2008 "American Dream" theme

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:47 pm

Hmmm....nowhere in the 10 Principles do I see any Larry-speak that says: Thou shalt build thy themecamps around my "official" theme...what I do see is this:

Radical Self-expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

So for those who don't like the theme and are bitching about it why is it so damn important? Does it warrant all this fuss, or is this just a quick and dirty opportunity to take some political potshots?

Steven bradford · Post by **Steven bradford** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 12:31 am

I think all the hub bub proves it out as the best theme ever.

Spearfish · Post by **Spearfish** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:05 am

Steven bradford wrote:I think all the hub bub proves it out as the best theme ever.

Oh great, so if something pisses a lot of people off, then you think it's good?

I know, let's change the theme to "Nazi Concentration Camps" or hey, how about "AIDS is for Fags." That's bound to piss everyone off and by your logic it will be, "the best theme ever."

Were you one of those kids who spent a lot of time burning ants with a magnifying glass?

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:44 am

Spearfish wrote: Oh great, so if something pisses a lot of people off, then you think it's good?

If it pisses them off in a manner that stimulates intelligent discourse on the subject, its a good thing. My first reaction was "How fucking lame is that?" when I heard what the 08 theme is. But in a very short amount of time, I have gone from shrugging it off and deciding to ignore it to embracing it and working out the logistics of bringing what is shaping up to be a pretty involved largish installation to share with the community.

I know, let's change the theme to "Nazi Concentration Camps" or hey, how about "AIDS is for Fags." That's bound to piss everyone off and by your logic it will be, "the best theme ever."

Holy "I suck at analogies" Batman. You should really grab your ankles and unstick your head from your ass....

Were you one of those kids who spent a lot of time burning ants with a magnifying glass?

Were you one of those kids that sat around and incessantly cried and wailed and ran home to mommy's apron about everything that didn't go your way?

kristina · Post by **kristina** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 8:31 pm

hmmm, I think that its what we make of it, same as the country, same as the world. Or is it? Maybe its not up to us. It will definitely be interesting. Talk about exploring the shadow,,,, I usually go to BM to try and forget the red white and blue etc, yet ironically it is in such a place that such a place exists. My deeper thought is that we can deconstruct what "america" means through such a theme. Perhaps the collective activity at Burning Man floods out into the collective unconscious. By playing with themes and toying and revolting and twisting and blowing them up, maybe we change reality?

rycaldwell · Post by **rycaldwell** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:51 am

how easily we have all forgotten the american dream, so how perfectly appropriate.
the dream of america was once the dream of an entire world. a place to remake the future. a place for hope. a place where anything was possible. streets of gold(oh! hmmm?). a destination of a journey for a fresh start. America is a place where something like burning man can evolve into the pilgrimage made from all over the world. what other place has a pilgrimage as unique? where else will you find a community of the most eclectic artists from all over the world come to sweat, cry, and bleed together? and then let it all GO, clearly seeing through the permanence of things. what other place is it even possible?

i heard a 14 year old child ask the other day,
"When did the future change from a promise into a threat?"

when did we stop being proud to be american? and why?
when did we forget the meaning of patriotism? real patriotism.

when did we forget what it means to be american?
when did you give up believing?
because if america doesn't need a call to action, then where can we turn? you can let apathy be your way, but this has nothing to to with exclusion... all the flags of the world will be represented, as noted in the description.and i still challenge you to show me a country better equipped to lead the world into the future, as fucked up as we have gotten. We all know the answers lie in a global solution, but the best place to start is where you find yourself right now. what we need is leadership. and a vision of the future.

READ the description of the theme. THINK about the description of the theme. and ASK yourself how you feel about America in this world and the one of 10, 15, 20 years ago.

For those of who who want to get away for a week, party, and forget about the real world. That is your right. But we ARE at the 11th hour in many respects. So as the theme describes, leave your political ideologies at home, instead reevaluate your role as an American, and ask yourself where we, as a civilization are headed.

I, for one, won't be disillusioned by the powers that be, trying to steal away my rights, my civil liberties, and the very ideas that my ancestors died for. I won't let them take from me what it means to be American. That's my duty as an American.
I won't forget how uniquely lucky I AM.

I believe the theme is a success in the respect that it has created a passionate dialouge (a foundation of freedom). radical expression.
but we must ask ourselves these questions. our survival is at hand. wake up.

and for all the people who aren't American, I love you. We love you. engage with us. enjoy your stay and be our friends, cause we are all in this together. fundamentally, I feel we all understand the need to transcend borders and create the dream.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:18 am

K-mom wrote:
BAS wrote:
I wonder what it would cost to make the perimeter a vast white picket fence.
I don't know, but it would be an improvement over the traditional orange plastic trash fence! (And would work well with the theme.)

B.
Only problem is ..... it might not serve its actual purpose..

Function be damned! FORM is what matters! This is AMERICA, after all!

(Maybe they could put the trash fence around the outside of the picket fence, so the picket fence is masking it?)

B.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 10:47 am

AM. has been known to string a lot of constatine wire around the world.. that would catch to trash and exclude others from entering our wounderful playaground.

kristina · Post by **kristina** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:27 am

Clarification: I go to Burning Man to experience a more joyful alternative than my "default" life, in the hopes that I can create something better all the time. When I said I go there to forget the red white and blue that's what I meant. Not that I just go there to party and it has no bearing on my "real life". I go there to learn and focus on the things that I love, such as art, beauty, connection, new ideas, humor, creativity, beauty of the natural world.

I can play with the theme but its gonna be hard to get me pumped about being an American.

I can relate to it more on a Native American level, think Turtle Island and honoring this LAND we live on. Gaia, and Gaia in the particular region we inhabit. On that level, I can approach the theme as a continuation of Green Man (how's that for a stretch?)

Its also true that saying you're american could mean anything, as we've come from all over. That's one of the good parts.

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:35 pm

kristina wrote: I can play with the theme but its gonna be hard to get me pumped about being an American.

Who said anybody had to get you "pumped about being an American"?

Maybe somebody will have better success at the Syria, North Korea or China regionals? In Iran you can't touch a woman in public or drink alcohol, but if their system is preferable, maybe you could organize something in Tehran? Now THAT'S radical.

My wife has an interesting point which is that if America sucks so bad, why do we have a national immigration crisis while places like Russia have to have holidays to maintain their birth rate (I could never understand the point of that anyway...more tax-paying worker-bees and bullet-sponges, I guess.)

Your freedom to openly resent being American while enjoying the disposable resources required to do things like Burning Man is part of the greatness.

-c
I agree with a lot of people: America sucks. We suck. "The Dream is a Lie!" (-Tenacious D) Everybody should quit coming here.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:15 pm

kristina wrote:
I can play with the theme but its gonna be hard to get me pumped about being an American.

I can relate to it more on a Native American level, think Turtle Island and honoring this LAND we live on. Gaia, and Gaia in the particular region we inhabit. On that level, I can approach the theme as a continuation of Green Man (how's that for a stretch?)

Hey, Native America IS American! That makes it part of the theme! My guess (hope?) is that BM is trying to see how creative we can get with what appears on the surface to be a fairly restrictive theme.

B.

Clar-i-ty · Post by **Clar-i-ty** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:15 pm

[quote="BoxaRox"]The American Dream these days appears to be: "I got mine, fuck you!'

How much more radically inclusive can you get?[/quote]

That seems to ring true on the playa as well. I was so put off by so many people where there to get stuff from people.

Zulegoona · Post by **Zulegoona** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:04 pm

Dreams, in general seem like they could be provocative of all forms of expression from any number of angles and viewpoints. the 2008 art theme is â€œAmerican Dreamâ€

Mr. Woods · Post by **Mr. Woods** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:21 am

This will be the first time I make an art project for Burning Man. My vision is to create a giant pie. My aim will be to fire it at the Man's face using a giant catapult. Help.

Marmot · Post by **Marmot** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:25 am

Below are excerpts from one American Dream, big enough for the whole world. If America did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it. Just ask anyone who has found a home here after fleeing religious persecution or economic desparation in wherever they started out. America Dream is a state of mind for many, not just the home of bloated consumers and single-minded war mongers. The "Guatamalan Dream" or The "Chinese Dream" just don't evoke the same hopes and aspirations. Though I will say, I thoroughly enjoyed the Japanese influence of the Floating World.

You are free to go ahead and hate this year's theme. Or organize your own event. The regionals might be a good place to exhert the influence you don't feel like you have in BRC. Or put your own spin on things down there. I have found this last option to be most satisfying. In short, if you don't like the theme, press on. Even if you love it, the reality is it probably won't make or break your enjoyment level.

MLK said it this way:

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."
"This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."
"Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ringâ€”when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's childrenâ€”black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholicsâ€”will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Fire away,

DJM

Marmot · Post by **Marmot** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:44 am

krozall wrote:I HATE this idea for a theme, I can't understand why it's the American Dream, why not the Global Dream, or World Dream something more abstract and open. ..

Wikipedia entry for "American Dream"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream

Wikipedia entry for "Global Dream"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Se ... obal+Dream

George Carlin: "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

lurker · Post by **lurker** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:40 am

I HATE this idea for a theme, I can't understand why it's the American Dream, why not the Global Dream, or World Dream something more abstract and open. ..

You know what's really funny?

Even the idea that there could be something called a 'Global Dream' is an American idea.

And it's based in the idea of the American Dream....which is apparently hated.

But I wonder, what would the 'Global Dream' be?

To always have enough to eat?
To have a home that wasn't infested, that was adequately heated/cooled, that was secure against the elements?
To have clean water?
To have a say in one's governance?
To have a decent education?
To not have to spend most of one's day seeking sustinence?
To have leisure time?

What would it be?

landry · Post by **landry** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:16 pm

diane o'thirst wrote:
Another way to look at the theme, is not "flag-waving, fat, ignorant, consumerist Murikunns" but the America as seen from, say, Ellis Island. Vis-a-vis, from the eyes of the people coming here.

Points to think about:

Cultural Melting-Pot, everyone has something to contribute.

Strength in diversity.

Here be dragons.

"It's not just a car, it's your freedom."

Route 66, America's Main Street (the seed-theme for my "Roadtrip Camp" idea).

"You can drive from state to state. All across the country." "No papers?" "No papers."

Lost Roanoake Colony. "Gone Native," Croatan.

A tipi village? Is anyone going to do a totem pole?

Potlatch ceremony. Look it up, research it, and REALLY do it. Give away most of or everything you have â€” and valuable stuff, not just junk from your last spring cleaning â€” to everyone who comes and they all bring something to give back to you. Kind of a reverse "Nothing Without You." The ultimate extrapolation of "Gift Economy" and a real fly-in-the-face of consumerism.

wow!!! before i even read that, we had our project figured out and it has a few of those concepts involved in it.
It took about 3-4 days to get it rounded and written up.
everyone I knew was complaining about the theme immediately when it was posted and I of course played devil's advocate and put forth the idea that this doesn't have to be a negative theme. you can CHOOSE to make it about the bad and destructive forces that this country certainly contains OR you can choose to say "this is how i see my country being the best and brightest it can be"
what i think this theme is making people do is *think* and that seems to be what everyone is trying to avoid.
if people were to stop and think about what you would ideally like to see for your country you will be able to come up with ideas that are not divisive or war mongering or bush-ified.
And regardless of the wording it doesnt have to be *just* about the "American Dream". since when does everything have to be taken so literally.
Burning Man is comprised of a really large percentage of people who have decided that for a week (at the very least) they want to create the kind of world they want to live in....cant that be what this theme is about?

blyslv · Post by **blyslv** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:58 pm

One of the high points of my 2 year teaching "career" was teaching MLK's speech to a class of ~11th graders in their English as a Foreign language.

Lifeisshort · Post by **Lifeisshort** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:41 pm

theme sucks.... nothing we can do about it.... LARRY has choosen

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 7:06 pm

Lifeisshort wrote:theme sucks.... nothing we can do about it.... LARRY has choosen

Maybe so but that sure won't keep people from bitching and whining about it.

Wumbus · Post by **Wumbus** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 7:57 pm

lurker wrote:But I wonder, what would the 'Global Dream' be?

To always have enough to eat?
To have a home that wasn't infested, that was adequately heated/cooled, that was secure against the elements?
To have clean water?
To have a say in one's governance?
To have a decent education?
To not have to spend most of one's day seeking sustinence?
To have leisure time?

What would it be?

Well, happiness. That's all anybody's looking for in life, I'm pretty sure. Utopia would be the perfect theme.

My problem with the American Dream is this. It says anyone can make it in America, if they're willing to work for it, and I'm not willing. I'm not lazy, or a freeloader, but let's be realistic; wouldn't we all rather not have to worry about the complexities of money, taxes, the law, and The Man? We could all make it together if these systems weren't in place and if everyone lived by the principles of love, respect, and common sense, but it's way too late: the Constitution is already in place. So we obey. Lame lame lame!!

But that's politics. I don't usually talk politics in places where I know no one wants to hear it, and so I kept it concise and broad as hell. As for the American Dream as a Burning Man theme... it's the biggest counterculture festival in the whole world. International. Counterculture. Decidedly not American capitalism. Outrageous.

dogbone · Post by **dogbone** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:20 am

Come on people, who doesn't want to see Uncle Sam shirt cockers and The Statue of Liberty with her titties hanging out? Get real! Who gives a fuck what the "theme" is? Nobody follows the goddamn theme! Hey, here's a theme for you: "Do drugs, Dance, Look at Crazy Giant Art (not the little shit), Go home, Think for 50 weeks what you are going to wear to next years "Oh So Political Party", sew for one week, and scramble like a mother fucker to get to the playa! Fuck your theme!

George Bush with his pants off
Condi on her knees
Cheney shittin' on the Constitution
Colin Powell blowing smoke up the UN's ass
Alberto Gonzales lost his mind, "I can't remember"
Republicans with underage interns stuck to their cocks
How about the stupid mother fuckers who put them there?
Global warming
Deforestation
Salination of crop lands
Over-fishing
Consume
Consume
Consume
Trans-fats
Home improvement shows
Wal-Mart
Target
Costco
Ikea
Shit made in China.
Shit made in Korea.
Shit made India.
Hummers.
F-250's.
F-150's
F-350's
Expeditions, Explorers, Suburbans, and Avalanches, Tahoes
Hollywood stars
Big movies
Liposuction, Breast implants, Pills for this, Pills for that

Please, someone tell me the "American Dream."

klone138 · Post by **klone138** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:08 am

.[/quote]

Oh great, so if something pisses a lot of people off, then you think it's good?

I know, let's change the theme to "Nazi Concentration Camps" or hey, how about "AIDS is for Fags." That's bound to piss everyone off and by your logic it will be, "the best theme ever."

Were you one of those kids who spent a lot of time burning ants with a magnifying glass?[/quote]

Very well put. This theme really does piss alot of people off, but there are a few people that somehow find it "funny" or "brilliant". I dont know whats wrong with these people.

EspressoDude · Post by **EspressoDude** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:07 am

AMERICAN DREAM - THE ART CAR

A 4000 ton SUV, 20 feet wide, 30 feet tall, 90 feet long, jacked up on 15 foot tires.

0.01 mpg, 150,000hp turbo diesel, 254 speed transmission..runs on recycled PBR, or mega crude oil.

Seating for mom and dad and the required 1.63 kids + dog.

only $99.00 per month (for eternity)

lurker · Post by **lurker** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:23 am

Well, happiness. That's all anybody's looking for in life, I'm pretty sure. Utopia would be the perfect theme

.

Happiness. Y'know, America is STILL the only country that considers the 'pursuit of happiness' to be an inalienable right?

But Utopia is dull...well, approximations of Utopia seem to be dull. Writers have been falling over it for years.

My problem with the American Dream is this. It says anyone can make it in America, if they're willing to work for it, and I'm not willing. I'm not lazy, or a freeloader, but let's be realistic; wouldn't we all rather not have to worry about the complexities of money, taxes, the law, and The Man?

But if you're not willing to put anything in, how can you hope to get anything out?

Money isn't real. It's a symbol of value, a universal one that allows you to trade a generic item given to you in exchange for your labor/goods/ other value to someone who might not need your specific talents.

Money keeps this scenario from being the norm--

You're a metalworker, and you want to get some potatoes. But the potato farmer doesn't need anything you make right now. But he could use new shutters for his house, the stormy seasons' coming. You go to the carpenter, he does need some stuff you make, but he lacks the wood to make storm shutters right now, if you can get him some wood, he can make some shutters, which he can trade to you for metal items, which you can trade to the farmer for potatoes.

Instead, you take your money to the farmer and he can get his damned shutters himself.

Money is a simplification of a far more complex process

And we won't get rid of the Law until it's impossible for any one of us to negatively affect any other one of us. It's be utopian, but it's a utopian that we can't really see the path to right now.

We could all make it together if these systems weren't in place and if everyone lived by the principles of love, respect, and common sense, but it's way too late: the Constitution is already in place. So we obey. Lame lame lame!!

We could? We didn't before they were in place. Before the Constitution we were subjects--maybe we were lucky and highborn, but more likely we were peasants, serfs, and slaves.

At the very best we were the strong one who could beat down our opposition and have local power.

And we obeyed. Or we died.

I think we're doing a bit better now.

In fact, WITH something like the Constitution in place, I think we're slowly moving to a place where people will learn to live by the principles of love, respect, and common sense. But not everybody has that. Most of the world is still run by the fiat of strength.

But that's politics. I don't usually talk politics in places where I know no one wants to hear it, and so I kept it concise and broad as hell. As for the American Dream as a Burning Man theme... it's the biggest counterculture festival in the whole world. International. Counterculture. Decidedly not American capitalism. Outrageous.

Burning Man was never intended to be 'international'. It was never designed to appeal to an international audience. It was designed to appeal to the participants. When it got big enough, burners from other countries decided to come home.

You may not like it, but that home is the product of a mind that just happens to be in an American, and it's situated in the United States.

Even the counterculture is an American creation.

And, like Burning Man, it's fueled by affluence. Cash. Capitalism.

Poor people don't generally join countercultural movements(though countercultural movements often glom onto them). Poor people aren't planning their art for next year right now, figuring out how many thousands of dollars they'll need to set aside to spend a week in the Nevada desert.

There is so much we take for granted, living here. So much that keeps the true horrors of human nature from us.

Try to celebrate that.

Teo del Fuego · Post by **Teo del Fuego** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:57 am

EspressoDude wrote:AMERICAN DREAM - THE ART CAR

A 4000 ton SUV

With 28 cup holders

Thanks for waking me up each and every morning!!

With your awesome espresso...

SFNathan · Post by **SFNathan** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:02 am

I think if they did a theme about the global community rather than a nationalist theme, this would have played out much better with me, but the national theme is offensive to those of us who see ourselves as global citizens first. Why propose a theme that focuses on â€œlove of country and cultureâ€

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:22 pm

"American Dream" does not mean that anyone is being forced to celebrate anything they do not wish to celebrate. American Dream is as all-inclusive a theme as any -- it's all in how you perceive it and then do with it.

Imagine you are still in school and you are given the following as an essay assignment: Analyze and express your feelings and opinions about "American Dream".

You'd write your mind, and you'd write a good essay.

Same with Burning Man 2008. If you feel the theme is a lemon, make lemonade!

Lifeisshort · Post by **Lifeisshort** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:41 pm

I hear that they are asking Bush and Cheney to Light the Man

2008 "American Dream" theme

How much do you like the 2008 "American Dream" theme?

survey says...73 percent of you choose FEAR...

american dream theme, bm as escapism or not

Re: american dream theme, bm as escapism or not

Re: american dream theme, bm as escapism or not

Need help building a catapult

Best Theme EVER!

It's awful - Trash it and start over!