Artist / Engineer
In August I launched my new bag manufacturing company called Motley Goods.
Hand Made in San Francisco, built for the urban adventure.
Ranging in everything from backpacks and leather totes, to panniers.
Starting a business from scratch has been tough but extremely rewarding. For more information check out my website or my Etsy.
Here are a few shots of my bags.
While the majority of my focus was on the Skybar, I was able to get the Swing set that generates electricity out on the playa as well. We were placed around 10:45 and D, and it was pretty fun working on the piece in the harsh conditions of the burn. It got a lot of use, but held its own pretty well, and we got a lot of great ideas on how to improve on the concept for next year. hopefully we will have a second prototype ready for the makers faire this year…
In August 2011 my friend Ashot asked me to help him build a Skybar for Burning Man, in one month. The Skybar was a 800sqft dance bar built 12 feet in the air atop a school bus. Built to be light (constructed by hand), transportable, and reusable, the Skybar met all of our requirements. Taking a month to design and build with a team of friends, we had the Skybar up and rocking on the playa in 2 days. The Black Rock Beacon told us that it was the highest platform you could dance on on the playa, and we didn’t see anything to contradict that. It was a great experience to design and build something so large that could be assembled and disassembled quickly and safely. It was also one of the most challenging things i’ve ever designed/built. Marshaling the volunteer man power, teaching people to use power tools, keeping things moving and safe, and staying on a schedule and budget were all huge learning experiences. We hope to bring it back to the playa for years to come.
The Panda Lounge/ Skybar fam
Please donate today!
Stay tuned…
The Land Yacht is a 40 foot sailing vessel, designed to roll gracefully across the desert.
Built on a 1962 Dodge 2-ton truck, it has a ketch rig placed on a flat wooden deck, supported by an extended 40′ steel chassis. The ketch rig consists of a taller main mast supporting the head sails and a main sail just back of the front axle, and the smaller mizzen mast supporting the mizzen sail just forward of the rear axle. This lowers the center of mass while maintaing a high amount of sail area, reducing the righting moment and increasing power and maneuverability.
Wings made of steel and netting, supported by the two masts, allow crew to move their weight out-board while assisting a hydraulic ballast system, to help counter the lack of a keel. They also provide a comfortable hammock-like seat to view the desert rush beneath you.
Time permitting the cab will be split and the passenger compartment, along with all cables and linkages, will be moved behind the mizzen mast.
The entirety of the standing and running rigging is taken from a single similarly sized sailboat. Reducing cost rather than building a new system and simultaneously ensuring sync throughout the rig.
We believe that with roller furling headsails along with the vehicles existing brakes and two-speed rear transmission, our Land Yacht will be able to stop and maneuver under limited sail in ways a traditional sailboat has never been able to.
In addition, by retaining the original 400hp diesel, which could be converted to vegetable oil, The Land Yacht will have robust electrical capabilities forlights, sound, and the hydraulic ballast system, as well as the ability tomotor under its own power.
The vessel is designed to be trailerable so we may easily move it from Nimbyin Oakland, California where it is being built, to the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada home of an expansive playa and constant winds.
For some time we have planned and dreamt of a sailing vehicle this size on the playa. Silently and effortlessly cruising across the desert. A sail powered transportation solution that until now has never been attempted at this scale. Not just a technological endeavor but art that serves to highlight our society of petroleum and missuse of natural resources. A transportation alternative that requires patience, skill, and planning.
With sound and lighting engineers as well as a custom furniture designer involved in the project, we intend to provide a comfortable and modern experience, that we feel, will compliment the new but natural and familiar feeling of sailing across the playa.
The Land Yacht is designed to be simple and rugged, insuring this first built iteration of the design proves to be a lasting and informative prototype.
As rewards for your generous donations we are happy to offer numerous custom designed bags and accessories that we feel are in line with ourenvironmental and sustainable mission.
In addition to limited custom screen printed t-shirts and prints, we have designed wallets as well as tote bags, zippered pouches, and key fobs all made from recycled Dacrcon. The material being taken from the used racing sails of our sail boat. The Dracron proves to be durable and unique, as well as environmentally positive, as the bags and accessories are nearly 100% recycled material. Designed and built at a local San Francisco custom messenger-bag and backpack manufacturer, they are both functional and stylish.
Thank you once again for your interest in the Land Yacht, we would very much appreciate your donation to help us make this incredible vehicle a reality. If you would like more information about The Land Yacht, please like our page on Facebook, or follow our blog.
At the Bay Area Makers Faire 2011:
Thanks to everyone who made it out!
For all your electricty generating swing set needs go to:
The Swing Set that Generates Electricity is a collaboration of Cleveland Motley and Ryan Alpers, desinged to harnes the most renewable resource of all, children.
Our modest proposal is that children around the world are not working hard enough. This swingset can put them to work, and leave them with a smile on their face.
If your property doesnt have a creek, or blocked from direct sun, or the wind dosent blow as hard as you’d like, well our swing set could be your answer.
In all seriousness, electricity is a scarce resourse that is entirely taken for granted, not just by children, but by everybody. Our swingset demonstrates that we have to conserve by giving people perspective on the amount of work it takes for modest electrical power.
The swing set at the 2011 Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, CA:
AND… We are very pleased to announce our (Two!) editors choice awards from the 2011 Bay Area Markers Faire!
Thanks to The Makers Faire, and thanks to The Sustainable Living Road Show for our recent showings.
Cleveland Motley is an artist and an engineer. He works in the melding of energy and materials, natural and synthetic, always with an eye to sustainability and design. San Francisco California is his home and muse.
Having graduated from UCSB with a BA in Studio Art in 2007, he pursued a career in custom fabrication and public art. This, combined with his own work, led to more technical positions involving electric transportation and engineering, with companies like Beyond Productions building on the set of MYTHBUSTERS. In addition to Luscious Garage an electric and hybrid vehicle company as well as numerous well known public artists.
As a result he moved to Pennsylvania to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where he worked on a second bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in addition to prototyping and preforming R&D for TAKTL developing a ultra high performance sustainable concrete.
Cleveland has since retuned to San Francisco where he manages production at the custom bag and bicycle accessory manufacturer, Freight Baggage
