The Blitter Bike (2012)

While at the first Burning Man he attended, in 2011, Branden found himself in conversation with his good friend Matt Collins about the wonderful nighttime lights at the event. They both lamented the fact that the lights, while very pretty, were often static in nature. At one point Matt said something along the lines of "I would love to see Mega Man running across the playa...". At that moment, the BlitterBike was born.

Consisting of a hand-built, dual sided 32x32 pixel LED screen mounted on a bike trailer, the Blitter Bike brings pixelated art to life. In it's primary mode the screen displays video game sprites that run in time with the bike via a sensor on the wheels. At night it really looks like Mario or Sonic are running down the street!

When not traveling, the operator of the Blitter Bike can take it's neck-worn arcade-style remote and use it "play" the Blitter Bike as a low-resolution GIF-based VJ platform.

The project received numerous art grants from regional Burning Man events including Playa Del Fuego, Freeform, and Lakes of Fire. It traveled to Burning Man in 2012.