Lack of Art this Year

[lucky420]

I loved the smaller art. As a fledgling artist it helped me feel more comfortable with starting small. I had all these ideas but would picture some fabulous art piece out there and get intimidated. Smaller pieces, like lucky420's Sanchez, showed me it's all fabulous. Just put it out there.

Vandalism just infuriates me. I just can't imagine how anyones idea of fun at the burn is to go trash someone's hard work.

Awww thanks TK! I felt really kind of intimidated when I first started Sanchez but as he developed I loved him more and more. Yes everyone & anyone make art. It doesn't have to be "placed" just display it on your street. Makes the neighborhood a little funner...

[nncoco]

There were some very cool interactive pieces. As a surfer, I loved the wave that some Burners from Santa Cruz built. Embrace was awesome from wherever you viewed it. The Library and The Circle of Doors (my name for it) were great interactive installations.

The Playa is just so big today that it is possible to miss a lot of what is out there. Anything past the temple was very hard to reach by bicycle because the ground is so soft. I feel like Deep Playa art benefits art cars the most which is a growing segment of the event.

[kiboy]

There were definitely some very good, but very small art pieces scattered out in deep playa and buried in nooks and corners within the city. These are people who could do Big Art amazingly, but don't care to learn PR or beg on Kickstarter. We, as camps and villages and neighborhoods, need to recognize these artists and support them with supplies and labor rather than putting $20 on a Kickstarter campaign for someone who's a safe bet.

I agree here. That small scale art in the deep playa always had the biggest impression on me. I think encouraging the small scale artist would have nothing but a beneficial effect on the event.

[Dr Helix]

it's worth pointing out that the art theme announcement wasn't really any later than it's been in the last few years.

It's probably also worth pointing out that there was significantly more art on the playa last year than in years where the theme was announced at the end of the previous year's event, that kind of takes the wind out of the sails that the amount of art is dependent on the theme announcement.

Having built four large pieces in four years; 2010 (Candybox Heart), 2011 (Intertwined Roses), 2012 (Wedding Cake), and 2013 (Penny the Goose) I must tell you that we have never taken the theme as a basis for what we do. For us it's what we decide sounds interesting in terms of art. I mean there's no prize for best themed art piece. And no one has ever told us we can't do that because it doesn't match the theme.

[Jovankat]

I feel like Deep Playa art benefits art cars the most which is a growing segment of the event.

I disagree, I love finding the hidden gems out there and my heart always sinks a bit when I'm enjoying one alone and an art car pulls up. There are so many ways to interact with and discover art; day/night, alone/with others, by bike/foot/car, close to/far from the city, brief visit/extended stay. When you add to that the variance in types of art the possibilities are endless. I love that.

[Elorrum]

I loved the smaller art. As a fledgling artist it helped me feel more comfortable with starting small. I had all these ideas but would picture some fabulous art piece out there and get intimidated. Smaller pieces, like lucky420's Sanchez, showed me it's all fabulous. Just put it out there.

Vandalism just infuriates me. I just can't imagine how anyones idea of fun at the burn is to go trash someone's hard work.

Awww thanks TK! I felt really kind of intimidated when I first started Sanchez but as he developed I loved him more and more. Yes everyone & anyone make art. It doesn't have to be "placed" just display it on your street. Makes the neighborhood a little funner...

This! I love to see what people make for their camps! The front yards are so fun. Scale is irrelevant really. Go any size you can. Anyone can bring something in this regard. I didn't get out as much as I have in past years, but I saw a lot on the few long walks I did take through the city getting from one place to another. I'm resolved to be more aimless next year, and enjoy this kind of art more. In one of the threads here on mutant vehicles, it was suggested to fix or build, anything you are fixing or building, on your street frontage, and get all the feedback and encouragement the city can offer as it moves by and around you. I like that idea.

This may be one of my main gripes against the corrals of R.V.s, that just give a long blank nothing to the street experience.

[RedHeaven]

I feel like Deep Playa art benefits art cars the most which is a growing segment of the event.

I disagree, I love finding the hidden gems out there and my heart always sinks a bit when I'm enjoying one alone and an art car pulls up. There are so many ways to interact with and discover art; day/night, alone/with others, by bike/foot/car, close to/far from the city, brief visit/extended stay. When you add to that the variance in types of art the possibilities are endless. I love that.

Me too, I have found the best stuff out there on foot and bike. Anyone remember the FearMail Box out by the trashfence in 2006. Stuff like that! And random 2 person teepee that we puffed in and it just looked like a glowing lantern in the distance thru the canvas....

But I think we're talking playa conditions here, years where they are good out there it is a total exploring art fest of grandioso on bike, and years where the playa is soft out there it is either for the most adventurous or Art cars. 2011 was a good year out there, lots of stuff to get into on bike, as were the earlier years until 2008.

[BBadger]

I disagree, I love finding the hidden gems out there and my heart always sinks a bit when I'm enjoying one alone and an art car pulls up. There are so many ways to interact with and discover art; day/night, alone/with others, by bike/foot/car, close to/far from the city, brief visit/extended stay. When you add to that the variance in types of art the possibilities are endless. I love that.

My disappointment with deep playa this year was that it just didn't feel like there was a enough art out there for hopping from one to the next. I like that "treasure hunt" feel of finding those glowing little sites or fighting the urge to go back to camp to see that last patch in the distance. Just not so much this year unfortunately.

[ranger magnum]

It was a case of both timing and perspective.

Overall, Burning Man had very close to as many registered and honorarium projects this year as it did last year. The number was slightly lower, but a negligible difference and something that could have easily been overcome with the walk-ups (people who don't register in advance, but just show up at ARTery on playa to register and get placed).

Because of things like build week weather, will call delays, and the earlier gate time on Sunday, fewer of the registered artists had checked in and set up by the time the gates opened (doesn't mean they were a no-show, they were still getting their camp set up and getting their pieces ready to go install. Then we had that whole rain happen on Monday, which seriously hampered the efforts of lots and lots and lots of people.

The perspective issue had to do with scale. Black Rock City 'leveled up' this year and the size of the city expanded. That meant that the inner playa was hundreds of feet larger in diameter - the same amount of art in that space would have felt like significantly less. Additionally, more big installations were placed (at their request) out in deep playa this year, so there was more deep playa art (which is spread out quite a bit more than the inner playa stuff). And then finally, there was no CORE this year - instead the regional groups participated in the really incredibly amazing Souk all week (huge thanks to everyone involved with that, it was awesome).

The art was all there (and better than ever, IMO), you just had to work harder to see it (and of course, seeing it all is impossible to do in any given year - Black Rock City is just that big).

So now comes the most important question in this conversation. What art did YOU bring to the playa? You're complaining about people not bringing enough art - are you doing so as an actual participant who built and brought something amazing to the playa and feel like you were alone, or are you doing so as a spectator who's crying because other people didn't build you enough attractions and exhibits?

Why does someone have to bring art to comment on it? I was actually thinking the same thing as the OP, and certainly didn't infer from his post that he was complaining, let alone crying about the art, or lack of it. I took it as an observation.

I didn't bring jack shit as far as art is concerned. Am I not allowed to comment on it either?

Sounds to me like yer buttons are getting pressed.

But im not a shrink, so I better not comment.....

[fbcota]

I felt that there was a clear lack of art this year. There were amazing pieces to be clear, but there will always be amazing pieces, however I personally found myself looking for more. I think I could have easily been jaded by my own experience working on my project but it just felt like there was a large amount missing. I think this comes back to a number of factors. Artistic fixtures like Flux foundation, 5 ton crane, Kate Raudenbush, Mike Garlington and Zac Coffin all didn't receive grants this year and all are known for making incredible pieces. There were a number of less experienced grant recipients in their place which most likely led to a couple great surprises but the return is a bit harder to predict on newer talent (it took us 3 projects before we finally made something that anyone noticed). The early weather certainly played a role in less projects showing up or completing, I had heard a that a large number of projects simply didn't come to playa due to weather complications. There were a number of great pieces that had serious challenges functioning (Hudzo's Eternal Return was one of the most remarkable things I had ever seen). The projection Skull and the Labyrinth inspired planets were both projects that struggled to find completion.

From an artists perspective we were faced with a number of administrative issues. New systems in place, such as the car pass and the ticket distribution system obviously put some people off. Placing art on the playa is a bit more difficult now than when it was in 2009 (my first year making art) which I am sure chased away another small number of projects. I imagine the newly implemented safety committee is playing a role in reducing some of the wonderfully janky pieces of art. I was told by a number of insiders that pieces like Uncronia would most likely not get approved in the modern Burning Man eco-system. The art car process is tighter, once again filtering out some of the more "dangerous" art cars.

And to be honest and this is all just my personal perspective, art has become more frustrating to do at Burning Man. I still adore the city, and I will always adore all of the people, however, we are artists and it is no fun being a politician (I think that was subtle enough to avoid stepping on to many toes,... )

[kiboy]

I think that BM would be well served by making smaller grants to more artists. It doesn't have to be huge or costly to excite and amaze me. It's just got to have heart.

[fbcota]

I agree. Burning Man is in an interesting position. They ask a lot in their grant and I feel it causes established artists to ask for more money. I feel that Burning Man should ask for a bit less in the grant (less media rights, not ask the artist to waive the "back of ticket" liability that BM takes on, etc,...), possibly provide a bit more in regards to support (not much really, just a pair of porta potties within 500 ft of the larger projects pre-event) and in turn the established artists should expect the grants to get distributed to a larger mix of smaller projects.

Deep playa felt empty this year, which to me means that a ton of non-honorarium projects didn't happen. I am not sure if we are at a place were most feel that we deserve BM's support or if it falls to outside factors. It would be great to see the larger projects have their needs covered while providing grants to more smaller projects but that means a larger art budget. Although I think there may be a number of ways to encourage art without increasing budget costs. For example, providing port-a-potties closer to the project would have reduced my costs by about $3000. On Burning Mans side it involves a movement of a pair of functioning toilets from the large blocks that are established in the city out to the open playa (they can easily be returned to their intended position on the Saturday of Sunday before gates). That $3000 can easily go to 3-6 smaller projects giving new artists the funding they need to propel their project forward. A $500 honorarium is still an honorarium, and it is much, much easier raising money when you have the BM stamp of approval.

[fbcota]

[quote="trilobyte"]It's not so much an either-or as it is a direct response to your bitching and complaint, that people didn't bring you enough art to see and experience. Yes, the city is so much more than just art installations on the playa, but that's what you took issue with.

Burning Man is a do-ocracy - think that the city needs or could use more of something... do it, don't complain that others aren't doing it/building it/bringing it for you.[/quote]

Sorry for coming in late.I don't think the original post is meant to be inflammatory. It seems more quizzical then anything else. BM is a do-ocracy but so is everyday life. There are factors that will always play direct roles in the production of art and I feel that there are a wide body of factors that contribute to the current art ecosystem at the event.

The CORE was a wonderful concept, the Souk was interesting but it didn't compare to its counterpart. I think you correctly pinpointed the lack of CORE as one of the issues. However I dare you to name 1 large scale deep playa piece? My own piece, Embrace was placed at 1 and Esplinade, not deep playa (the artery actively avoids placing honorarium pieces in the deep playa). Peters piece was placed at the equivalent of 11 and A st. with the Temple at 12 and Esplinade. Outside of the that the broad majority of art was inside that circle.

[tatonka]