Did I Miss Something?

[Dancingcrone]

I first heard about Burning Man some years ago and the philosophy of art creation that went on. Wow. Creation of art, how wonderful to be involved in something like that, how inspirational would that be. So for all this time I have wanted to come and finally made it this year.
Well, yes there are beautiful and inspiring works of art. But where were the art workshops? Where could I go and paint, quilt, make plaster or paper art? Do you have to solely be the great and the good to be involved as an artist?
Please tell me that I missed something - but there was nothing in my book of events. Meditation, yes great. Music - great choice. Orgies, yes although not my thing. Art creation ??? Please tell me what I missed.

[Savannah]

I haven't had my coffee yet, but I'm guessing that you missed Dye with Dignity.
http://www.dyewithdignity.com/

They're great people. Beautiful silk for you to dye. If you go again, maybe you'll meet them. You may have missed "Pimp My Bike" Camp. Fur and bling for bikes. There are also typically Spin Art camps and Airbrush camps, etc, but I didn't read my whole W/W/W Guide this year.

If you you go again, please also bring a little of your favorite art. You can do it on a small scale; many do . . .and not all of them advertise. If your event doesn't make it into the W/W/W by the deadline, put out a sandwich board with day and time and invite the neighbors over.

[Dancingcrone]

Hey, thought I posted a reply but it seems to have disappeared.
Please understand that this was my first time and the whole place was so big - yes I did miss Dye with Dignity. Not into bikes so "Pimp my bike" would have passed me by. I came looking to embrace the ethos of the place and I thought art was part of that - so why do so few people do it?

[Simon of the Playa]

I came looking to embrace the ethos of the place and I thought art was part of that - so why do so few people do it?

oh, you're good...

[H.G.Crosby]

incredibly smart, or incredibly stupid...



popcorn please.

[Roberto Dobbisano]

yeah, so much for page fucking two...

[Elorrum]

Hey, thought I posted a reply but it seems to have disappeared.
Please understand that this was my first time and the whole place was so big - yes I did miss Dye with Dignity. Not into bikes so "Pimp my bike" would have passed me by. I came looking to embrace the ethos of the place and I thought art was part of that - so why do so few people do it?

O.K. aside from my obvious incredulity at the statement "why do so few people do it?" THEY DID IT AND BROUGHT IT> I think many art processes have a large trash or moop by-product that would need to be anticipated and planned for and perhaps this is why it's not as widespread as you anticipated. Wind and dust are also a factor that make a lot of activities more difficult. Now that you've been, do you have some ideas about what sort of DIY art would work well? I didn't travel in the city this year as much as in years past and I missed seeing more hands on types of installations that could be manipulated. I will try to come up with something that I can bring next year.

[Eric]

Please tell me that I missed something - but there was nothing in my book of events. Meditation, yes great. Music - great choice. Orgies, yes although not my thing. Art creation ??? Please tell me what I missed.

You missed a lot. First, the "Who, What, Where" guide has probably well under 10% of what's going on out there - it's only the events that got submitted in the very short window from when they start taking submissions to the point where the guide is full, which usually happens pretty quickly. Second, the camps do activities on their time, and some may do it all day, some may do it for short windows during the day (or night), some may only do it once or twice all week. You could have been camped 1/2 a block away from an art camp, and if they happened to do their activity while you were out exploring you'd never know it (I didn't find out until Sunday that a bar I had wanted to visit was literally a block away from my camp up the same radial I was on).

You also have to take into account that your idea of "art creation" may not be the same as another persons. Lots of camps do "crafts" like fairy wings, magic wands, the afore-mentioned bike decorating, etc; others do things like painting, sculpting, photography.

The biggest thing that I personally think happened is that you went in with expectations of what you wanted the event to give you, and were disappointed when you didn't find those things. That's why you see people hammer away at the "no expectations" mantra - you really don't know what you're going to get in any given year, even if you've been going for ages. If you really want to see something like an "art creation" camp - make it happen. Build it, find like minded folk, create the camp you want. Start small, see where it goes. Burning Man is a do-ocracy, if you want something done, than you're the person to do it. Other folks are doing what they want done.

[tamarakay]

Thank you savannah!

[Mojojita]

It sounds as if what you expected were more camps who take on the job of providing you with space, materials and knowledge to make "art". You did miss lots of things - constant drop-in music groups, dance, vocal music, marching band competition, Shakespeare,....I could go on and on. The real question is, what did you bring? How did you participate? How did you entertain those around you?

[maladroit]

I remembered my Elmer's glue, but forgot my macaroni and (tasty) finger paint.

[AntiM]

I don't set up a place for people to make art precisely because of the MOOP and clean up factor. I do not paint out there. Too damn messy. I also do not like the constraints of having to be in a specific place at a specific time, I already have much of my burn scheduled for me. But I do bring an entire gallery and bins of paintings to gift away.

My campmates did come back with amazing fairy wings they'd made at a workshop this year. The make a necklace place was inundated the years it set up. I've made pottery whistles, decorated spoons, seen costume making parties, and make a weird and wonderful marble/metal pendant thingy. It is out there, just not prevalent.

[Jackass]

Out on 9'oclock and J (I think), they had a two story building and surround you could have painted on all day and night.

[Savannah]

That reminds me: There was a three or four story Firehouse somewhere high on the clock (9:30 and something, but not as far out as J, I don't think) full of couches and cushions, and you could paint the lowest level any way you wanted. It was pretty cool! They had some middle eastern-influenced dance music on Burn Night. Really enjoyed that place.

[Jackass]

That reminds me: There was a three or four story Firehouse somewhere high on the clock (9:30 and something, but not as far out as J, I don't think) full of couches and cushions, and you could paint the lowest level any way you wanted. It was pretty cool! They had some middle eastern-influenced dance music on Burn Night. Really enjoyed that place.

That's exactly the one I was referring to, it's been out there for a few years now. My coordinates are more than likely a bit off...

[Aurelia]

You are the art
Burning man is the portal

but if you would like to discuss this further please come to BlackRockArtFoundation and chat

[Drawingablank]

Seriously, you were in a place inundated by art - and had a hard time finding art?

[Elderberry]

She was expecting an arts and crafts event with pottery lessons, painting lessons, knitting lessons, etc. etc. etc. and the venues that would supply the space and obviously the supplies as well.

[maladroit]

She had expectations.

[BBadger]

Yeah, you missed the point.

Burning Man isn't an art workshop. Some people bring stuff for workshops, but that's just because they want to. Burning Man more a place where you show your art off and have fun with it, while raising each others' standards.

Anyway, you have 51 other weeks in the year to "make art" anytime you want. Go take a class if you want instruction.

[trilobyte]

To answer the question posed in the subject line, of course you missed something. No matter what your interest, Black Rock City has more to do than you'll ever have time to do it. I agree with others in that you may have missed the point. Mind you, there are as many different ways to burn as there are burners... but it sounds like you came to the event with a certain set of unrealistic expectations that some portion of the city's population was supposed to have provided you with something (in this case, arts and crafts workshops). I've generally found that it's best to leave your expectations at home.

Burning Man is a do-ocracy. If you want something out there, bring it. If you want to see more of what others have brought, spend more time exploring. No matter which direction you take, you'll never see or experience it all. Even if you were camped with a group that was putting on top shelf workshops and demos all week, you'd never see all of it. As I tell my campmates who get their heads stuck in the WWW guides, that's a trap. The guide neither comes close to be a complete listing, nor is it a best-of. The criterion is simply that they're the first 1500 or so events that people posted to the playa events calendar when it opened up to start taking listings in June. The vast majority of events, parties, workshops, and happenings aren't in that guide. Go out there and explore and meet people and interact.

In my personal opinion, you missed the biggest opportunity by waiting until you got to the event to start thinking about art creation. In the months leading up to the event you should have been having fun being creative as you made costumes or figured out fun ways to decorate and light your bike or do something for your camp. If you wanted to create on the playa, you could also have brought art supplies and made stuff with your friends and neighbors. If you want to make something and bring it out to the playa to exhibit it, go on ahead - the only thing stopping you is you.

[VultureChow]

I came looking to embrace the ethos of the place and I thought art was part of that - so why do so few people do it?

I spent Monday crocheting a cougar ass to repair my art. It sucked. I can sit on my couch and crochet all year long. On the playa I want to do something else.

Most everyone you met out there contributed their art to the event. It just didn't take a form that you expected.

[666isMONEY]

a lot of art in center camp: body art painters and I saw a few easels set up, next year I'm going to try and get my friend's painting displayed in center camp

[BoyScoutGirl]

I'd like to step in for a second to say that, after nearly a week of having fun with other people's art, I really appreciated having the opportunity to make some of my own right there on the playa. A few campmates and I came across a metalworking workshop. Using tin snips, sand paper, mallets and form molds I created a work of art that was both functional and personalized in a medium I had no experience with. Though the camp lead guided me, he didn't do the work, I did. It was one of my favorite experiences this year: a combination of self-reliance, self-expression, and exploring doing a new thing. Swinging the mallet and shaping the metal felt very empowering and I'm grateful the space and opportunity were gifted to me and others.

[AntiM]

There was a lady around the corner in Hushville doing glass lampwork bead workshops. I missed out, wandering and forgetful. I would have enjoyed that.

[VultureChow]

Teaching is in itself a form of art. I'm a horrible teacher.

[BoyScoutGirl]

Teaching is in itself a form of art. I'm a horrible teacher.

How about this, VultureChow: next year, we'll meet up. I can practice crochet and you can practice teaching (how to crochet)!

[theCryptofishist]

There was a lady around the corner in Hushville doing glass lampwork bead workshops. I missed out, wandering and forgetful. I would have enjoyed that.

Me too.

[tamarakay]

My first year I walked around slack jawed at the creativity and fearlessness of all the talented people in my new home town, and then a fire was lit within me. I was not raised in a home that encouraged self expression or artistic endeavors. One week in the desert and then one nervous breakdown later I found my voice in many different media. Now my fingers itch to create and my mind is so full of ideas that I can't keep up!

It's not too late, you haven't missed your opportunity yet. Jump in, create now! Share it with us and with those all around you. Don't wait for someone to provide materials, instruction or opportunity. Go. Get. It. Yourself. It will mean more to you.

[theCryptofishist]

Down and dirty, go ahead with what you've got, immediacy, wild creativity--that's the Ratty way. Even if you're not doing costume, apply this sort of verve to whatever it is you do try. One of the most successful things to do is to sidestep your fussy mind and just go for it.