The Raygun Gothic Rocketship (RGR) is an 80 year old vessel of scientific discovery and exploration. In her time she has crash-landed on the frozen seas of Mars, gathered specimens from every last one of the 400 volcanoes of Io and charted the caves of Mongo.
The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is also a large-scale, interactive sculptural art installation, being built this very moment at a warehouse in West Oakland, California. Both realities coexist simultaneously, and will do so until the Raygun Gothic Rocketship arrives at Black Rock City, Nevada in late August of 2009, to embark on her next voyage.
The Rocketship is 40′ tall, 8′ in diameter, and is estimated to weigh 7.5 tons. It is being crafted in part from recycled, reclaimed, and reused materials. A fuller description can be found here.
The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is intended to creatively explore our ideas about evolution and technology as they relate to our notions about progress and The Future. This project exists at the blurry edge where science and fiction blend and become both our reality, and the stories we tell ourselves about that reality.
