THE LINK

"A  phone call from a friend of mine linked us to the land. Two brothers, John J. and Greg Redden, owned a place called Deerfields, over 900 acres of Appalachian paradise: a lush and verdant land of forests and fields tucked into a mountain valley near Asheville, North Carolina. The name John J.  rang a bell in my distant memory. A call was made, a meeting set up, and- I'll be damned-John J. and I had met in the early '90s through my girlfriend at the time. Another relationship rekindled in the creation of Transformus, which had yet to be named." -RHYTHM

THE LAND

John J. and Greg don't have to share this beautiful place with the world, but they do, and we're grateful. Deerfields

THE NAMES

THE BAMBOOZLER

"Initially I wanted to build a giant lotus flower for the effigy, then float a bunch of smaller lantern flowers on the lower lake. Theme the whole thing as based around 'The Lotus Eaters' from the Odyssey, but turn the notion of lotus eaters as drug addicts to the question of consumerism as addiction. But then I realized that might not get through to people and it might look like I was just promoting drug use in general, which in my opinion doesn't need any extra promotion.

The Bamboozler sprouted as soon as we put up a website and it began looking like we'd get a lease on the land. All of a sudden it looked like Transformus could happen, which meant that it had to happen, and I figured I might as well try to blow the lid off the thing. This meant approaching it on a city scale rather than a village scale, in spite of the fact that this was first year. Alot of people think that villages eventually become towns which gradually become cities and that cities are little more than an agglomeration of lots of people, but they're dead wrong. The difference between a village and a city is the attitude that the citizens have-whether they're clannish or cosmopolitan in outlook.

So the Bamboozler (and everything else about Transformus) had to draw people from far and wide to get things started in as cosmopolitan a manner as possible. The size of the sculpture makes a difference, but so did the fact that it was built entirely of bamboo. Sometime around April I posted text and a photo describing how the pins were made and explained that there were no nails or screws or any other non-bamboo elements involved. At the event, CD, who was behind the construction of the Pallet Bar, told me that seeing the photo of the pins helped him amp up the quality of his project. That was the finest compliment to receive.

My wife Katherine stuck by me throughout. It couldn't have happened without her. The main thing that sticks in my mind is that seven people, most of whom didn't know each other beforehand, came together and just busted ass to make it occur. You wouldn't believe how much friction went on, the head-butting, the wrangling...my best advice when collaborating on a project with multiple people is to abandon the notion that everyone will get along all the time. Accept the reality that different people have different approaches and continue forward. At the end of the day, the way to get something built is to build it. Simple."

-BRUCE BENDER

Ok, If you read all of that, you are are the kind of brand new burner we are looking for, so let's explore principles.

The first walk of the land at Deerfields.






Theory, Rhythm. Photos by Peter.