2013 Theme - Cargo Cult - thoughts?

[Aurelia]

He is indicating that he gets it
and he continues yo stay in touch

[jcliff]

I love the theme! One consequence of reading this whole thread: I was so excited for the possibility of finally having a disco party in my village that I already chose a disco name for myself for the event.....Jontelle Brown. The racism discussion surrounding the theme has caused me to doubt myself. Damn you seekers of social justice!

[theCryptofishist]

This year's excuse for wearing feathers. (And pretty fucking funny, too.)

[Simon of the Playa]

g*d is in the data

[DeusRegit]

All I can say is...[b] HELL YES!!!! [/b]
Back to TMA-3 http://www.burningmanzeroseven.com/TMA3%20home.htm

[Foxfur]

It only bothers me because, well, do you know how much your neck would hurt after doing that much head bobbing, that vigorously, for any length of time?!?

Yeah.

This theme has gotten my juices flowing so voluminously that I'm running a continual shortage of quicker picker uppers.
So many ideas.
So. Damned. Many.
And I'm talkin' real ideas. Not just the random 'Seemed like a great idea way out here in the woods but when I enthusiastically brought it up at the hardware store you'd think I'd just raped a piece of lawn furniture in aisle three' ideas but the REAL DEAL ideas that might just dribble from head and congeal on-playa...

[mgb327]

It only bothers me because, well, do you know how much your neck would hurt after doing that much head bobbing, that vigorously, for any length of time?!?

Well, true...after 7 days of bouncing around in the sound camps this year, I was a tad achy in spots...wore my body out. I personally love the avatar, I see the Oontz-Oontz-Ontz, and also hear the music as well.

[BAS]

This year's excuse for wearing feathers. (And pretty fucking funny, too.)

I've never actually read or seen "the Magic Flute"... Maybe if I did I would figure out the connection with H.R. Pufnstuf. (Then again, I thought that show was too weird to watch as a kid.)

It seems more likely that there is a connection between "the Magic Flute" and the segment of Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" with the elderly Russian man telling his grand-daughter a story from the Old Land.

[FIGJAM]

[media]

[Simon of the Playa]

All I can say is... HELL YES!!!!
Back to TMA-3 http://www.burningmanzeroseven.com/TMA3%20home.htm

THIS.



i have pictures of the same "cloud"...

[Martiena]

I've never posted on eplaya, except to introuce myself July 2011. For 3 years I have read these boards, laughed and at times cried.
I have attended burning man for the last 2 consecutive years. In 2011, I bought a little tent, left my husband at home to care for our special needs son, and flew from Ontario, Canada to Reno. It was difficult going, in the end, I decided that my health wasn't up to me tenting again, so at the end of BM I tearfully said goodbye to the playa. When I got back home for the first month I felt so sad, and wished I had done more, seen more...
Eplaya was my home. The postings by people who are seasoned burners walked me through that time. I realized it was O.K. to feel a letdown after BM. I also realized that I had fallen in love with the philosophy that has been carried on, namely the 10 principles.
By November 2011 it was clear that I really wanted to go back.
In 2012 I went to meet and greet, I knew the faces, it was so nice, like seeing old friends. Only.. no one had a clue who I was. I'm hoping 2013 will be different.
My computer skills are limited, I will do my best, but many of you are excellent writers. I will not be daunted by that. Especially you Simon of the Playa. This is a long post, but will get me going. Thank you to all the regulars, you have no idea how much you have given to me, and many others.
The theme this year is great. My imagination is going wild. Cannot wait.
P.S. my playa name is Stub' burn

[Playa Hater]

From the SFBG yesterday...
http://www.sfbg.com/pixel_vision/2012/1 ... -intrigues

[theCryptofishist]

From the SFBG yesterday...
http://www.sfbg.com/pixel_vision/2012/1 ... -intrigues

Best parenthetical remark:

They continued to grow ever outward as he collaborated with others on it, include Stuart Mangrum, a Cachophony Society stalwart who Harvey worked with on the Hellco theme (possibly raising the questions for old-school burners, “Who is John Law?” and might he someday return?), and the architect Lewis Zaumeyer, who designed the Man's UFO base before he died earlier this year.

[Baby Snakes]

Simon of the Playa wrote:
Will there be culturally insensitive people and art on the playa this year? Absolutely. Just as there were lots of white people in 2012 with "native american" trappings, headdresses and feather mohawks at a $20 million festival held in the heart of impoverished native communities.

I overwhelmingly agree. The theme is colonial, racist, militaristic, male-dominated, christian-oriented garbage. The manifest destiny undertone makes me want to vomit in my mouth. What a disappointment. The poster design depicts faceless, suited wallstreet look alikes with kkk bags on their heads. They are emotionless and drone-like clones staring into a light where a MAN, looking like jesus on the cross, is descending from a God-like LIGHT in the SKY. What does that have to do with Native culture? Huh? Epic Fail if you ask me. The artist possibilities are endless because of the artists and our minds--not because of the theme. Grassroots needs to drive the art and theme of bm , not deskworkers. bah humbug

[Ugly Dougly]

art

You make it too easy.

[Simon of the Playa]

After reading about Cargo Cults, the first movie that popped into my mind was Life of Brian, not Gods Must Be Crazy. And As a New Yorker, I'm reminded of Central New York's Second and Third Great Awakening, the rise of chautauquas and traveling circuses, the Cardiff Giant, seances, and the rise of multiple new religions, including Mormons. Humans are always seeking belief systems that make their lives easier and more prosperous. When it comes to religions, there's a seeker born every minute.

The modern Christian doctrine of Prosperity Theology is certainly a Cargo Cult, although followers are focused on monetarily advanced prophets, rather than technologically advanced prophets.

I'm enjoying the thoughtful discussion about racism, colonialism and cultural centricity, excetionalism, and eurocentrism sparked by this theme. Hopefully some of you will explore these themes in your art and presence in BRC. Will there be culturally insensitive people and art on the playa this year? Absolutely. Just as there were lots of white people in 2012 with "native american" trappings, headdresses and feather mohawks at a $20 million festival held in the heart of impoverished native communities.

FOR THE RECORD.

i didnt write it, nor is tim one of my socks ....


carry on.

[Roberto Dobbisano]

nice try baby snakes, but no cigar....

[Dr. Pyro]

faceless, suited wallstreet look alikes with kkk bags on their heads. They are emotionless and drone-like

raises hand

[Simon of the Playa]

yeah...


i have a personal connection with this theme.



very personal.



i used to have a shopping bag collection.



and now i worship robot space jesus, so go fuck yourself, nay-sayer.

[timschapker]

i didnt write it, nor is tim one of my socks ....

Only because you've never asked.

[Aurelia]

not to worry Simon
we know that

.Martiene, welcome .
hope to hear more
xoA.

[Simon of the Playa]

i didnt write it, nor is tim one of my socks ....

Only because you've never asked.

i see you live in Albany...


im sorry.


i might have to actually stop there next time i pass thru...


we can talk hosiery.


BTW...on a side note....there will a WHOLE wagon train of frontiersmen an wimmin leaving from Rochester if your going by land...best to stay in a group, fer when you get to injun land....you know.....Iowa and the Dark Night of the Soul known as Nebraska...driving that alone is dangerous to mind and body.

[MacGlenver]

The theme is colonial, racist, militaristic, male-dominated, christian-oriented garbage.
[...]
They are emotionless and drone-like clones staring into a light where a MAN, looking like jesus on the cross, is descending from a God-like LIGHT in the SKY.

You realize the event is called Burning Man, dont you? And you have an issue with them putting the symbol of the event on the poster?

Here's an updated poster/theme for the event, which I'm hoping will not offend you.



Though, it occurs to me that this rectangle is white... shit, back to the drawing board.

[Aurelia]

my personal connection is my enormous ly pocketed cargo pants
I never wear them because I just dont need all those pockets ..but hey now I do need them as a genuine elder Sparkleponie filling them with promise
xoA.

[Ugly Dougly]

http://www.neweconomics.org/publication ... anet-index

On a scale of 0 to 100 for the Happy Planet Index (HPI), we have set a reasonable target og 83.5. This is based on attainable levels of life expectancy and well-being and a reasonably sized ecological footprint. Today, however, the highest HPI is only 68.2, scored by the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu.

[MacGlenver]

http://www.neweconomics.org/publication ... anet-index

Today, however, the highest HPI is only 68.2, scored by the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu.

Only cause of all the spam we left em.

[Baby Snakes]

"but no cigar....(devil horns included)"
teach us about Mussolini and why Ethiopia needed the cargo KKKult again...


The poster has very very thin symbolic or artistic relation to the stated them... The ship is the island, the light is the cargo, the suits are the gods. IMO


Can we have a critical thought and still be welcome at burningMAN??? <<< notice man in capitals.

[Foxfur]

The theme is colonial, racist, militaristic, male-dominated, christian-oriented garbage.

In a wonderful article from Smithsonian Magazine, whose author and institution are far more informed about the reality of the cargo cults than you could ever hope to be, the spirit and meaning of the reverence of John Frum is communicated by the natives who freely choose to live this reality.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/john.html

“He was a white man who spoke our language, but he didn’t tell us then he was an American,” says Chief Kahuwya, leader of Yakel village. John Frum told them he had come to rescue them from the missionaries and colonial officials. “John told us that all Tanna’s people should stop following the white man’s ways,” Chief Kahuwya says. “He said we should throw away their money and clothes, take our children from their schools, stop going to church and go back to living as kastom people. We should drink kava, worship the magic stones and perform our ritual dances.”

What a racist and colonial enslaver that John Frum is. Daring to tell them to choose their own destiny? What a racist son of a bitch!

One fine day the "enlightened" self-righteous will hopefully leave the "Noble Savage" myth in the dust. The notion that indigenous peoples should not have modern items, should not aspire to better their living conditions, to better education, to basic healthcare and hygiene, to see more of their children beat the appaling infant mortality rate, is to impose upon them that which you condemn the evil westerners of. The fact that some of the natives wish for their children to live a better life than they were able to, to go abroad, to see the world, to work in the various amazing industries that exist everywhere but there is a thing of beauty. The notion that every generation desires for the next to be better off than theirs is not one that we are able to claim as our exclusive right. It is a universal yearning that respects no border of country, race, or subjective measure of 'traditional values'.
I find this offhand dismissal of their rights curious. This message comes from the same crowd that is (rightly so) pro-choice, that vocally supports access healthcare as a basic human right, and maintains that the right of self determination applies to all inhabitants of this big ball that we ride every day of our lives.
Anything less than acceptance of the lifestyle and rituals they freely choose to practice is to call them stupid and backwards.
Your contradictory statements and intentions serve only to confirm that you react in a predictably kneejerk fashion while lacking a basic understanding of those issues which you claim moral superiority on.
Go ahead, dare to educate yourself. May it free you from the ignorance and intolerance that you accuse us, your moral inferiors, of.

[MacGlenver]

Can we have a critical thought and still be welcome at burningMAN??? <<< notice man in capitals.

Of course. But if you want to share your critical thought with others, it may be helpful to explain the reasoning behind it, lest your thought be disregarded.

[Savannah]

Can we have a critical thought and still be welcome at burningMAN??? <<< notice man in capitals.

Of course. But if you want to share your critical thought with others, it may be helpful to explain the reasoning behind it, lest your thought be disregarded.

And being welcome is not the same as your idea ultimately being admired or heeded.

They might pour you a drink, and proceed to disagree with you.