It was very interesting to notice the change when we went from the initial fun attitude handing out passports to a more mean and hardcore totalitarian attitude where we really tried to get into people's minds.somekind wrote: I talked to some people who were put off by the attitude of the security officers and turned and left. Not too smart!! Open your eyes, people!
Well done.
It worked so much better. The first day didn't feel right it was too much "Disneyworld", which the new approach people really had to make an effort and the level of interactivity became amazing and the stories that people told afterwords were incredible as well.
I got a lot of emails of people thanking me for the project. There was one that was very special and which I wanted to share, since that person learned a lot from the project and gave up on the material goal of obtaining the passport:
And of course some people didn't get it and left angry, which was inevitable.Thank you very much for making Checkpoint DreamYourTopia. It really moved me, and before I visited (on Thursday?) I had not really connected with the American Dream theme.
I didn't get a passport because I had a strange moving experience while filling out the form. I realized that I did not want my dream. Operating from the definition of dream as "a story I tell you I want to be true", I had this idea that our dreams are tragically flawed because they are products of our selves, which I also believe are tragically flawed. Reality is more perfect, surprising, and satisfying than our dream might ever be. For example, in my wildest dreams, I could not have imagines burning man and all of it's amazingness; the reality is so much more shocking and wonderful!
That's just one thought. I regret not finishing the passport application process, but you changed my burn, and provoked ideas, which was worth it.
So not all mails I received were positive:
Just got back to Dallas and unloaded the truck.this was positively the shittiest installation i've ever visited in all my visits to the playa. oh sure, the passport that i never got looked pretty and all. good job, bitches. the beef i have is with the dude bro who was on dudie that night. this cow behind me starts shit for no reason other than the fact that she was a self hater, and then starts crying to the dude bro, as if we're in kindergarten. then with no information to go on he sided with her and tried to reprimand me by getting up in my face with his magaphone...why? because i have a penis. i truly hope your sharty poop shoot of a dream moops up the playa next year so i can take a dump on it.
will have more thoughts once I'll be decompressed and dedusted!
! We were given applications, which were simultaneously hilarious, sinister, and thought provoking. It took us about 10 min. to completely fill out the form/s, and another 5 mins or so of interrogation before we were finally issued visitor's visas/passports and script--coolest keepsakes I've ever been gifted at the burn--and allowed through. <sigh of relief... the promised dreamland is at hand!). Our time at the bar was stellar. It was like a mini decompression in itself. Absolutely incredible. 
