DMV the new art critic

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:43 am

So let's get this straight before a lot of planing and building..

The Department of Mutton Vehicles has departed from the art and pedestrian theme of Burning Man..

Demanding instead, Drunken party barges that pedestrians must beg ride on..

Moving art or performing art is no longer accepted.. Unless there is enough building monies to accommodate a gang of free loading drunks.. Add enough lights, noise and dust to wake the dead..

So if an artist has a rolling project on the drawing board forget it.. You will be turned back before the gate.. The DMV theme is drink and get stoned til you puke, there is no other reason to come to the desert..

If you have a bus painted white, a loud horn and a need to make an ass of yourself bring it on.. The DMV is your art critic. THey know with an iron fist what is an is not art..

WTF?

somekind · Post by **somekind** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:20 am

In its defense, the big white truck is covered with fur.

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:42 am

The DMV is your art critic. THey know with an iron fist what is an is not art..

Don't like it? Volunteer for the group, provide input and affect change.

Otherwise you're just whining.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:46 am

Isotopia wrote:
The DMV is your art critic. THey know with an iron fist what is an is not art..
Don't like it? Volunteer for the group, provide input and affect change.

Otherwise you're just whining.

No cigar, The DMV is "ruled" by one.

Stickygreen · Post by **Stickygreen** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 7:06 pm

well at least you got told before building your vehicle. The camp I was with this year submitted plans for a pickup truck, that after it was built looked exactly like our artist rendition. Only to be told at the on playa inspection, it looks to much like a truck, we couldn't believe it? could nobody have told us that before? eventual we got a permit to use it as a support vehicle for our main art piece, but still....

art critics the DMV are not !

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:42 pm

Where is this coming from Unjon? Did something happen to you? A friend? Is this Dr Pyro stuff?

Dr. Pyro · Post by **Dr. Pyro** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:36 am

I have nothing to do with this! I happen to agree, but leave me out of it.

Aiee! It burns! · Post by **Aiee! It burns!** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 10:14 am

Call in Harrod Blank and make him final arbiter.

The Governor · Post by **The Governor** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 10:24 am

WE HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH DMV!
I'm the owner of the Dogfish Artcar/Barcar. In the past 8 yrs of having the Dogfish we have never had a person beg for a ride. As a matter of fact we totaled the Dogfish last year because we had 38 people on a 79 Chevy Van (bent the frame in half). It took me 6 months to build the new Dogfish that seats 26 and had 40 or more happy burners on it this year.
Free loading drunks? I spend 4000 dollars in alcohol, mixers, water, and gatorade. Most of the burners we serve have a beverage (alcohol or not) and move on. Light are must on the dark playa, everybody loves music, and if your bitching about the dust stay off the Playa!!

The Dogfish welcomes all burners to take a ride,have a beverage, listen to some music, meet new friends and old, get stoned, puke, or whatever.
It's everybodys party so do whatever makes you happy! See you next year.

motskyroonmatick · Post by **motskyroonmatick** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 12:08 pm

I had no problem getting my Mutant Vehicle or Disabled Vehicle registered and I was a bit worried about it due to the talk that has gone around on this forum. Both times I was at the DMV they were accommodating to the people who were there with problems. Even the guy running around on a 4 wheeler who demanded a handicap permit and had no supporting documentation they were professional too. Granted they did not hand him a permit but they did calmly and kindly tell him how he could easily get a permit. This did not match the way he was demanding and becoming enraged. I am a mild mannered person but I think I would have told him to get fucked and return with a better attitude and correct documentation.
My strategy that worked was to research throughly what the DMV does not want your car to be and what it want's. I incorporated those aspects in to my design. Ground up mutation(doesn't look like a road vehicle). Carrying capacity. Guaranteed slow speed. Saftey. I worked very hard on my application and addressed every question with a well thought out answer.
The ratio of accepted to denied vehicles on playa is really good so by all means build a Mutant. The chances are in your favor and near guaranteed if you put some thought and effort into it that you will get your license.
If you happen to have a disabled placard you can get a disabled vehicle permit which will allow you to drive damn near any safe smaller vehicle anytime day or night if well lit.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 3:21 pm

No cigar, The DMV is "ruled" by one.

Your personal experience (or bias) has gotten in the way of your ability to speak the truth.

Your above statement is not only incorrect it's wrong.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 8:17 pm

I have nothing to do with this! I happen to agree, but leave me out of it.

I also agree to a point. I think what happened to Tieland was B.S. I'm just wondering where that was coming from since he didn't explain himself and you are the only justified DMV complaint I've seen around these parts.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:39 am

Badger wrote:
Your above statement is not only incorrect it's wrong.

??? Both?

Perhaps you could illuminate better the way it would work for changing any dmv policies?

I would like to see some different policies for electric bikes myself.
And there are concepts that are very interesting, but don't meet the 'totally disguised' standard.

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:54 pm

gyre wrote:
Badger wrote:
Your above statement is not only incorrect it's wrong.
??? Both?

Perhaps you could illuminate better the way it would work for changing any dmv policies?

I would like to see some different policies for electric bikes myself.
And there are concepts that are very interesting, but don't meet the 'totally disguised' standard.

Personally I dont think the DMV is going to be able to change policies concerning wheter or not non mutated art vehicles are allowed.

I'll try to sum it up as briefly as possible.

1) The GOV doesn't want us driving there PERIOD. They would love to shut shit down for good.
2) The ORG is constantly in beg/kissass mode to try to KEEP what we have.
3) Assholes running around unlicensed and running over the feet of our Rangers DOES NOT help.

I think it was Bob that mentioned that these "mutant" rules are NOT new rather being enforced a lil more since there are more vehicles that want licences.

I think it was Dustdevil that was nice enough to post some rough stats in the OTHER whine about denial of license thread. I think it was the Funny one about the golf cart with blinky lights and speakers where the OP wanted to "borrow" someones permit.

Which brings us to..

4) Doing all we can to cheat and bend the "rules" does not help either.

5) Having SOME SMALL GROUP of folks (not the ENTIRE department mind you) IGNORE the rules and drive whatever the fuck they want isn't helping matter either. This makes for more tension in the community between the have and have nots.

I was pissed about Pyro gettin the beat down too, but I also can look at Tieland and see that it does not fit the criteria. The example of Skelemt or sumsuch showed just how ridiculous some folks can be in their interpretation of the guidelines for mutant.

It is quite plain.. The vehicle must not look factory. While there may be some exceptions (Purple Palace) the needs of the community are often put up front for the purpose of public transportation.

Anyone is welcome to volunteer and try to effect change from within. Problem is that most folks don't want to spend the entire burn working their ass off. They would rather party.

While the DMV may have a few art critics I think they did a hell of a job with licensing and processing considering the amount of applicants. They have guidelines they have to follow, if they are ignored there will likely be some grief when the "contract" gets reviewed and/or renewed.

Expect the enforcement of 'mutation" requirements to continue as the city continues to grow. Its all about Evolution.

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:04 pm

The Governor wrote:WE HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH DMV!
I'm the owner of the Dogfish Artcar/Barcar. In the past 8 yrs of having the Dogfish we have never had a person beg for a ride. As a matter of fact we totaled the Dogfish last year because we had 38 people on a 79 Chevy Van (bent the frame in half). It took me 6 months to build the new Dogfish that seats 26 and had 40 or more happy burners on it this year.
Free loading drunks? I spend 4000 dollars in alcohol, mixers, water, and gatorade. Most of the burners we serve have a beverage (alcohol or not) and move on. Light are must on the dark playa, everybody loves music, and if your bitching about the dust stay off the Playa!!

The Dogfish welcomes all burners to take a ride,have a beverage, listen to some music, meet new friends and old, get stoned, puke, or whatever.
It's everybodys party so do whatever makes you happy! See you next year.

Dogfish fucking rocks!
I had the pleasure of meeting most of the crew with my buddy Justin from the Ketchup camp, you guys were awesome, and so were your drinks! Keep up the good work!

Rat Bastard · Post by **Rat Bastard** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:16 pm

So what are you unjon? A doer or a bitcher? The statements of volunteering for the DMV were serious. Your even welcome to sit in on an application review meeting. All you have to do is go on the web and show up. That's 80% of it. The other 300% is paperwork.

We sit out in the hot sun and the dust all day waiting for MVs to come in for their stickers. We don't get paid. We sit in internet conference call meetings for well over 40 hours, pre=playa,gong over applications. We don't get paid. We communicate year round with each other and evolve the DMV into something coherent and consistant that benifits the MV community as a whole. We don't get paid. We sit quietly while we read the abuse from people that badger and beat us with comments on public posts rather then talking to us directly. We don't get paid for that either. Why do we work for the DMV? Everyone of us has their own reason. Why do you NOT work for the DMV? You don't get paid?

In the 40+ hours I spent looking at applications I can say this. There were a lot of apps that were well thought out, complete and throughly documented through pictures, sketches, wording and websites. Then there were some average ones that were "sufficient". Alas there were a whole bunch (especially the ones turned in on the last day) that were completely pathetic, incomplete, directions not followed, useless pictures, bar napkin sketches, non-descriptive or clearly NOT a mutant vehicle. A lot of these I said no to for various reasons. All defined in the bmdmv tribe photo pages. But what didn't help was the fact that if the owner can't even completely fill out the application and follow the directions, what does that say about how they'll follow through with their un-clearly described concept.

The DMV has been publishing the tribe pages for everyone to read up on how they interperate MVs and a little history about the DMV. Based on most discussions from people that are crying cause they were denied, I assume that they are in the group of people that didn't look at them.

There's now a new picture added to the list. It's Pyro's Tieland. Read what's said.
http://tribes.tribe.net/bmmv/photos/740 ... 4edf41b22c

So feel free to call the DMV evil, cruel, nazi, assholes, art critics, morons, jerks, elitist or even late for dinner. It doesn't bother me (and most likely the rest of us). I actually get a kick out of it. Cause I like saying NO. But do keep in mind that we're not a bunch of stoned hippies and we remember what is said about us and by who. Also take note that even though we don't get paid, we don't hold grudges and won't hold it against people that speak their ill mind about us. But we probably won't look to be friends with them either. And also remember that we do this because we like mutant vehicles and we want to make sure that BM has them as part of the event for years to come. Not cause we're power hungry pesimists.

Rat Bastard · Post by **Rat Bastard** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:14 pm

Oh wait, let me post the link for the rest of the story.

http://tribes.tribe.net/bmmv/photos/926 ... 746d87209b

Sorry I didn't make it by to say hi Doc. I drove by plenty of times but just couldn't seem to pull myself out of the house to stop in and say hi. I wonder why that is?

Dr. Pyro · Post by **Dr. Pyro** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:29 am

That's OK Ratman. And you are no nazi. I understand the rules. And keep in mind the truck doesn't even belong to me. Unfortunately the filters on my computer won't let me bring up anything with tribe. So clearly I didn't post. Was it positive or negative? Oh, let me guess.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:12 am

Rat Bastard wrote: Sorry I didn't make it by to say hi Doc. I drove by plenty of times but just couldn't seem to pull myself out of the house to stop in and say hi. I wonder why that is?

Agoraphobic?

Rat Bastard · Post by **Rat Bastard** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:01 pm

Pyro,
It was quotes from posts you've made here about the DMV and emails you've sent the DMV. Not a pretty picture you painted.

Dr. Pyro · Post by **Dr. Pyro** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:35 pm

Now that I've seen what was posted (and I also noticed none of the pictures that Badger posted with the flame effects actually taking place, all of which can be seen at our URL under Barbie Death Camp & Wine Bistro in the main Theme Camps section of the Burning Man website, make sure you click on 2007 first and then go backwards in time) it seems rather damning, and I take full responsibility of the names that I did in fact call some of the people at the DMV, who (in retrospect) probably are not more retarded than most of the DPW staff. But any objective observer who saw what qualified as, in some cases, "mutant vehicles" this year when compared to Tieland, the only logical explantion on how they got approved was either nepotism or blatent prejudice on the part of the judges. Remember, our contribution is more along the lines of fire effects, not beauty per se. Which is why we keep Tieland in camp during the day: It really is of use at night, spewing one of the largest flame effects in Black Rock City, and feeding the masses who flock to us when they see the desert lit up as if somebody had recreated the Trinity test in Alamogordo. I never individually called anyone names. But for you, or anyone else, to say we are now somehow unqualified to add to the fabric of Black Rock City is, and I think most observers to this forum would agree, questionable at best.

But that said, you still are a helluva nice guy.

Rat Bastard · Post by **Rat Bastard** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:48 pm

Well next time you should click 'Yes' for flame effects on your app. You clicked No.

Dr. Pyro · Post by **Dr. Pyro** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:02 pm

Mea culpa, mea culpa.

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:27 pm

Rat Bastard wrote:Pyro,
It was quotes from posts you've made here about the DMV and emails you've sent the DMV. Not a pretty picture you painted.

I just sent a PM with a really pretty picture to paint for the further mutation. Hopefully we will see some wild ass shit next year from Doc et al.