Art Project 2016

[ecoita]

Good day everyone!

I had such an awesome time at my first burn and connected with so many wonderful people! I want to start a community art project to bring to the playa for next year. I would like to have something represent our community, plus a bit if interaction. My concerns are that I am trying to avoid "death by committee" structure for this group, but want to include various community groups, artists, and organizations that would be interested. What is your suggestions for starting a venture like this? The idea first? The leadership or team first? Building the "community through various meetups and gatherings?

Thanks for your help and direction!

[Eric]

Idea first.
It doesn't have to be fully fleshed out, but it shouldn't be as vague as just "represent our community, plus a bit if interaction". What represents your community? A tea house, a bar-b-que joint, a neighborhood bar, a church, a Walmart, a mad scientists lab? Or is it an activity like fishing, hunting, square dancing, slam-poetry, or just hanging on the front porch baking cookies (though that's been done rather flawlessly with The Front Porch). Once you have an idea to hang the rest on, start connecting with other Burners. Try a regional near you, see if other people are interested.

Dream big, but remember that plans have a way of failing on the playa. We've all seen projects that still aren't finished on Burn Day, and I've seen plenty that only get finished on Thurs or Fri. That's fine - it's better to try and come up short then to avoid doing something because it might fail. This is the reality of the playa, and if you keep it in mind it makes problems easier to deal with when they come up.

Once you have an idea fleshed out & are planning the piece, there are tons of threads on ePlaya with technical advice on the actual construction. If you don't see a thread that covers what you need, ask. People around here love to figure out solutions if you're not sure if your plan will work.

[ecoita]

Thanks! Your reply answered many questions I had and ones I didn't have, as well. It caused me to think a bit deeper and gives me a sense of direction on how to approach the group. Yes, we do have an idea that has a bit more detail, but definitely can go back to the drawing board.

Surprisingly, I've just started connections in my community with those who were interested in BM but never talked about it with those who have been to BM many times before. Interesting journey.

[trilobyte]

If you don't already have some kind of idea floating around, I'd suggest getting together with a friend or group that you're thinking about camping with, or at least wouldn't mind camping with if they were to take an interest or decide to go... then get together for dinner, drinks, movie night, game night or whatever and just toss around ideas. Some of the projects I've had the most fun working on started as a running joke at a party (or after-party). Just keep tossing out ideas until something clicks. From there, run with it and bring it to a larger group and see what kind of response you get. That's generally how I've done it with the last few incarnations of my camp and the art we build, it's suited me well and is a pretty enjoyable process. Good luck with the project!