More oggling and less boggling

[Artzilla]

Ya know, I was so WoW’d by the creative energy and remarkable expressions of art at the 2002 and 2000 burn, but after participating in the 2004 burn, I was left flat.

In fact an artist friend who I had convinced to come to the 04 burn left after 2 days and asked "Is this what you were making such a big deal about?"

From various posting and partitions I have read, I think most who were there know what I mean.
With that said, I had no desire to participate in the 05 burn.

I have heard very little about the 05 burn, except for the Bmorg’s TV and commercial dealings.

While I enjoy the debauchery of a world class party as much as the next soul, it is not my sole purpose for participating in the Burning Man experience.

Left with my 2004 experience, I see no reason to return

My question is to the Burners who have been to past burns: What was 2005 like?

More party and less arty?
More oggling and less boggling?
More commercial and less inertial?

How bout it T.B. and the rest of you experienced burners, how did you see it?

What’s the future of burning man?
Is it destined to become the new and improved commercial Mardigras of the West coast, just think about that for a moment… Hell, I counted more patrol cars at the 04 burn than I have ever seen during Mardigras!

Like Mardigras, has the machine now called Burning Man with all its disciples; found it can now effortlessly exploit them under the misplaced gausses of tradition, hipnes, exclusivity and the need to believe in something, with just a slight nudge?

Do we perpetuate and exult Burning Man solely because we bought into it, defines us, makes us feel cool, are we suffering from a bad case of the emperor’s cloths syndrome?

PS, Thanks to Lecter for posting my Burning man images in the gallery.

[DaBomb]

Hey...where did it go? I just wrote a response to this post and then I got a message that said this discussion was not accepting any new posts. I don't wanna re-write what I wrote. Shite!:mad:

[Lecter]

PS, Thanks to Lecter for posting my Burning man images in the gallery.My pleasure. Thanks for sharing them!

Lecter

[Lecter]

Hey...where did it go? I just wrote a response to this post and then I got a message that said this discussion was not accepting any new posts. I don't wanna re-write what I wrote. Shite!:mad:No idea. If this happens again, try hitting the back button and copy the post and try posting again. If this persists, let me know and I'll try to figure it out.

L

[DaBomb]

Yes, I hit the back button after that, but my copy was not on the page. It was blank...perhaps Safari didn't cache it correctly?

[Lecter]

Yes, I hit the back button after that, but my copy was not on the page. It was blank...perhaps Safari didn't cache it correctly?That may be the case with Safari. I have moved to Opera on Mac and Windows, so I am not as up on Safari's behaviors anymore.

Although I rarely have issues (on this forum software or others), I always copy lengthy posts to the clipboard before I click Submit. A quick Command-A and Command-C have proven beneficial when the occasional bug rears its ugly head.

L

[dr.placebo]

I had a great time in 2005, and I thought that the art was great, better than 2004. Some of the pieces were outstanding (my fave was Angels of the Apocalypse). And I was camped with a great bunch of people, which improved the whole experience greatly. So I'm not an unbiased observer. But is anyone?

Funny, I don't feel exploited by Burning Man (or BM LLC). Maybe that means that they are just too slick for me. Or maybe I'm just too pollyanoid.

It may not be a fair test, but look at pix of recent years. Is there good art visible? Are the people having a good time? What do you see?

[GrumpyOldBastard]

hmmm definetly more art. lots more. personally i think the borg 2 thingy fell flat, but thats just my opinion. the theme camps were arranged differetly this year also. made for more interesting times navigating. i liked it. it gave folks that arent with theme camps a chance to camp much closer to the esplanade than prior years. my personal fav? hmmm the clockwork tower was awesome.... and i did have fun heckling the Dicky Box. there were 500+ licenced mutant vehicles. some great ones and others were "huh? how did they get licenced?!?!" but not to many of those. i think 05 rejuvinated me more for years to come. 04 had some awesome art, but not enough of it. La Contessa made it back to the playa and promptly broke an axel. so she was a stationary bar for the week. kinda cool. but i did have a great time seeing all the art out there. lots of it. i'd recommend going again.

[Artzilla]

Thanks for the replyDr.

Artzilla

[Artzilla]

hmmm definetly more art. lots more. personally i think the borg 2 thingy fell flat, but thats just my opinion. the theme camps were arranged differetly this year also. made for more interesting times navigating. i liked it. it gave folks that arent with theme camps a chance to camp much closer to the esplanade than prior years. my personal fav? hmmm the clockwork tower was awesome.... and i did have fun heckling the Dicky Box. there were 500+ licenced mutant vehicles. some great ones and others were "huh? how did they get licenced?!?!" but not to many of those. i think 05 rejuvinated me more for years to come. 04 had some awesome art, but not enough of it. La Contessa made it back to the playa and promptly broke an axel. so she was a stationary bar for the week. kinda cool. but i did have a great time seeing all the art out there. lots of it. i'd recommend going again.
Thanks GLB.
Artzilla

[run.w.xcors]

I don't really have a baseline from previous years, but I started a loose orbit around BM years ago and finally the gravity became too great and I fell in. I can't complain. However, I do see where people can get burned out on burning man. I know people from my camp that will take the year off, and some that after going for 6-7 years may never go again.

I'm not sure there's something wrong with that. We all change, the event changes, the people change.

There was one morning when I was "disappointed" in BM. I saw a sunrise party that reminded me all too much of some Hollywood after party I have no desire to be at. Hours later I had one of the best conversations with a stranger whilst sharing breakfast. When I went to hang out with the people I hitched in with, a couple in their 40's, they said they still loved it after going for the past 5 years and look forward to it more and more every year. But the way they spent their days was totally different than the way I spent my days. So it's what you make of it.

While BM is hands down a huge party, I find myself thinking about how I can improve myself on a daily basis and how I can give to my community and positively influence the people around me, just because of my experiences at BM. Maybe that's what this theme is really about this year...the hope or fear of what this event will become in the future. I hope good things and I had a tremendous time.

[Blade]

I've only been in '04 & '05, so I can't really join in the whole "not enough art" thing (though I do know I've heard lots of people mention that it was "better" this year*), but I did feel that the general "vibe" was way more mellow (in a good way) and just sort of happier-feeling this year. The people I mentioned this to said they felt the same way.



* 2004 having been my first year, my take on that: Man, y'all be *spoiled*! <grin> If there were fewer pieces there were fewer pieces, but jeeehosaphat, there was some cool-ass shit goin' on!

It seemed weird to me- and really sort of put a damper on my virgin experience- to have all these people bitching about how it wasn't *enough*! Erm, enough for what? What would have been good enough, if the mind-blowing shit that HAD been dragged across the country and built by people in the middle of the desert wasn't it??? That just amazes me!

Also- I don't know about anyone here, of course, but so far just about everyone I've heard bitching about the art weren't themselves artists.

Um, hello? General concept of Burning Man: If you want to see something there, then do it! Maybe if there had been more people creating shit and fewer bemoaning the "sad condition" of the amazing stuff people HAD done there would have been a lot more stuff out there.

The whole conversation just seems petty and spoiled and full of "hipster snobbery" to me.

[Blade]

"So it's what you make of it."


That is SO right. More than in other situations, you really do get out of your time there just exactly what you put into it.

[Artzilla]

"It's what you make of it" is rather helpless
What you make of it is "making your desires known."

Like our government, without making our desires or expectations known to the BMorg, they will continue to give us what they think we deserve, or can get away with.

Hey, we saved X-amount of dollars by not ordering any water trucks and everyone continued to give us their money and not complain.

Hey, we cut back on art grants and everyone continued to show-up and give us their money, Koool. ( Did you know that the art installations are juried and funded with grants using a portion of your ticket fee?)

Hey, we cut back on social and environmental programs for BRC and everyone continued to line up at the gate and give us their money, sweeeet.

Hey, ya know what, they continue to give us money and show up no matter what we do, ChaChing.

If you buy a ticket to Disney World, you have a pretty good idea that:
1. A portion of the ticket price will fund some type of family entertainment.
2. A portion of the ticket price will go the some visual excitement.
3. A portion of the ticket price will go to some kool rides.
4. A portion of the ticket price will go to spectacular fireworks.
5. A large portion of the ticket price will go to the upper management, stock holders, etc.

When I buy a ticket to Burning Man, I am under the impression that:
1. A portion of the ticket price will go to clean rest rooms.
2. A portion of the ticket price will fund and nurture experimental art
3. A portion of the ticket price will fund things I can’t even imagine.
4. A portion of the ticket price will go towards giving back to the BRC community through social and environmental programs.
5. A portion of the ticket price will create an environment where I can participate in a unique social and non-commercial experience devoid of sponsorship.
6. I can party my ass off and pass out on the playa
7. I can create my art
8. I can meet interesting people with different ideas
9. Find inspiration

"You get out of it waht you put in/make it" applies to item 6 - 9.
The others have to be demanded.

Am I the only one who finds it mildly disturbing that most all services are provided by hard working volunteers.
What are we paying big money for? Is it just for the opportunity to volunteer?

If Burning Man were a free event, this thread would not be taking place.

.

Ya know I could babble on and on and on...

It would be nice if Burning Man were/had taken a higher social ground.
And if you read the mission/vision statement that seems to have been the founding ideas.

The founders of Burning Man are becoming just like any large commercial organization, preoccupied with profit and self-preservation.

But if we are paying customers we should tell Bmorg what we want and expect, providing we want anything more than large piece of land to party on with minimal supervision (but even that is in jeopardy,) a few water trucks, to many paid managerial employees, some printed literature and a smattering of funding for a few good causes.

Burning man could have become something bigger than our puny little selves.



Artzilla
AKA: puny little self

[dr.placebo]

I don't personally know any of the BMorg, so I can't say that I have priviliged insight into the process. However, it has been my impression that there are a lot of people who work hard for very little money, and I'm not just talking about the volunteers (bless them and bless us).

In all recent years there have been water trucks. In 2005 there was a big increase in art funding (with a noticable increase in art on the playa). The porta potty situation was less than ideal, but tolerable, and usually gets bad only when idiots (not the BMorg) don't follow the rules. The "commercial" aspects had not increased.

In short, based on my experience, BMorg tries hard to do the right thing. It also learns quickly and listens better than most organizations I've seen (profit and non-profit).

It does not bother me that so much work is done by volunteers. We like it this way, and paying for all of the volunteer services would make the cost prohibitive. Working on the event builds community as well. I really don't want BM to be some rich kid health spa.

Many of the things you've listed are places where improvement could happen. The responsibility for that improvement rests with all of us, BMorg not excluded. I'd like to see us be inclusive in this process, and not paint BMorg as some kind of money-grubbing corporation (MGC). Like many burners, my economic reality includes working for a large corporation, so the difference is pretty noticable.

The picture of BMorg presented in the "Beyond Black Rock" documentary seems fairly accurate. It agrees with my interactions with the organization, it agrees with stories from friends, and it agrees with the public face that they present. Until I get substantive evidence to the contrary, that is how I think of the BMorg.

[Artzilla]

Dr,
Thanks for letting me know about the art funding increase.

I'm sure the uproar and partitions after the 2004 burn let the BMorg know that Art is important and contributed to the increase in art funding.

[Lovemonkey]

Remember that a significant portion of your ticket pays the land-use fee to the BLM. That's hundreds of thousands of dollars for that week. That's probably the largest expense the Borg has.

[dr.placebo]

There is a lot of info from BMorg in the AfterBurn Report, and 2004 is the most recent data http://afterburn.burningman.com/04/

The biggest single expense listed for 2004 is payroll at $1.5M. BLM fees run about $0.7M. I think that 2005 was similar, although BLM has pushed its fees up over the years.

My understanding is that art grants jumped from about $250K in 2004 to $400K in 2005. I think that it is quite likely that burner pressure (especially from Borg2) triggered the increase, although there was some noise from BMorg that the increase was planned anyway. It's good news, regardless of the exact mix of causes.

Another good trend is that BM appears to be weathering the legal flaps from previous years (especially land use hassles in Washoe county) so current legal hassles are pretty tame (but not completely absent). BMorg had to go to a lot of trouble (and expense) to acheive this.

If burners ever become complacent sheep or BMorg becomes deaf to complaints then we have a big problem. I just don't see a lot of evidence for that problem. Burners are a vocal (or eVocal) bunch, and BMorg is not all that isolated. Your mileage may vary.

[DaBomb]

Remember that a significant portion of your ticket pays the land-use fee to the BLM. That's hundreds of thousands of dollars for that week. That's probably the largest expense the Borg has.

Actually, a huge portion also contributes to the event's insurance fees.

[dr.placebo]

Well, the insurance costs listed in the 2004 afterburn report give it as $234K, or less than the art grants. It's less than $7 per person, although it is well above my annual insurance bill (way above my income, too).

For expenses, after payroll ($1.5M) and BLM fees ($707K), the next big ticket categories are equipment rental at $606K, outside services (contracting) at $588K, toilets at $418K, water trucks at $342K, tax (inc. payroll) and license fees at $314K, art at $255K, insurance at $234K, rent at $218K, and materials at $206K. All other categories are under $200K each. Total expense is about $7.4M.

Then there is "asset acquisition." This is mostly for the work ranch near Gerlach, which is needed to support the event (construction and storage mostly). The big items here are land and building improvements at $656K and real estate purchase at $247K. Total asset acquisition is about $1.16M.

Based on 35000 people this is about $245 per person. Based on sketchy information I don't expect 2005 to be very different, although costs generally rise a bit with time.

Sorry for the potentially excessive detail. I can't vouch for accuracy, since I'm just summarizing the 2004 report. If you want to know where your ticket money goes, though, it's a good place to start.

OT: I do envy DaBomb her Kaboom category. Maybe I can get Suger Pill?

[Blade]

"It's what you make of it" is rather helpless
What you make of it is "making your desires known." (...)
"You get out of it waht you put in/make it" applies to item 6 - 9.
The others have to be demanded.

(...)
The founders of Burning Man are becoming just like any large commercial organization, preoccupied with profit and self-preservation.

But if we are paying customers we should tell Bmorg what we want and expect, providing we want anything more than large piece of land to party on with minimal supervision (but even that is in jeopardy,) a few water trucks, to many paid managerial employees, some printed literature and a smattering of funding for a few good causes.

Burning man could have become something bigger than our puny little selves.

*****
"I'd like to see us be inclusive in this process, and not paint BMorg as some kind of money-grubbing corporation (MGC)."





Well, this is kind of illustrative of what I meant by "you get what you put in"- I didn't mean physically so much as that your experience is shaped very definitely by the mood/ attitude/ mental space you bring to it. Not to get all, y'know, hippy-dippy ;-) but really- if you show up with a critical eye, being unsatisfied with what you think you're getting compared to what you think you're owed, then there's NO way it can possibly be all that fun for you.

If you show up not knowing what to expect and therefore not expecting anything, then trust me, it's pretty fucking cool.

As I said, '04 was my first year- and I had about a 90% horrible time, due to personal shit, and I almost never left camp... but just the few amazing things I DID see/ people I met/ general awe at how well kept up the porta potties were, I still decided I had to give it another chance in a different frame of mind, because I knew I hadn't had the experience I could have (which wasn't the fault of anyone I gave money to).


Also:
I hope you've taken the advice to read the past Afterburn reports- I really don't think calling anyone "money grubbing" is at ALL fair, or perticularly conducive to a constructive conversation.

Keep in mind, too, when it comes to things like the BLM fees- not only do more people *not* equal cheaper tickets because the fees go up damn near exponentially based on how many people are there, but: You may be there for 3 days, 5, a week- but the fees have to be paid for the *entire* time we're using the land- which means all the weeks spent with a few people out there stringing miles of fencing and building the streets from scratch and staying for weeks afterward to clean up all have to be paid for, too.

As it is- you say you expect a certain set of specifically defined amenities/ acts/ etc for your money, and you expect them to happen within, it sounds like, a certain set of specifications.

Having that set of requirements while begrudging the money you're charged are mutually exclusive.

You want a free event? See the other thread floating around about a free event advertised- read the info: No porta potties, no nothing.
You want it to be bigger, better, more funded art (and btw, for somehting that's all about "self expression/ self reliance," there seems to be a lot of people who think they're just *owed* a lot- why, exactly, do they even HAVE to fund anyone? Why blame BM for more people not wanting to create something unless they're given the money by someone else?)-
you can't have that without the cash coming from somewhere.

Also: A lot of people who start this conversation seem to have the attitude that "there's just some volunteers floating around, who's getting the money?" but you know, there are an incredible amount of people who work very hard for a very long time throughout the year without whom this event wouldn't be possible in the form it has today (and, yeah, a lot of the people who are on the payroll do still end up shelling out a lot from their own pockets- they ain't exactly gettin' rich, here).


"large piece of land to party on with minimal supervision (but even that is in jeopardy,) a few water trucks, to many paid managerial employees, some printed literature and a smattering of funding for a few good causes."
is just bitter sounding and wholly inaccurate- you think having - and being forced to pay for, often, OT pay for- on-site paramedics, cops, helicopter availability, etc etc etc is cheap? Or indicative of "minimal supervision"?

These things are, due to local and federal laws, a built-in necessity (one which people like the chick who got herself ran over appreciate, I'm sure)- these costs are not negotiable. I'm not sure where you were looking, but I was constantly seeing water trucks and Johnny on the spot trucks doing their thing, all day every day, with a higher frequency towards the weekend when there were more people.

As it is:
There's no way to take something with the kind of momentum BM has and suddenly make it a small, highly regulated, but cheap event- so either help out with constructive ideas, add your own example of what you want to see out there, whatever, or do what other people have done and create your own event based on how you want to see it done- that's kind of the idea, anyway, at this point- to encourage people to make it a "year round" thing, not just once a year, and go start stuff in their own communities.

That's not me being dismissive by saying "well then leave," I just mean you may actually be happier and have more fun with that kind of thing.

**********

(And I have to add: c'mon- about 40 bucks a day, based on staying the week, for a 24 hour a day event with an astonishing amount of free food, alcohol, dance clubs, yoga ashrams and tea houses, people doing circus acts, art galleries, opera and dance performances... Any *one* of these things in "real life" would easily cost more than that for just one day/ performance!)

[Blade]

Erm, so I'm thinking my new tagline could be "Crotchety Young Bastard"?

;-)

[dr.placebo]

I hope that you come back to BM 2006 and have a 90%+ wonderful time. Fall in love with something or someone, dance the night away.

[Blade]

I hope that you come back to BM 2006 and have a 90%+ wonderful time. Fall in love with something or someone, dance the night away.


Thank you!

<grin>

Well, 2005 was pretty damn amazing for me! It was a beautiful thang...
:cool:

[GrumpyOldBastard]

Erm, so I'm thinking my new tagline could be "Crotchety Young Bastard"?

;-)


heh.

you wouldnt happen to be the "blade" from Sacramento, would you?

[Blade]

heh.

you wouldnt happen to be the "blade" from Sacramento, would you?


Yup! :D


(Oh, c'mon, I'm not that crotchety in person! :p )

[Blade]

< edited to fit the post length limit>

At the center of our part of this picture is the Black Rock Arts
Foundation <http://www.blackrockarts.org>, which saw a huge leap in
activity and confidence in 2005. It started out the year by hiring a
new Executive Director, Leslie Pritchett. She made it clear that the
Foundation would not survive without a big push from all 12 board
members. Not wanting to loose the ball of fire and energy that is
Leslie, the board took notice. Not only did it distribute 5 grants to
interactive art NOT on the Playa, but it also, with very, very little
lead-time, hustled to install 2 large installations in San Francisco.
One in May/June the other in October/November. Leslie drove the Board
and community to raise the money for the installations at times when
the bank account held barely enough to cover administrative costs.
Leslie was driven by hope, the Board members were certainly driven by
the hope, but possibly more of a fear of loosing momentum, and an
opportunity to really illustrate what the Black Rock Arts Foundation is
capable of doing.

It's one thing to reach beyond the Black Rock Desert if the fruit falls
easily into the green space of San Francisco, but our mission mandates
that our efforts go beyond San Francisco. Throughout the year, as
Burning Man board and staff members have traveled to regional events,
lectures and an art car festival, some of us have also worn our Black
Rock Arts Foundation hats. In the cold of February Larry Harvey and
David Best (also a Black Rock Arts Foundation Board
<http://www.blackrockarts.org/board.html> member) were invited to speak
to students at the University of Michigan. Afterwards, the regional
contact hosted a gathering at a local pub. Of course they all began to
scheme and plan for ways to bring large scale public art to the Detroit
area. The seed of that idea now has two sprouts on it. One likely to
manifest itself through the Black Rock Arts Foundation and the Burning
Man regional contact in Michigan in February 2006.

The other is, well, way-cool on a "David Best, Burning Man, Black Rock
Arts Foundation, Holly Shit" sort of scale. And, it's NOT in San
Francisco, and it's NOT in the Black Rock Desert.

This was before Larry was asked by a non-profit organization in Houston
to join the judges panel for the largest art car parade in the United
States. The Orange Show (the name of the non-profit),
<http://www.orangeshow.org/> not only produces the Houston Art Car
Festival <http://www.orangeshow.org/artcar.html > but is actively
supporting outsider urban art in Houston. The Black Rock Arts
Foundation and Burning Man donated the first prize for the night-time
illumination category.

This happened right about the same time we received the call from the
Executive Director of the San Francisco Arts Commission
<http://sfartscommission.org/home.htm> wondering if David Best might
want to install his art temporarily in a new green space. How fast and
calmly can you say "Hell yeah!"? (As we scramble to raise the funds.)
Then there's the call from people in the city infra-structure just as
we headed off to the desert. They wondered what interactive art we'd
bring back ready to install in the city. Uh, let me get back to you
after I drag all my shit into the desert, back home again, take a
shower and decompress a little. No time for that. Approval was given
before the end of September for the next piece. Michael Christian's
"Flock" <http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?image=2728 > from
Burning Man 2001 was brought out of retirement and installed in
mid-November in the Civic Center of San Francisco across from the
mayor's office.

Breath.

Then the calls went from a trickle to a flood. Burning Man and
non-Burning Man artists want to know how to get their work displayed in
temporary settings around the country. The interest from artists is
nearly overwhelming.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the initiative taken by Burning Man
regional contacts to draft a plan for moving art pieces from one
regional community to another. Or the collaborative community art
projects brought to the playa like the Machine from Seattle.
<http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?image=21340> And did you see
Charlie Smith and Jamie Laudet's Synapses project?
<http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?image=24478> Did you know each
piece was produced in a different Burning Man community with
instructions from Charlie and Jamie?
<http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/2005/
05_art_funded.html#synapses>

And brought to the playa? Can you say collaboration? Community? The
warmth you felt standing amongst those pieces at Burning Man 2005 came
from the hands and hearts of a cross-continental collaborative project
that reached far beyond our event! Don't you want to see more? And NOT
just at Burning Man?

WOW, but can we make all of this happen? The Burning Man Project is not
able to fund the efforts of the Black Rock Arts Foundation. We are
depending on members, supporters, foundations and volunteers to make
all of our interactive art dreams come to fruition. With all this
excitement and who-ha you wouldn't know that at the last Board meeting
Leslie made it clear BRAF's financial situation, as we approach the end
of 2005, is very challenging, and that we'll not be able to engage in
any of the ideas on deck for Detroit, San Francisco or maybe, soon, in
your hometown, else unless we can raise more funds.

I feel like I'm personally living next year's theme. Excited by the
hope of placing one of the most striking pieces of art from Burning Man
on top of a building in San Francisco (and doing it without installing
any hardware that would damage the historical building), traveling to
visit regionals, listening to artist map out where and when to install
their pieces.You think Black Rock City is big? Hey we've got an entire
planet outside the orange fence line!

Can we do it all? Do we have the manpower? The help? The inspiration?
The money? Jeeze the MONEY. That's the hardest part. We don't sell
tickets to the Black Rock Arts Foundation. We raise money to make stuff
happen. But what happens if we don't raise the money?

On Saturday evening, I had a conversation with our youngest member of
the BRAF Advisory Board. We both agree the Burning Man event will have
a finite life span, but to keep the ethics, values and core experience
alive that influences so many lives is what's so inspiring to us. I
don't want the event to end, and I fear it'll end before we have the
Regional Network working at full strength. It's hard to really swallow,
but when we compared Burning Man to other important stretches of time
we both admitted that big cultural swaths left upon the past aren't
often marked with 20 year tags, but more often 50, 100 or 200 years. If
that's the case, then we both agreed that the efforts we're engaged in
might not fully realize themselves in our lifetime. Excitedly driven
forward? Towards what? For what?

Black Rock City is the purest manifestation and highest concentration
of Burning Man values once a year in the Black Rock Desert. There is no
reason why people can't live year round in a more connective, creative,
self-expressive empowering way for an entire lifetime. To do that we'll
need more than an annual ritual with 35,000 participants on a dry lake
bed.

It's that time of the year when not only are each one of us trying to
find, make, express gifts for our loved ones, but non-profits are
hitting us left and right for a year-end tax-deductible donation. Well,
the Black Rock Arts Foundation <http://www.blackrockarts.org> is in the
same position. Though its mission may not seem as tangible as animal
shelters, it's getting more tangible by the minute. We have the
momentum, we are making it happen right before our very eyes. But we
are caught between hope -- the brilliant ideas, options and projects
spread out before us in our great community -- and the fear of not
having enough energy, money or manpower that will allow of this to come
to life. 2005 hasn't even ended, but "Hope and Fear: the Future" has
already begun. "We are emitters of the future", this year's theme text
says. Please donate <http://www.donatetoblackrockarts.org/doanam.html>
money now to BRAF and make that future happen.

(...)

This year we are also creating a special category for interactive art
works that can function in conventional civic settings, as well as at
our event in the Black Rock Desert. Already, in 2005, the Black Rock
Arts Foundation <www.blackrockarts.org> has installed two major public
art works in San Francisco – a temple by David Best and a large
sculptural installation by Michael Christian, entitled Flock, which
currently stands in front of City Hall in San Francisco’s Civic Center
Plaza. Furthermore, such projects are by no means limited to Burning
Man’s hometown. The Foundation also has plans underway to erect a
temple designed by David Best in the heart of Detroit! In 2006, BRAF
hopes to cull even more portable art projects from among those that
appear on the playa. Its ultimate aim is to distribute and erect this
art, with the help of local communities, in cities throughout the
country. If you would like your artwork to be both eligible and
feasible for such a purpose, please first communicate with us at
artgrants (at) burningman.com and we’ll give you advice. All decisions
regarding this program or any art works that might be displayed will be
made by BRAF in the coming year.

Maid Marian
jackrabbitspeaks@burningman.com

[Artzilla]

Blade,
Thanks for the all the info and links.

[GrumpyOldBastard]

Yup! :D


(Oh, c'mon, I'm not that crotchety in person! :p )

yes you are! at least you were at the 04 burn. i met you thru a mutual aquantance, and you were quite rude. we were introduced, you said "hello" in a dismissive manner, then turned your back on me to start a conversation with said friend. we looked at each other over your shoulder, and said friend quickly concluded the conversation and we left the area. i asked friend "is she always that bitchy?", friend tried to defend your bad manners by saying "maybe she is having a bad burn".

remember, first impressions are always the hardest ones to shake, most especially if they are bad ones.

[Blade]

yes you are! at least you were at the 04 burn. i met you thru a mutual aquantance, and you were quite rude. we were introduced, you said "hello" in a dismissive manner, then turned your back on me to start a conversation with said friend. we looked at each other over your shoulder, and said friend quickly concluded the conversation and we left the area. i asked friend "is she always that bitchy?", friend tried to defend your bad manners by saying "maybe she is having a bad burn".

remember, first impressions are always the hardest ones to shake, most especially if they are bad ones.




Ah, hell! I'm sorry! :( I REALLY was having a crappy time, not as though that's any kind of excuse to be rude... but, I am also pretty shy as a rule and tend not to just assume people want to actually talk to me... heh... :o (giant dork, yep)

That's something I've been working on, though, having finally realized in the meantime that I'm coming across way differently than I'm feeling, more often than I'd like apparently coming across as rude when I'm just feeling shy or uncomfortable.

[GrumpyOldBastard]

apology accepted. no big deal. i had totally forgotten about the incident until i saw your nickname, and thought i recognized your pic. maybe you should make up some buisness cards that say "i'm not rude, just shy" heh.

[Blade]

HA! I totally should! <grin>

[Blade]

maybe you should make up some buisness cards that say "i'm not rude, just shy"



<grin>


You know, I should make this into a t-shirt.