Make it all burnable

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:29 pm

Okay, I made a point in one of the "defend Paul Addis" threads. I foresaw the precedent being set that would allow anyone to come along and burn whatever they want, be it art or camp, and get away with it.

Lots of people suggest that this is Burning Man at its purest form, an anarchic burnfest, and we should embrace that chaos and danger. Dance and whoop in the middle of dust devils, see who can create the biggest fire on the Playa, bring on the 100-foot conflagrations and 5-hour whiteouts!

So here's an idea: it's BURNING MAN. What if everything on the Playa â€” art and camp â€” was intended to be burnt at the end of the festival?

We have precedents. Other camps have created cardboard hexayurts and they're easy for anyone to make. The instructions and materials lists are online. They also work alright on the Playa, from what I understand. No more talk about carports versus tents, easier logistics for everyone, lower costs for everyone. Raid a recycling dumpster for your materials.

Everything in Black Rock City be made of scrap wood, cardboard, papier machÃ© and natural fabric (cotton, silk, bamboo, wool, linen). Have sections of Playa art where the installations within are for public burning, anyone can light 'em up whenever they want. Think of it as a "gift burn."

Rule tweaks:
Everyone â€” not just theme campers â€” who wants a ticket must take a Burn Safety and Leave No Trace course, after which they must present a cleanup plan â€” because if it burns, ya need to no-trace it. Ticket purchase will go through once you've submitted an acceptable cleanup plan for your art and/or camp. The cleanup plan must include a metal ash can, shovel, rake and pole magnet.

The "burn it all" proviso will also guarantee that everyone participates in one way or another, and level the playing field. Radical self-expression and radical inclusion with no heartbreaks.

All art and camp structures must have burn blankets under them to protect the Playa from burn scars.

Vehicles are OFF LIMITS. Once you're on the Playa, you have two to six hours to get to your campsite, offload your camp and/or art, depending on how big it is, and then take the vehicle back to a cordoned-off parking area, where it will stay for the duration. Ya gotta get out there, and ya gotta get back out.

Sound like a good idea? Your thoughts.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:45 pm

I proposed pretty much the same thing (in the online blathering sense) for art vehicles a couple years ago. One can only dream.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:55 pm

Well, vehicles need to have a firm understructure, to hold everything up and together, and of course the mode of propulsion doesn't burn. Unless we want to go back to land yachts, but those got banned.

It's easier to build a cardboard yurt or bamboo-and-cotton pagoda than replicate La Contessa in wood, cotton and cardboard.

EB · Post by EB » Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:35 am

I know this thread is in jest (it is, right?) but my question is this:

Why cave in to idiots? How about: This is your community, people. How do you deal with the Paul Addis' of your community?

The fucker broke the social/legal/ethical contract and put lives in danger.

Why would you reward him with a paradigm shift?

What's wrong with standing up to him? Why all the relativism? Can't an idiot just be an idiot and we move on?

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:44 am

It's a question of when you want it burned, not when someone else wants to burn your stuff.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:40 pm

Why cave in to idiots? How about: This is your community, people. How do you deal with the Paul Addis' of your community?

I've believed for a long time that it won't be the Addasshats that'll ultimately ruin the event but people like DaBomb referenced offering to pay someone to provide for their needs. Those folks who make no real attempt to figure out what the event's about and what it represents and what it's slowly turning into. In all likely hood one person recklessly setting fire to the iconic Man won't end the event. In fact there's some argument that the arson was a 'good' thing insofar as pulling folks together and breathing some new life into 2007. Really, it won't be the loud, boisterous bang but rather the whiney, cluelss whimper that sounds the waning swan song of extinguishment.

With 50 or so weeks until the 2008 event, Paul Addis will eventually become a footnote to the history of the event just as BORG2 and HellCo. What remains and what I believe to be a continued affront to the event is the lack of any real effort to convey to the first or second timer that it really isn't (or shouldn't be) just about getting and staying fucked up in the desert for a week. It isn't about sneaking tit shots of of naked women or picking fights or getting laid. It isn't about stealing or assault or trashing the playa with your left behind cooler with the Greenpeace logo. It's about something more. And it's that more that seems to me to be going through this process of being redefined and re-interpreted by outside influences - mainly media - who have no fucking clue what the event represents.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:49 pm

EB wrote:I know this thread is in jest (it is, right?) but my question is this:

Why cave in to idiots? How about: This is your community, people. How do you deal with the Paul Addis' of your community?

Well...as much as I hate to give that little poseur and his ilk any ground, the idea isn't *really* completely in jest. I can visualize it and it looks like it'd be pretty cool and fun, assuming everyone knows the score. When I first heard of the festival back in the early '90s, I thought that's what it was going to be, everything burns...it's Burning Man!

I disagree to the "caving in" reference. More like "give 'em what they want...on our terms," which is a sort of victory. The arsonly types are in our community, they're not going away, and you can take the high road all you want but you'll only succeed in exposing your underside to the honourless. Bad fighting tactic.

Take for example, the point of requiring everyone who wants a ticket to take a burn safety and leave-no-trace course and submit a cleanup plan for their art and camp before they can buy a ticket. That'd put off most of the anarchist/anti-rules types, and screen out some troublemakers. It could be done online, or maybe the Regionals would choose to make a day of it and do a "Burning Man 101" day like the Seattle community did a few years ago.

The remoteness is another screen, so between that and the "hey...we're serious here" zeitgeist, of course we'd see a population drop. Wouldn't be the first in Burn history and hey, wouldn't you rather be surrounded by very intentional, clued-in people that know what's what, instead of a mix of clued-in and clueless?

Maybe not a paradigm shift at the desert event...but a smaller Burn, using the staging systems we know and the experience we have.

honeyfire · Post by **honeyfire** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:38 am

Because, heh, BM isn't expensive enough already, now we won't re-use our eqpt from year to year?

Artistically, i like this idea very much.

It does, however, run directly counter to most of the basic planet-lovin' principles i really try to live my life by.
Reduce, recycle, reuse.
Don't trash/destroy something that i could give to someone who can use it.
Keep the amount of crap i pour into the air (all the air we have, remember) to a minimum.
Basically, keep my life footprint as small as i can.
Stuff like that.

That's basically why i can't really get behind this idea.

But i really do like it a lot.
Way to let your mind loose on ways to get BM further into the fire. *nodding vigourously*

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:48 am

Where can I find instructions for building a yurt from cardboard? That actually sounds pretty neat!

B.

Post by **AntiM** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:57 am

Okay, I swiped this pic off flickr, somebody named dewdrops, funny stuff and I hope he doesn't mind me sharing it here:

Cardboard Chewboxxa!

There were cardboard stormtroopers too ... oh yeah.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:44 pm

honeyfire wrote:It does, however, run directly counter to most of the basic planet-lovin' principles i really try to live my life by.
Reduce, recycle, reuse.

I follow the "Reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra too. The vast majority of my werewolf puppet, Nothing-to-Prove, is made of recycled and reused materials. The only new stuff on her are the taxidermy eyes, jawset, and faux fur.
Maybe a clarification is in order...

It's burnt, but cardboard itself is recycled, and recyclable, and it's getting reused. You can't use damaged cardboard for shelter, but it can be used for art. (BTW, AntiM, that cardboard Chewbacca looks brilliant!) Burn the cardboard, take the ashes home, and scatter them in your garden as a soil amendment. Or donate them to a community garden.

I hear your point on the danger. Perhaps keep the burn platforms and burn it on those? It'd be dangerous if the camps/art went off spontaneously, but if we know when/where they're going to be burnt, the danger is...not lessened, but controlled. And an argument can be made that Burning Man was never safe, but we can shoot for security.

Up until this year, the Temple was made by reusing wood from wooden puzzle toys. That's where I got the idea.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:53 pm

BAS wrote:Where can I find instructions for building a yurt from cardboard? That actually sounds pretty neat!

It's pretty simple. You need 16, 4x8' sheets of plywood. Half of them you cut diagonally, retape them together in a triangle, and there are your roof panels. The other eight stand on their long side, are taped together with duct tape, and one has a hole cut in it for a door. You can cut windows if you want.

Linkety:

http://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_Playa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexayurt

http://vinay.howtolivewiki.com/blog/category/hexayurt/

andy · Post by **andy** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:35 pm

Fire as a part of your art or burning your itself is a form of artistic expression, but to require all art to be burned is a severe restriction on other artists' expression - it would preclude many, many, people from brining art and other useful service to the playa.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:05 pm

Thanks, DOT! I need a backup plan in case I can't afford to get a bus for next BM (or don't have the time to get one in "good enough" shape for the desert.)

Might come in handy, too, if I get more people than I expect.

B.

honeyfire · Post by **honeyfire** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:20 am

Hmmmmmm...
D containers and duct tape....
Hmmmmm....
*grin*

But let me say again, Diane, that i really dig the concept.

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:36 pm

If I manage to make a flaming 2V dome it will be reused.. hopefully many times. I wanted to do a burnable structure this past year but never got my foot sorted out and didn't have a reliable person to haul me to home despot for the materials. I was gonna use brand spankin new plywood.. ya know for the green theme.. oh well wasn't meant to be.

Do these cardboard structs hold up in whiteouts at 40mph like we had this past year? I guess you could always attach panels to 2x4s or 1x3s or even use conduit framework.

Even though I didn't get to burn my housing this past year I did burn some of my sarongs, bandannas, headwraps, towels etc due to unforseen stranding circumstances. LOL

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:33 pm

Toolmaker wrote:never got my foot sorted out

I have a cure for that you know.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:29 pm

I wouldn't trust the cardboard structures in a wet or damp environment. I think if they were done properly, they should be able to hold up to the wind reasonably well, if anchored properly. Unless where they are anchored become stress points, and the cardboard fatigues...?

I get the idea from their website that they have brought their structures to Burning Man, and that they have held up.

I am getting too tired to remain coherent, so I think I will stop trying to discuss this!

B.

karine · Post by **karine** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:58 pm

You can always donate your wood (from your structure) to the Burners Without Borders when you leave the playa, and they donate it to Habitat for Humanity... that's recycling at it's best.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:06 am

BAS wrote:I wouldn't trust the cardboard structures in a wet or damp environment.

I was going to say "That can be addressed by painting it with outdoor enamel" but that outgasses most toxically when burnt. A coating of wax, maybe?

Or make tipis and gers out of old sails over wood frames? Duck canvas is naturally water-repellent.

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:44 am

theCryptofishist wrote:
Toolmaker wrote:never got my foot sorted out
I have a cure for that you know.

I may wind up with your cure.. I figure if I smash my foot with a sledge they'll be forced to fix it via removal. At least then the nerve pain and swelling when I try to walk will be gone and I can get back to work. I'm ginving the medical community another coupla months and than whammo.. instant prosthesis medically necessary. Glad to hear you're still in good spirits and are coming home next year. If all goes well one way or the other maybe I'll be able to hitch a ride on the back of your ride.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:39 pm

Toolmaker wrote: At least then the nerve pain and swelling when I try to walk will be gone

And you'll be dealing with phantom sensation instead!

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:33 pm

diane o'thirst wrote:
BAS wrote:I wouldn't trust the cardboard structures in a wet or damp environment.
I was going to say "That can be addressed by painting it with outdoor enamel" but that outgasses most toxically when burnt. A coating of wax, maybe?

Or make tipis and gers out of old sails over wood frames? Duck canvas is naturally water-repellent.

Well, if you go the canvas/sails over wood route, that is getting more like a traditional yurt (or ger).

Coating with wax might work, though that would be heavy (I think). And with bee's wax, it would smell nice!

I suppose that this is what makes a "cure-all" so difficult in real life....

(I do think that their idea could be useful for temporary, emergency situations in dry climates. And for use at Burning Man, which I believe they have done.)

I'm going to hang onto those web addresses. If I can't get my bus, a hexayurt might be a doable alternative.

Thanks.

B.

Burner till death · Post by **Burner till death** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:29 am

I met one fella that camped in 2 big refrigerator boxes. He cut window flaps, taped them down when dusty or out, and had all he needed right inside. At the end, he simply took them to the burn platform and burned all of it. All he had was the box, a cotton sleeping bag he purposfullly found second hand without plastic, and all his food containers were the paperkind. all of it burned, he even burned his trashed clothing - all cotton too.

His camp was clened up in 5 minutes and he was off bumming a ride, all he had was hi bike and a backpack when he left.

living at its simplest

Alchemy · Post by **Alchemy** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 4:23 pm

FUCK YEAH! LETS!!!
im for this- at least every couple of years -just to remind us and those who have never truely experianced this kinda burn to get purified.
There isnt enough burn at Burningman..
To quote Jeff Goldblums character in Jurassic Park when being told by its creator that he spared " No expence.."
" Ummm Hellllo... Ummm
You ARE going to have ummm some DINOSAURS umm on your Dinosaur ride? Ummm Yes? Hellllo

" Ummmmm Hello ? You ARE um gonna have some ummm FIRE at your fire arts festival? Umm YES ? HELLLLLOOOO???"

bring back the burn platforms at the opening to the esplinades and at the plaza centers..
bring back the saturation of poi..
the smaller-more intimate art cars...
tons of drums and more THUMP!

oh yeah..and drugs for the free hippie sex orgies!!!

Burner till death · Post by **Burner till death** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:38 pm

not nearly enough Tiki Torches. I have seen pics of camps filled with Tiki torches, how come Tiki is taboo now?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 6:22 pm

Burner till death wrote: how come Tiki is taboo now?

Fear of open flames in a tent city--it would burn down people's home quickly. Rumor has it that someone in first camp had a tiki torch accident and that that's why they are banned, but given the common resentment of first camp and the rumors that prevokes, I don't give it much creedance.

Burner till death · Post by **Burner till death** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 6:27 pm

If one were to put Tiki up - what happens? DO they get confisctaed? put out? just wondering. I am playing catch up to the way of BMAN life.

I do recall seeing a few, but not as many as I thought I would.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 6:30 pm

I don't know, mostly I know something of what the firefighters feel about it. I imagine that hte first thing would be an educational visit from your friendly neighborhood rangers.

Valkyrie · Post by **Valkyrie** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:20 pm

OK, how 'bout more burn platforms... and some fire extinguishing stuff. I realize water is a big deal out there, and I hate to imagine what people would do to each other unsupervised with fire extinguishers (or rather I love to, but that's a different issue), but this is a creative bunch. Can't someone come up with something? Y'know, like a vat that you let go of a rope and it drops 30 gal. of water over the thing? Something?

I too was disappointed with the lack of fire in the festival. Burning seemed so... contained.

Make it all burnable

Make it all burnable

Also potentially VERY dangerous...

Re: Also potentially VERY dangerous...

"...i gots me a blowtorch..."

BURN IT and move on!!