Charon (2011) by Peter Hudson

A gigantic 30’ spinning wheel with posed human skeletons mounted on its inner edge, Charon is fully powered by a minimum of 12 people working in unison. Onlookers are invited to pull a series of 6 ropes which cause the wheel to rotate progressively faster. When the rope pullers are coordinated enough to get the wheel spinning at the correct speed, a strobe is activated, revealing the skeletons’ animation.

The animation tells the story of Charon, the mythological gondolier and ferryman of Hades who carried the souls of the recently departed across the river styx, the last right of passage on the way to the afterlife. This piece debuted at Burning Man, 2011.

artist website

This is an example of a three-dimensional zoetrope. Invented around 1833, a zoetrope works on the basis of presenting to the eye still images that, when taken in sequence, appear to animate. The original method involves images printed or drawn on the inner surface of a cylinder. As this rotates, a slit constrains the field of vision. At the correct speed, the illusion of motion results.