting, a covered deck, fog machines and maybe rain jets designed to refresh revellers, rather than cleanse them from the Earth.

And then there are all the more practical items: basic building materials (i.e. steel) and gas money. Actually driving the thing, by the way, won't steamroll everything else on the road. "It is like the Ikea of art cars," Stein explains. The whole ark structure can flat-pack into the truck.

As for why they're doing any of this? Here, Stein reveals the genesis of the project and why he thinks the Ark Car is for everyone in the city, not just a few chosen Burners.

Before we get into talking about the Ark Car, maybe you can tell me a little about how it fits into the culture at Burning Man? How are projects like the Ark Car part of the event?

They're an essential part of the event. First of all, you get on these giants. They're not just pieces of art that you look at. They're supposed to be interactive. You're supposed to ride with them. There's usually sound, lighting, different visual and audio elements that are really integrated into these giant art pieces.

There's functionality and then there's that "wow" factor. The functionality at Burning Man is just getting around. Burning Man's a really, really, really big space. If you were to walk around, I think it's like five miles in circumference. Just think about trying to walk around that. I think initially the idea with art cars was like, let's take vehicles and make them cooler so we can use them to not just get around but also have an experience on them at the same time.

So why did you personally want to build one?

There's a bunch of different reasons. One of the key members of the team, David Fradkin, was responsible for something called The Giant Kaleidoscope, which was a massive kaleidoscope — it was 12 feet long, 7 feet wide. It was at Nuit Blanche [2014] and we brought it to Burning Man, so there was already a basis for wanting to do projects like this.

I think the story of the ark saving humanity really stuck with us.- Jonathan Stein, construction team lead for the Ark Car

The second thing is we like to throw events — a lot. And having an art car as a sort of mobile party event space was also a very, very, very appealing to us — this idea we could park anywhere and have this mobile art piece that we could bring to some of the community events that we go to or even just for free public events.

We got really excited by the idea that, hey, we could go to a Pedestrian Sunday [in Kensington Market] and set this thing up.

Why build an ark?

We want this to be a thing we can carry all of our friends on and then some. I love Heavy Meta. Heavy Meta is a very, very beautiful art car. But one of the differences between the Ark and the dragon is the Ark has the opportunity for lots of people to come on.

The fact you can fit a bunch of people on board, is that where the idea of building an ark came from — that Noah's ark had room for every species on the planet?

Yeah, exactly. As we were thinking more and more about it we came to the ark idea. And I think the story of the ark saving humanity really stuck with us.

So what's this ark saving the world from?

You know, the drudgery of day to day life. We can really get stuck in our patterns. And I think it's important that we better understand how to have fun.

Why is it all worth it? What would you say about the project to someone who's never heard of Burning Man, or someone who might not think that much of it? Why are you raising money for the project?

It's really to allow people in the GTA to experience, I think, all the best parts of Burning Man: that fun, silly, different, unique feeling that you'll get from interacting with this vehicle, with this art project.

The other point of this ark is to encourage people in the city to build more art. This is actually a really key component. And really one of the key things for us as a team is to impart the knowledge and everything that we've learned — and all of the things that you shouldn't do (laughs) — to the next group that builds an art car.

We have open shop days where we'll be like, "Hey, we'll be at the shop, does anybody wanna come?" One of the nice things, too, is a lot of times they're learning a new skill. We are more than happy to teach people how to weld and how to cut metal and how to drill holes into things.

The other point of this ark is to encourage people in the city to build more art.- Jonathan Stein

You're still building it. If somebody wants to get involved and volunteer, how should they reach out?

The best way [to contact us] is directly through our Facebook or our Instagram, like through our social media posts. We respond very quickly and it's super easy. Just go to the Ark Car and send us a message.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Learn more about the Ark Car on Indiegogo.