2008 Art Theme

[Valkyrie]

As someone who has had their ancestry traced back to the founding of this nation...
As someone that had all their relatives of the previous generation involved in the armed forces "defending" the nation...
As someone who's taken a strong interest (and done graduate-level study) in world cultures...

I think there's a good amount to do with this theme, art-wise. The nation is still young, in relative terms. It's one of very few nations that is built on principles. Although there are other nations that might have better principles, how many nations can say that the principle came before the nationhood.

In the last 75 years, the nation in question has changed radically in it's role in the world. What does that mean? We weren't always the economic juggernaut we currently are. This is something I think everyone in this generation seems to forget. We have only been on top just a very short time in the scheme of even our own short history.

Has the good ole' US of A become the bully in the playground, spoiled and insulated by the wealth of our fathers, the plenty of the land we stole? Or are we the bright young people who are stepping on people's toes and trashing out systems because we think we have found a better way?

There's no doubting the arrogance. But can you raise the question of arrogance without maintaining your own arrogance to judge? It's a serious Cheshire cat problem.

That's something to think about, isn't it?

[BAS]

Well, some of my ancestors came over well before the nation was founded (around the time of the Pilgrims, but most definitely not Pilgrims), some well after.

A Pro Flag Burning camp is the best idea I have come up with yet-- the idea being that the freedom to burn a symbol of that very freedom is important, AND that the symbol is not the item. I don't know as I want to go with that one, though. (For one thing, I might be going by myself, and don't really feel like doing a theme camp of one person.) If I come up with something I like better, I'll go with that, or maybe just skip this year's theme altogether in favor of something else.

Anyway, I am rather curious to see what the street names will be!

B.

[K-mom]

I don't know if its been mentioned around here so far, but 'dreams' can also include nightmares.
This might be a good opportunity for some dark art, like the way the Future theme counterbalanced hope and fear.

[Kinetik V]

I think a lot of people haven't carefully read and really put much thought into the theme and what Larry's posted so far. I see more potential with it than any other theme to date, in fact instead of being a reason to skip incorporating the theme into next year's plans I think I'll fully embrace it.

I won't share what those plans for next year are just yet...but damn it this has me really fired up....I look forward to seeing the rest of it rolled out. The potential is amazing....the art and visions should be over the top.

[ravenluv]

Being able to have such an event is part of the American dream. Some folks have never grasped this. I'd be interested to know what some of the vets think of it.

I also think there's some generational concepts which may be interesting to explore. How does the dream differ for a twenty-something as compared to a fifty-something? My idealized American Dream was developed beginning in the early 60s. Yours?

I see it as akin to the Hope and Fear theme. Dreams AND nightmares.

surely, there have been similarly enjoyed events in other nations at other times in history. wherever there wasn't a massive bureaucracy dictating the right and wrong way to celebrate, such celebrations have arisen. that's just human nature - american or not.

i can't speak for vets, but i do know human nature. some vets would say "this is what i sacrificed for", while others would say "i sacrificed for THIS?"

the america i know (most of it) wouldn't let burning man happen. it happened because it slipped into the middle of nowhere while no one with real power and a puritan agenda was paying attention. plus, there were legal issues. the law was being obeyed, so they couldn't stop it. and now it's a money-maker for the authorities. (is it not true that the law enforcement folks are always clamoring for more money and more presence at the event? they're not doing it for free!)

art depiciting dreams AND nightmares about america? that's precisely what i'm afraid of - especially the nightmares. i'm already very politically informed. why do i need to fill yet another week of my life with polemics?
why would BMORG wish that upon us, even if they didn't intend to?

i have dreams for the future. i am an american. but i don't claim that they are american dreams, or THE american dream. in fact, having talked to hundreds of americans throughout the midwest and the east, i'm pretty sure many would think my dreams were anything but american.

you have your dreams and they are different than mine. if you're american, then which of our dreams is THE american dream? and if there is not ONE american dream, then why have a theme that implies there is? why not 'The American Dreamer' (which at least puts it back to the humans involved), 'America's Dreams' or something like that? why is it necessary to stick with THIS theme name, as loaded as it is with intensely political connotations?

you can love america and still not like this theme.

i'm not being rhetorical when i ask: why are these sentiments so hard for others to understand?


Burn the Theme!

[joel the ornery]

nattering nabobs of negativty.

[lurker]

surely, there have been similarly enjoyed events in other nations at other times in history. wherever there wasn't a massive bureaucracy dictating the right and wrong way to celebrate, such celebrations have arisen. that's just human nature - american or not.

When?

That's the point.

One of the things the American ideal gave us was huge amounts of leisure time. In America even the poorest usually have more time spent not scratching to survive than wealthier ancestors.

Couple that with a people so devoted to individual freedom, liberty, and our still unique right to pursue happiness and you've got a recipe for all manner of strangeness...

[DeusRegit]

AntiM wrote:

"Being able to have such an event is part of the American dream. Some folks have never grasped this. I'd be interested to know what some of the vets think of it.
I also think there's some generational concepts which may be interesting to explore. How does the dream differ for a twenty-something as compared to a fifty-something? My idealized American Dream was developed beginning in the early 60s. Yours? "

I am a vet.. Navy of 20 years. Father was a captain, uncle was an admiral, and another uncle was a commander.

I am also a product of the '60's. I have been a traveler since the age of 18 when I hitch-hiked across the U.S. from Granville, OH to Santa Barbara, CA with nothing but a backpack on my back, no shoes, long curly hair, and a bag of 100 pennies that I spray painted gold.
I had the time of my life, I didn't have a single bad ride and much of the help I got from people along the way was much like the gifting that we support at burning man.

My father was an incredible man and although he devoted his life to the military, he never forced his philosophy on us kids. He allowed us the freedom to follow our dreams, no matter what they were.

I'm really fascinated reading the many varied responses folks are posting on-line about how they feel about the American Dream theme and what it means to them. As expected, it is something different to everyone (I especially liked the description of a wife and kids and a two car gargage - go leave it to beaver.)

As a vet I can only say that having survived 20 years in the military, 3 of it stationed overseas, 8 6-month deployments and 2 of them around the world... and my last assignment being craftmaster of the world's largest 135 ft assault landing craft... my vision of the American Dream has nothing to do with having served my country, (as did the fact that I am a Democrat ever prevent me from performing my duty.)

The following is a paste of my previous post about what the 2008 theme means to me since, now that you have a little more background on me, that may hopefully shed a little more light on it.

Again, the respones to the 2008 theme are passioned, they are angered, they are complacent, and they are humorous because that is what Burning Man is about - the exchanging of ideas. Perhaps a part of the American Dream?

----
My initial response to anything that is other than what I envision the purpose of Burning Man as, is "blech!"
And had my mind not been on my recent return from the Black Rock Desert, I would have wondered, " whose agenda are they pushing now?"
Instead, I immediately recalled a paper I wrote in college for narrative writing titled, "The American Dream - Realized In Transit." Then, ofcourse, it didn't take much for me to realize what it is that I am attracted to in Burning Man as I realized how much of the memories of BM '07 are of the incredible drive I had getting there.
We all probably agree by now that Burning Man is not just one thing - it's not a unanimous philosophy or an agreed upon way of life - it is something very different and personal to each participant.
For me, Burning Man is about getting there and what a release it is from conventional society to extract myself from the "conditioned" way of evaluating my life and putting myself in a context that is more condusive to learning, fascination, wonderment, discovery, sharing, helping and gifting. And for me, that dream - the American Dream that was probably the impetus behind the growth of Route 66 - is without uncertainty, realized for me in transit. Of the many photos that I shot at BM this year, most of those I will display will be of the event. But there were just as many that were shot on my way there, and the route I chose was a chance to experience those places, those memories that are a part of my American Dream.
I think Larry Harvey (and my apologies for trying to quote him as he is probably the last person any of us want to be accused of quoting) said in one of his interviews on the Beyond Black Rock DVD that he may not be certain what that thing is that lures him to Black Rock but he does know that the intellectual and physical journey of getting there is a large part of it.
Like The Green Man theme, Burning Man has followed the 2008 Theme description with a sudo-disclaimer about what it is not supposed to be about in order to get us to arrive more quickly at what they would like it to be. So we understand it's about optimism and individual as well as cultural pursuits. But regradless of what the folks at BM LLC come up with as a theme, I'm still going to make the annual pilgrimage to what I jubilantly referred to as "my Mecca" when I struck the bell at the gates to BRC for the first time.
Yes, for me, The American Dream theme works and I can easily relate to it.

So that's my cut on the 2008 Theme, and I am very curious to see how many different descriptions of the American Dream theme are played out here on the ePlaya over the next 345 days.
See you on the Playa.

Chip
www.burningmanzeroseven.com

[ZaphodBurner]

Being able to have such an event is part of the American dream. Some folks have never grasped this. I'd be interested to know what some of the vets think of it.

If the right to do things like Burning Man is what they fought for, then it was worth it. (Not just Burning Man, but the freedom for one of any race, gender, religion or nationality to say "Fuck it. I hate the theme so this year I'm going to go burn a bunch of flags on public land.")

My grandfather fought the Nazis and, in 1990 said, "Look, I fought so you wouldn't have to. Don't. Finish college because that's what I wanted to do."
Every morning the sun comes up through my window I know I'm a lucky man, because my grandmother built the house with money she got when her first husband was killed over Germany, 23 years old. His name goes in the temple too: Lester David Busch, February, 1945.

They earned it for me, so I'm sure as hell going to enjoy it instead of taking it for granted.

-zb

[Lifeisshort]

International Burners be damned???? YEAH Larry, we get it, you are asking us to "think bigger than our boarders". But you can't tell me that this theme doesn't reak with American ego; moreover it will/can be interperpted as such.