Temporal eddies actuate this haphazard pendulum as it records playa time with awesome precision. Ember's Chaotick was originally created in 1997 (with its first documented trip to the playa in 2000) by Larry (Ember) Breed with a sponsorship by Burning Man's creator Larry Harvey. Originally inspired by an Ignatz clock, Ember's Chaotick has a flaming ball that spins around one pole only for the ball
to be stopped by another pole that it wraps around until you hear a very satisfying clank. Rumored to be powered by the time differential created by the trash fence, or by the rotation of the earth, or powered by the insane energy at the burn its-self this contraption runs for hours without intervention adding to its mastique timekeeping abilities. Ember's Chaotick has visited nearly every burn since its creation weather on playa or in the AEZ camp. Ember has many ties to Burning Man as one of the original Baker Beach crew he started a trash fence at the edge of the playa to protect the Black Rock area from impact from the festival, he pioneered the Gray-Be-Gone gray water evaporator, he made a sunlight concentrator used for many years by Crimson Rose to light the man, he was a contributor to P**s Clear and the Black Rock Weekly papers, and he did so much more it is hard to list. Sadly after more than two decades of participation and building of the Burning Man ethos and community the amazing and talented original creator of Chaotick Ember is no longer with us. Before leaving he entrusted the care of Chaotick to a conservator to care for and bring to the playa each year. This art piece does not come every year since the pandemic, it does not burn every night, It does not have hours, and it moves every year. Were you lucky enough to see it? How many times have you seen it? Let us know in the comments your experience with Ember's Chaotick.
