Temple Burn Protocol

[bradtem]

It's a hard call. The temple burn is the art project of David Best and his large group of volunteers. They have a vision for it. People drumming or shining lasers or playing their own music are saying "look at me" and modifying the artists' work to get attention to themselves. Some art projects are meant to be interactive in this way, in that each participant adds to it and others appreciate these additions. Some are interactive in other ways (the Temple is). Some are not interactive at all. When you say, "What I want to do should overshadow what the artists wanted" I don't think it's a great message. I have had people come and write things on my photos. That's horrible and this has some similarities. (On the other hand, when I am out chanting "Save the Man" I expect you to interact and either join or oppose me.)

I also encountered a number of won't-sit-down folks in spite of (and perhaps eventually because of) tremendous pressure from those behind to sit and let everybody enjoy the event.

If anybody knows the names of these spectators -- I took some pictures -- I would highly appreciate having it, so I can arrange some karmic balancing.



And this couple at the burn were almost as bad.

[lemanczyk]

I was almost directly in front of the temple for the burn, and standing in the back with the other standing people. But there was this guy standing near the front of seated people and it got ugly. The people sitting and some near me standing were going off on this guy. I was pretty embarrassed by it all. Yeah, the guy should have either sat down or moved to the back like any sensible person, but to go off on the guy like that for so long.
I had to say something to at least defend the guy to the people around me, I told them about my knee surgery that I had recently and how it hurts to sit. It’s hard to sit for that long without being able to stretch. Also, the people sitting and that were yelling at the guy, eventually stood themselves once it started burning.
So please people, please don’t go off on people that aren’t acting like you want them. Yeah that guy standing in front of you pissed you off, but your yelling at him ruined it for me. Lets try to be more understanding of other people, and try not to be so angry.
Other than that, I thought most people were very respectful out at the temple and yes that burn tends to be more reflective without all the lasers, techno music, etc… that’s at the Man burn.

[Dork]

Very minor gripe.. I drove my mutant up early and parked where the other cars were at the back of the temple, well behind the line of people. I had one ranger come up and ask me to move back 10 feet, but also told me that I can feel free to tell him to fuck off. I was a little confused, but moved back anyway. 5 minutes later another ranger came up and told me I had to move back another 100 feet! Sort of where the other cars were back there, but not exactly there because she didn't want a "line of cars". Ugh. Ok, I move back. Shortly thereafter 10 more cars came in and parked in a line in front of me, roughly where I had been before. No more rangers came to tell them to move, so I just stayed there and walked up when the burn started.

A little consistency would be nice. For the man burn it was pretty clear where we were supposed to park. Far enough back that we weren't blocking anyone, but still close enough that we could get a good view.

[Hotspur]

The problem, Iamtony, is that it's not always easy to tell what sort of person you're sitting next to when you start.

This year, I was at about 3:00 (from the Temple) and in the middle of a great crowd -- quiet, respectful, engaged, but not without a sense of humor (pretty close to the bagpiper who played, after "Amazing Grace" and "Danny Boy", "Iron Man.")

Last year, on the other hand, I was in a bunch of people who just wanted to see a big fire. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but it wasn't the experience that i wanted. Of course, by the time I found out, it was too late to move.

It seems to me that if you want to be loud and crazy and party-ish, given the nature of the temple, the one place you SHOULDN'T be is center-front, where most of the ceremonial stuff takes place. To me, that's just common courtesy to the people responsible for the project. Beyond that, I think it's important for everyone to recognize the participatory nature of burning man, and that every piece of art will be appreciated in unexpected ways.

[geekster]

I suppose for me it is a matter of reverence. Many people put some most powerful stuff in that temple. It was obvious they had a lot of pain they needed to burn. I think celebration might be due when it is all consumed, but for me to celebrate before the burn would be to somehow belittle the sorrow and the burdens they have loaded into it. I remained hushed and seated but felt no need to force my beliefs onto my neighbors. I am not the police and maybe that behavior is part of the art. Like any other piece of art, there may be some parts of it you like, and some parts you don't, but there it is, warts and all. Like us, it is imperfect. I loved the burn and had a wonderful time.

[bradtem]

Our particular won't-sit-down couple at the Temple Burn were astounding. In fact, it's clear that the more that those around them (all of whom were sitting, for 30 rows back of them as well as those in front of them) begged and pleaded and chanted for them to sit, the more resolved they were to stand. It wasn't a physical disability. They just felt that because they got there first they deserved to stand.

I participated in taunting them. In fact, I did it creatively -- had the whole crowd laughing, with me and at them. And we tried polite requests first. Usually comedy can diffuse things, give them a chance to admit they were wrong and sit down. But for some, the more they refused the polite requests at first, the more resolved they are to resist all pressure later because otherwise they would be admitting they were wrong and rude. The rangers stopped a guy who went up to talk to them, but didn't stop him. I guess I can understand them not wanting to get involved, I wonder if they had a policy on this.

But as a result my pictures of the temple burn look like this:


(Along with our standing spectators another couple parked their art-motorcycle with antlers in the 5th row and stood next to it. I realize after the crowd formed it would be tough (but not too tough, this crowd would have easily parted to let them get the bike out) to move it, but they should not have brought a vehicle to the front rows in the first place.)

For me, he was right in front of the core of the temple, but the crowd wanted to sit and once the burn started my own sense of decorum prevented me from standing or jostling to get out of there. I just couldn't conceive he would not be convinced to sit when all before and behind him were sitting. If somebody knows his name, let me know so I can contact him.

[pachimichanga]

I'd like to extend a final and heartfelt FUCK YOU to the self styled laser pointer Nazis who accosted me near the Porta Potties a few hours after the temple burn. This year was my first Burning Man and I found it to be a truly transcendent experience, with the exception of the run-in I had with these assholes on the last night. I was quietly amusing myself with a laser pointer on the ground when of these guys asked me if I was one of the people who'd been training a pointer on the temple. Innocently (and after three days in BRC somewhat absent mindedly) I replied something like "Yeah me and about 50 other people". This guy, who stood about six-four, immediately grabbed the wrist of the hand I was holding the pointer in. Shocked, I told him to get his fucking hand off me. He then launched into the most insulting in-my-face tirade, calling me a prick and telling me he was going to "haunt my dreams".

At least two or three other guys appeared and joined in (I've no idea if they were together or not). One of these vigilantes likened my heinous crime to desecrating a funeral, implying that I, alone, had ruined the event for every other single person there, and asking "Didn't you hear the announcement asking people to stop" (only afterward did I realize how ridiculous a question this was, at Burning Man where there is no central organization or PA). So shocked was I by the vitriolic nature of the attack from these people (in all seriousness it felt like it got very, very close to physical violence. I have no doubt that's what they wanted), that for a while I attempted to appease them, figuring I really must have really done
something wrong. But they were not interested in talking, or "educating" someone they clearly regarded as scum, only in insulting me. Ultimately I stood my ground and told them to fuck off. But it was a very unpleasant moment.

Now, it's true that I had joined in with the other people pointing at the temple, however my pointer is a cheap piece of crap bought in Hong Kong and it didn't work very well anyway, so I gave up after about 30 seconds. But at no point was I aware of anyone around me getting upset about me or others doing this, nor was I asked to stop by anyone. Perhaps had I known that it was going to upset certain people I would have thought twice. I'm not some sort of clueless tourist -- although it was my first time at BM I'm a sensitive, open minded individual. I wasn't drunk, clowning, shouting, or showing insensitivity to those around me who were clearly involved in a deeply spiritual moment. I stayed and watched the burn till about 10 minutes after they finally pulled down the tenacious superstructure.

This really does raise the issue of what, exactly, this temple burn is supposed to be about if people are going to become so enraged when others don't follow their "spiritual" dogma. During my trial by the Porta Potties, one of the LPN brigage asked me if I'd visited the temple, and in fact I'd spent at least two hours there the afternoon of the burn. A lot of the stuff people had left there was very moving, and I've no doubt for those commemorating a loss the burn can be very meaningful. However, I also saw messages like "Thanks for the great sex" and "Burn Bush in 04". Would these people be setting themselves up for similiar
vilification?

However, another issue is, what's so fuckin' offensive about laser pointers anyway? OK, so apparently some people find them intrinsically annoying, but isn't one of the most amazing things about Burning Man the, er, LIGHT? Now I'm not saying that a few little colored dots playing on the side of the temple is in any way meant to be some incredible sight, but, really, why is that so fucking disrespectful? Shitting in the temple would be disrespectful. Changing or defacing people's messages would be disrespectful. But playing a little light on the side of the structure? Is that really so bad? Can anyone tell me why, exactly?

It seems to me that the non-denominational nature of the temple burn is going to mean it ALWAYS means different things to different people. Some are going to weep and wail, others are going to party. It's just the way it is. If you want rules with your religious ceremonies, go and join a cult. Sure, the temple burn is an impressive event and an opportunity to indulge your spiritual nature if you want to, but judging from the other postings here about this issue there are a lot of "spiritual" people who are
actually "assholes" who want to dicate to others how they should behave.

I hate religious zealots of all stripes, and these people were no different in my mind to any others. I'll be there next year with a bigger, better pointer. When you see it on the side of the temple, think of me.

And maybe next year, those who want to impose their views on others should enjoy the temple burn from a particularly privileged position. From the inside.

[pachimichanga]

BTW, I'd just like to say that the McCarthyesque posting of temple burn "offenders" here is particularly pathetic.

[bradtem]

If these folks went to blows you have a right to complain, but I guess I don't see this line about suggesting those who want to impose their views on others should burn in the temple.

What they were angry about is they wanted to see the temple burn in the way that David and the other builders of the temple wanted to present it, a solemn event with music they selected. You -- and the 30 others with lasers -- were modifying their work and presentation against their will, and that bothered some people. You were the one forcing your own vision of the burn by actually modifying somebody else's artistic vision. All they were doing was complaining, if too angrily.

Don't get me wrong, there are many things which people take too seriously to which some fun modification is appropriate. But usually not one-time things like the temple burn, where people have slaved in the heat for weeks for a particular artistic vision. Would you defend playing loud music on another sound system because their music was too much of a downer?

[pachimichanga]

Well, of course I am being sarcastic when I suggest people should see the burn from the inside (but at least then there'd be no room for them to whine about the view).

I take your point about this being an artwork that should not be modified with other people's light. However, that's a totally different argument to laser pointers somehow sullying the spirituality of the event -- or worse, that it is somehow a deliberate display of disrespect directed personally at those who are marking a personal loss with the burn or otherwise engaging in their own special moment. That was clearly the take of the Laser Nazis.

I'll admit to being a little ignorant of the temple burn until now (as I said I was a first timer), and being the sensitive individual that I am I will probably keep my head down next year out of genuine respect for those who are marking a personal loss of some kind. (Or I might skip out altogether to avoid Monday's three hour exodus to the road).

However, perhaps it would behoove the organizers of the temple burn to make it a little clearer exactly what THEIR vision of this event is, so that we all have some kind of baseline for appropriate behavior. Is is supposed to be an opportunity for a spiritual occasion of whatever kind you choose (hey, for some people getting ripped on tequila IS a spiritual event), or is it specifically supposed to be a certain "type" of event, with particular emphasis on commemoration or personal loss? If you don't tell people what type of party you're throwing, they won't know what to bring.

[bradtem]

In the past temple burns -- there have been 5 now, I guess, everybody just knew. Everybody visited the temple before, saw what it meant, and watched with a quiet respect, even when the name of the temple was the "Temple of Joy."

So since it worked all those times they probably felt they didn't need to have an instruction sheet. Just as I wouldn't have felt the need to have a "Don't make marks on my art" instruction sheet for my own project until somebody came up and wrote on it.

Nor should it have been necessary to try and convince the spectator who was standing up in front of all the sitting people that this was not a very community oriented position, I guess.

[Badger]

...my husband and I needed to move away from her.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Right answer. It's what I did when the folks on the ass bus started their annual routine.

[pachimichanga]

The term "instruction sheet" implies a set of strict rules. Isn't that what the fuck people come to Burning Man to get away from? Doesn't that smack of organized religion? Maybe that's why the Laser Pointer Nazis wouldn't seem out of place in some extreme Christian Youth boot boy group.

I don't think direct do's and don'ts are required -- just a better job of communicating the general desired tone of the event. Perhaps suggesting that, if you want to be boisterous you might consider remaining further away from the temple. I was not aware of any such suggestions. Certainly in the program the references to "30,000 people Ohm-ing together" or somesuch seemed kind of tongue in cheek in its wording, so despite the obviously emotional nature of a lot of the offerings I saw in the temple itself, I guess I still thought of it as just a big and very impressive torching of a great piece of art.

I'm curious, however. Have the actual creators of the temples expressed particular upset over certain types of behavior? Have they said explicitly they don't want laser pointers shined on it? THAT would get my ear, rather than the presumptive enforcement of the Self-Righteous Brothers.

[Tancorix]

I thought the laser pointers were fucking annoying more than anything else...they do nothing to add to the temple, all people do is wave them around and make idiots of themselves. But hey, it's a free country, you can wave your little laser pointer anywhere you want...but if you shine it towards my eyes I will knock it out of your hand which is what I did to an asshole who made that mistake twice. I'm not going to suffer retinal damage because of someone's carelessness. Your freedom ends where mine begins.

Anyway I feel the temple burn should be a bit more reverential. It's a temple...not the man. It's got a lot of symbolism there, and I've put a lot of things in there like Tallinn's last pieces of irridescent glass and other things the past couple of years. But with a crowd that size it's impossible to control everything...so putting up with a couple of yahoos is part of the experience. It's a reminder that perfection is so hard to attain...but don't let the quest for perfection spoil an otherwise very memorable and beautiful experience.

[pachimichanga]

You've summed up the issue in a nutshell there.

What, exactly, does "It's a temple" mean though? Outside of the context of some sort of recognized religious structure, does it mean anything at all? Or does it mean everything? Or is it just a very elaborate and flammable structure made from offcuts of industrial wood?

And without any religious reference points, who is to say what is appropriate and what isn't? Not all religions express their devotion in the same manner as the major (predominantly white and conservative) Christian churches, so who is to say that whoopin and hollerin isn't more appropriate than being still and silent? Just because you're having a good time doesn't mean you're not necessarily hurting, remembering, commemorating, honoring. Ever been to an Irish wake? And who's to say that the burn shouldn't be rejoiced over as a ceremony of renewal? The great cycle of creation and destruction? It can mean so, so many things and as such there can be no "appropriate" behavior.

The majority view here seems to be that we should behave as if we're at a Sunday service in a Christian church. This is a typical white, middle class, conservative stance. If this is the thinking of the people who attend Burning Man -- arguably the most radical event in the entire U.S. -- then no wonder there's such an extreme right wing prick in the White House. How sad.

Wake up and stop being sheep. Think for your fucking selves and don't just adopt a knee jerk reaction cuz the next person is doing it.

[Hotspur]

For what it's worth, I think that part of the reason there's a problem with "mood" building up to the Temple burn is that unless you're front and center, it doesn't seem like anything is happening.

The wonderful opera singer from Death Guild sang at abotu 9. It was more than half an hour from when she finished until the temple went up. Despite the fact that the crowd I was with (at the right-hand side) was polite and mostly attentive, we couldn't tell a thing was going on for that entire half hour.

Yeah. People got bored. Started acting up. What do you expect?

I think they could solve a large part of the laser-pointer problems simply by having the talking part of the ceremony before the singing, so that the period of time when spectactors feel an obligation to be quiet is smaller.

Let's face it: it's not reasonable to expect the crowd to be silent for half an hour. Not going to happen. Setting yourself up for failure.

But if the talking-part of the ceremony happened before the singing, and the singing went directly into the fire, then the singing would serve as a "okay, pay attention now" moment and a lot of people would shut up and behave for five minutes while they got the temple going.

As for pachimichanga, grow up. Yeah, you were obnoxious -- intentionally or not -- and pissed some people off. They weren't rude about it. So you're going to be more of an asshole next year because a few people were rude to you?

Grow up. Just because you're free to be an idiot with your laser pointer doesn't mean you're not an idiot. Coming back with a bigger one just makes you a bigger idiot.

[pachimichanga]

To Hotspur:

You totally miss the fucking point and are obviously incapabable of entering into this discussion at the level I'm trying to bring it to.

So my laser pointer pissed you off? Boo fucking hoo.

Are you even remotely capable of asking yourself the question why? Analyzing what it is in your narrow little belief system that is so affronted by this?

If anyone needs to grow up it's people like you who aren't able to do any independent thinking whatsoever.

[PantyMechanix]

fuck the pointers, what about all the bikes 20 feet from the inner circle. coudn't even rest my weary feet from saturday without having a bike seat up my ass. We need bike corrals furthur back for next year.

[joya]

First,

pachimichanga I am sorry to hear about your experience.

and, Bradtem , who are YOU to enact "karma" on anyone? Think about it.

Now, my experience of the temple burn... Let me just say that I had NO problem with the laser lights on the temple. When I initially saw the lights I thought they were part of the "show"... and I perceived them to be "spirit" lights flying and flickering around the temple belfry (or whatever you'd call the upper main structure). Perception is everything -- and each to their own. I thought it was cool. (And it gave me something to watch, as I sat with the rest of y'all for that looong half hour...)

What I disliked, however, was the vibe from many of the people. What happened to the love/respect element that was present almost every other moment (for me, anyways) at Burning Man???

I got their early enough to get a seat that pleased me. Me and my companion were sitting comfortably, just chilling. More people came and took their spaces. ... and then, like five minutes before 9:00, a gaggle of younger chicks invaded. Five or six of them decided that they were going to sit EXACTLY where I was. Litterally, one girl sat practically on my lap. When I scooted back (into a puddle of spilled Bloody Mary), she had the gall to stretch back into a semi-prone position. I refected on my agitation and tried to view this rudeness as a lesson. Who am I to "claim" space, or judge, or whatever. But, fuck, who the fuck were these girls who were so oblivious to others and respecting personal space.

The crowd also became quite hostile (sp? I dunno, I'm tired, can't spell)... when some dude behind me was yelling out offerings of candy. A lot of yelling, shushing, and "shut the fuck up!" ensued. Pretty poor display of human nature.

The burn itself was beautiful... but I have to say, that that night was the low point of my otherwise amazing burning man experience.

... just my two cents, again. :)

peace

joya

[joya]

First,

pachimichanga I am sorry to hear about your experience.

and, Bradtem , who are YOU to enact "karma" on anyone? Think about it.

Now, my experience of the temple burn... Let me just say that I had NO problem with the laser lights on the temple. When I initially saw the lights I thought they were part of the "show"... and I perceived them to be "spirit" lights flying and flickering around the temple belfry (or whatever you'd call the upper main structure). Perception is everything -- and each to their own. I thought it was cool. (And it gave me something to watch, as I sat with the rest of y'all for that looong half hour...)

What I disliked, however, was the vibe from many of the people. What happened to the love/respect element that was present almost every other moment (for me, anyways) at Burning Man???

I got their early enough to get a seat that pleased me. Me and my companion were sitting comfortably, just chilling. More people came and took their spaces. ... and then, like five minutes before 9:00, a gaggle of younger chicks invaded. Five or six of them decided that they were going to sit EXACTLY where I was. Litterally, one girl sat practically on my lap. When I scooted back (into a puddle of spilled Bloody Mary), she had the gall to stretch back into a semi-prone position. I refected on my agitation and tried to view this rudeness as a lesson. Who am I to "claim" space, or judge, or whatever. But, fuck, who the fuck were these girls who were so oblivious to others and respecting personal space.

The crowd also became quite hostile (sp? I dunno, I'm tired, can't spell)... when some dude behind me was yelling out offerings of candy. A lot of yelling, shushing, and "shut the fuck up!" ensued. Pretty poor display of human nature.

The burn itself was beautiful... but I have to say, that that night was the low point of my otherwise amazing burning man experience.

... just my two cents, again. :)

peace

joya

[PantyMechanix]

I would have to say, that the Temple Burn has, in the past been always my most special mellow, heartwarming experence of the entire week. It's always been a winding down for me. This was the first year I have not been on an art cart to view it in all it's ( )... As a standing spectator, the experience was stressful. There were people getting frustrated, bike everywhere..."can I get by, all my group is up there" "know what man, there is no where to go". "but, but" I sat on my cowboys shoulders and got my view, but I did not feel what I have known and experienced in the past. Best out did himself this year, so fucking intricate, and I was amazed, but the feeling I got from the crowd was not the feeling I have felt at prior Temple Burns. Has it always been this way for walking/cycling spectators? Hostile can I say? I felt it. I just wanted to go home and go to bed instead of my normal traditions of the sunday evening. Not saying that things shouldn't change, but respect should always remain. I can go on, but I won't.

[Hotspur]

To Hotspur:
You totally miss the fucking point and are obviously incapabable of entering into this discussion at the level I'm trying to bring it to.

Since you're the one who has some bizzare notion of what the majority wants out of you, totally unconnected from reality, why don't you go shove that laser pointer up your ass?

Or just grow up, which I think I covered in my last post.

[PetsUntilEaten]

Its seems to me that the distructive expectations that people place on New Years Eve, Christmas, and birthdays has been transfered to the Burns.

This is perhaps where a little knowledge is dangerous - so many people with their idea of how it should go. I will say it was great for me when it was new, hard when I expected the same thing to happen again, easier now that I let it be what it is.

(side note: though I do love & respect David Best's work & I don't really know him at all - I did have a burnier-than-thou talk with him while he was proposing no art cars & bike mass transit to myself & another tricycle rickshaw driver. He acted as if we didn't get his master plan even though we were manifesting his dream. I do think I'll be making offers to the temple crew to stop work with lure of beer & slogans like "imagined art is creavity and completed art is commodity" if only because the pranks need to continue & someone needs to take the piss with this guy.)

[Ranger Genius]

First: Yay for pranks! (especially when perpetrated on those who take themselves too seriously).

Second: Once an artist makes his art public, it is no longer his art. It belongs to the interactions it creates and is created by. Everyone's experience of that artwork is the essence of it, especially with a temporary piece like the temple.

That being said, I did not go to the temple burn to interact with someone's laser pointer or discomobile. All the mutant vehicles and participants in my area were silent throughout the bulk of the burn, even those who had been rowdy during the wait for it. I for one appreciated that: they all realized that the experience of the burn was not improved by any additions they could make, and after a while when we had all had some time to absorb it, the aforementioned bagpiper played for us. There came a moment when we all were prepared to begin interacting with one another again, when the experience could benefit from talking, laughter, and even music from the mutant vehicles, and we all tacitly understood when that moment was. We can only stare at a damn structure not falling for so long. Thank you to everyone who was in the vicinity of 3:00 on the perimeter.

[Lydia Love]

David Best's temples are and *incredible* gift to the community. I am truely awed by what he's done.

BUT you cannot give a gift and then have expectations on how that gift will be received without being dissappointed.

Shit y'all, it's burning man. Ride the cocophony, surf the chaos and keep fucking hydrated. It's all you really can do.

By the way, I think that picture with the silouette of the one standing person against the flames and the stag horns off to the side is fucking stunning.

[pachimichanga]

"Since you're the one who has some bizzare notion of what the majority wants out of you, totally unconnected from reality, why don't you go shove that laser pointer up your ass?"

And there you have it -- the true colors of the "spiritual idealogue", no more liberal or flexible than a fucking Republican.

Next year I may not bring a laser pointer since it apparently offends so many people and it is not my wish to upset those who may be grieving or otherwise be in an emotional state (though, as I have said, how the hell a little point of light has ANY effect on this process is beyond me). Likewise the argument that additional light modifies this work of art is somewhat valid, though would be more so if light itself played a large part in the sculpture's nature, which in the case of the temple it doesn't, or at least didn't this year.

On the other hand, I may just go ahead and bring the biggest, bestest laser pointer I can find just to get right up the asses of jerks like Hotspur. See, it's not really about the laser pointer (hell, it's the first and only time I've ever even used the damned thing). It's about having the freedom to do what I want without undue and unjustified interference and intimidation from sheep who want to co-opt an event that is for everyone and dictate their own petty ideals and prejudices.

Jesus, don't we get enough of that in the "real" world?

[Sobretta Franjipan]

(1) what is the protocol for the temple burn?
(2) why didn't everyone know this protocol? If respect for the event is as important as it seemed to the people on the bus, how can they make this widely known *before* the event?
(3) what was the right thing to do at that moment?

The protocol is to take mushrooms and start giggling when other people are suddenly sooooo somber and judgemental.

O.K. seriously (although that is my protocol)
1. & 2. There is an assumed protocol that people are supposed to know through ESP. It includes overseriousness, temporary loss of humor, and holier-than-thouness Giggling, respect, and enjoyment are not mutually exclusive. I have had tremendous respect for all of the temples, every time having intensely emotional moments. I've also cracked some jokes, saw some funny people, laughed out loud, and been very quiet. Why is this the one time during the burn that people suddenly want to police?
Who wants this widely known? "Behave this way or you cannot watch the temple burn!" Bah, humbug. Laughter is a very cathartic way of dealing with grief. You want guaranteed quiet-go to the outer gate.
3. You should have immediately ingested mushrooms and moved. If you or anyone else think they might have their experience "ruined by someone else" leave yourself the option to be able to move. Up front is not the end-all be-all and really is for amateurs.

Have a nice day!

[geekster]

[quote="Sobretta Franjipan]

3. You should have immediately ingested mushrooms and moved.

[/quote]

Worked for me. But what helped set the mood was as I was walking out there, I was looking at the playa and noticed all the tire tracks from the bikes. I happened to realize that each track represented a brief moment in the lives of those that created them and how they crossed the paths of others that they would never see or know. Lives crossing, touching each other, unknown to them. For a moment, the playa itself became art. From that moment on, I think I was just soaking in the whole scene as it became a part of the temple art. I don't think I can separate the crowd from the temple because without the crowd, no matter how reverent or silly they are, the temple has no meaning. I don't want the crowd to be anything in particular except just to let it be what it is and to soak it in as a part of the whole. Maybe the people with the laser pointers just feel a need to be a momentary part of it. Yeah, it detracts a bit from the beauty but then again, its kindof like pigeon shit on a sculpture, maybe it is just unavoidable.

[Kathy O'Sunnyvale]

Because an art piece is public doesn't make it the public's art, unless the artist has invited that. Where the artist has asked for contributions, then do it. But graffiti, breaking bits off, burning parts early... its like a tone-deaf amplified kazooist at a concert: it just doesn't add anything.

Best had invited others to participate in his art, by helping him build it and by using it to honor the memories of the dead. Someone close to me had just died 7 days before the Temple burn. I spent time building a memorial at the temple, including a wooden plane as my relative had been a pilot. I carefully found a seat where I would have seen that plane burn. But someone in front of me insisted on standing up, even after I asked to be able to at least watch my tiny section burn.

Everyone around was sitting- several rows in front of that man, 15 rows behind him. Many-like me- were there to see a specific memorial. Had he given a reason- any reason- to be standing I could have understood. But he simply felt that arriving 5 minutes earlier than the rows behind gave him extra privilages. That a triangle of people behind were blocked: that seemed to mean nothing. I myself didn't stand up because then I'd be blocking a triangle behind me.

I couldn't move away (if you insisted on standing in front- didn't you see the crowds? Where would someone behind you move to?), and I couldn't have known that he wasn't going to ever sit down: at the arrival people were standing and sitting to get ready. Given that everyone else was sitting in that section, is was reasonable to assume he'd know it was a sitting section.

As for the laser lights- if you were that bored, why not ask your neighbors why they were there: learn their stories, learn their heartbreaks. If you're that easily distracted learn to knit. Kazoo at the concert.

And then there were the yahoos. I had an art piece up where on the last night someone tore open my lightbox to turn a sign upside down. Made it unreadable and broke some electronics inside so the lightbox won't be easily usable again. A loss of time and $50 (and that's real money to me) and for what? My art included a place where they could have written any message they wanted. "I can and did break your art" isn't a particularly clever message.

[Rich]

I was sitting in front of the Temple Bus at 6:00. Two goofs were vehement about continuing to stand. Going so far as to say that there was nothing to see yet.

That felt icky to me. Another fellow sat down, and we talked a bit. He said something about a bad knee making it harder to sit. He was pretty cool, he seemed concerned for me and for my experience. That helped nudge me to the right emotional place.

There was a lot of hostility out there, as people dealt with things in their own way. I felt that hostility, and I felt my own anger at the people blocking my view, and it got me thinking.

Why all this anger? What was it about the Temple that (for me at least) caused these 'real world' emotions to come out for the first time all week?

Two other notes: in front of the Temple Bus was a mad max art car with twin flame throwers. Someone from the Temple Bus asked if they could turn off the propane. A cowboy hatted tard with a beer in hand turned and said 'no.'

Later I clearly heard an announcement on the PA saying that the Temple Crew specifically was asking for the lasers to be turned off. It is of course easy to miss announcements, but that one came at a quiet point, and it sure seemed like people heard it. The laser pointers stopped, for a couple of seconds, then came back.

Whoever was shining the green laser that was visible on the 6 o'clock side would _probably_ have heard that announcement, and so, probably chose to disregard the request of the Temple Crew.

While we waited for the burn I had this image of David Best coming on the PA and saying 'you can all go home. We aren't going to burn it tonight because you are not worthy. We're going to burn it next week when you are all back at work.'