The 240 red, blue and white LEDs all light up,the propellor rotates with a golf buggy motor, the headlights are rewired with LED corncob lamps, there is a red uplighter and a klaxon in the cab. I paint a winged foot on the side in Rustoleum paint . The little grey and red trucks running into Hong Kong docks had Wing Yip transport written on the doors and a logo of a winged foot. Instead of warning signs , like ‘hot exhaust’ i paint ‘spicy tofu soup’ in Korean on plates and rivet them on.
. The convoy of cars assemble, and surprisingly overlooked by the police. We joke that if the government wanted to round up everyone who is a threat to decent society they just have to descend in black Chevy Tahoes and cart us away. Painted cars, cars with a ton of plastic novelties siliconed in place, cars with fur, a van with a bomb and folk with a political or religious axe to grind. All human life is here, in a parking lot in Tulsa.
Our crazy convoy tours Tulsa, noisily interrupting folks lives. It is good to meet folks from Houston, who have driven 10 hours to be here.’ Heroicar’ , that i built in Houston 4 years ago arrives. I built it in 13 days in a dark shed. The power cables have been cut so i rewire it, and the 200 sequenced LEDs and the flapping cape work once more.
After twenty 10-12 hour days the little spaceship’Zephyr’ is built.
The ‘spaceship’ is too big for the garage so i am outside in the hot sun whacking aluminium to make it fit. Storms keep passing, dumping inches of rain in minutes. 1300 screws, nearly 2000 rivets, 5 sheets of birch ply, 240 LEDs, 340 feet of cable and 11 sheets of 0.025 aluminium. I rarely see the city except to visit Walmart, or Home Depot to buy more screws, or hinges. I am happiest each morning sitting in the cool garage at sun up, with a bowl of granola plotting the day
