My Art Project for Burning Man 2014

[Ranger Sasquatch]

During Burning Man 2013 I looked up at the sky on Wednesday night
and saw only the brightest of stars with the great majority of them
washed out by the lights of our city.

I flashed back to my first night on the playa in 2000. I arrived there in
Convoy with the other members of Camp Thermal Shock at the end of
a 17 hour drive, a rendevous in Reno for supplies and pizza then the 2
and some hour drive into the city. The gate took an hour or so for
Laminate pictures for our ranger members, where I was named
Sasquatch over my objections and to popular giggling acclaim and we
then proceeded to the part of the city I've camped in since then,
around the present location of 3 and C streets.

Once there we took another hour or so to set up our tents and then
settled down for the night. The nearest light was about three quarters
of a mile away and it was a single 60watt bulb in someone's camp.

Instead of going to sleep I sat in the door of my tent and just let the
glorious light of ALL THOSE STARS wash over me. I could hold my
hand out and see a clear shadow on the ground, from stars alone.

I THOUGHT I knew what the stars looked like as I was a long time
camper but I guess I just never got far enough from major cities to
really SEE this. If it hadn't been for the twinkling I'd have thought I
was IN space.

With all this in mind I decided my art project for Burning Man 2014
will be to enlist the active cooperation of approximately 68 thousand
other burners as "co-artists" with Creation and I to turn every
non-essential light in the city OFF for two hours on the night of
Wednesday, August 27th from 11pm to 1am on the 28th.

Then, everyone can look up and share with me the wonder of our sky
there at Black Rock City which most have never seen. To borrow a
phrase we'll all be able to "take a trip and never leave the farm : )."

At this point what I need from you my friends is a name for the project
that expresses the intent of it and catches the imagination.

Fire away : ).

Sasquatch

[Dr Helix]

"Good Luck WIth That"

Annnnd we're done here.

[VultureChow]

Love the concept. Execution will be tough. Need to get BMIR, artists and large sound camps on board. And the org. If you can get the Org to turn off the lights on the man...

I like the idea of a "Dark Hour." Like the lights being turned off on Broadway when a luminary dies.

[sppryor]

Fire Fly
Starry Night
Galaxy
Dark-Sky
Twinkle
Lights Out

I agree with others that this sounds like a hard project, but building a city in the middle of a desert for week sounds like a hard project too
I've been down to a few areas that have some of the most amazing star gazing opportunities such as Big Bend Ntnl Park, and sharing that would be something worthy of the effort your project probably entails. Best of luck! Also, I'm a graphic designer and would be happy to help if you need it.

[Elliot]

Love the idea. But I expect the ONLY way you can achieve this is if you convince the BMOrg to make "Starry Sky" the official 2014 Event Theme. Then they could champion the "Star Hour" just like they do the major burns. No wait.... They would have to push it FAR more than any burn. All the "Burma Shave" signs along Gate Road would have to plug it. All the street names would have to reflect it. The Man would look toward the sky thru a giant telescope. And so forth.

Then you might get 50% to know about it, and 25% to participate. I would love to be wrong.

[CaffeineGirl]

2014 should be a good year for stars. New moon on Monday August 25. This year was not so great largely due to the forest fire smoke.

[fernley1]

Yeah, lots of smoke in 2013. Some nights, I could not see any stars. Would be pretty cool if your idea worked.

[Ranger Sasquatch]

It's early days yet but I agree it'll be cool if it works. Who knows? Maybe it'll fire everyone's imagination and just flat take a life of it's own.

I'm kind of in new territory here with an art project that doesn't require lots of cargo space and hours or days of creation in the hot sun : ).

I'm noting all the proposed names for a later vote. Some good stuff. Thank You.

Sas

[Lonesomebri]

I love looking at the stars. I do this while waiting in line late at night outside Gerlach. But getting everybody to agree to your piece of art? That's the rub with this, everyone? Do you know the type of people we are dealing with? This sounds fun.... but... LNT is the main principle, one that is already agreed on, always has been, it's stressed to everyone who attends, yet the MOOP map shows that execution even there is sometimes lacking. People wouldn't know about the light's out period, people wouldn't remember, some people wouldn't care, and without massive participation, the business as usual would sway as they kicked the generators back on and got the party started. I imagine the 30,000 lasers pointing out the stars would be blinding also.

[BBadger]

Sorry, but getting a bunch of people to agree to turn off their lights does not qualify as "art" in my book. This isn't even like a flash-mob type thing where at least people show up unexpectedly and perhaps carry out some sort of act for the bemusement of those not in on the joke. This is more like some solemn ritual to force some sort of appreciation on someone.

Ultimately, why do we go to Burning Man? Burning Man is about humankind -- what humans bring and do. Art is also about what humans create. Let's celebrate humankind. We have about a week to enjoy that ephemeral city. Let's not waste it on stuff we have access to all the time.

If you enjoy the stars, you can go into the mountains or countryside anytime you want (at night) to bask in the glory of the stars away from light pollution. You don't need everyone else there, especially those who don't care to participate. This isn't even like seeing the sun rise. At least with the sun rise the countryside and sky looks different, and reveals the city, as opposed to stars that look exactly the same everywhere you go (region and light-pollution permitting).

I for one will not be participating in this art project. I've got better things to do than stare at the sky, and I've got other camping trips for that if I'm interested.

[Elderberry]

Speqking only for myself, but I don't go to Burning Man to gaze at the stars.

[BoyScoutGirl]

You might want to contact the folks who did the universal heartbeat thing this year; they'll have firsthand experience to relate with regard to coordinating a city-wide effort like this.

[Turtleburp]

Screw collaboration call it EMP...

[Ratty]

I have to admit I forgot to take part in the 'Heartbeat'. The time slipped by and nobody around me was tuned in so that's probably a sampling of how it went. Anything at night would be even harder to remember. What a bummer THAT would be. "Ok everybody stop dancing. You'll have to wait a bit to view this art, climb that structure, ride in the art car, see the rest of the movie, buy coffee, fire dance, find the bar, etc....."

Please count me out. I have volunteering on a schedule but everything else is spontaneous. Sorry.

[trilobyte]

I'm giving this a nudge over to the 2014 Art & Performance board (now that the 2014 event boards have been created), since that's a better fit.

I'm kind of in new territory here with an art project that doesn't require lots of cargo space and hours or days of creation in the hot sun...

True, but it does require trying to get the support and cooperation of tens of thousands of other people. That will require constant effort between now and Wednesday night, and even then it's doubtful you'd reach everybody.

Personally, I'm not a fan of art that requires others to change their burn in order to be successful. And it seems like the sort of thing that's engineered to potentially create conflict ("Turn off your lights!"/"Fuck you!" etc). From my own experience, it's really really easy to experience big sky... pedal out to deep playa. Don't go to 12 and trash fence (it's a popular destination), aim for the corner either to the left or the right. You don't have to even go out to trash fence either, you just need to get a few hundred feet away from anything. Stop, sit, lay down, behold. It's probably also worth noting that this year, on Monday night, there will be a new moon on the playa (only the 4th time since you've been participating, and first time for many). That's right, big fucking sky night (stars always seem much brighter during the new moon)., and without having to do anything special (or having to ask others to change the way they burn), the nights will be darker all week (even by burn night it'll be just under a quarter moon).

You might want to consider organizing a couple deep playa expeditions during the week. Pick a spot for people to meet, then from there head on out as a group, that could be a really fun shared experience, as well as opportunity to connect with others who share a common interest.

[cahlm]

Walk-In camping works great for star gazing.

[Simon of the Playa]

since western New York was once referred to as the "burnt-over district" because of it's propensity to produce new and interesting spiritual movements


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned-over_district


i thought a CORE burn of the Golden Plates would be Appropriate, since Mormonism, the fastest growing religion on Earth, was started here.


IF western new york DOES get status as a region, i propose the following...


thoughts? Ideas......will i be pissing off the Mormon Church and get on their Hit List?.....because that would be cool too...

WESTERN NEW YORKERS.........the time to start shit like this is NOW....feedback feedback feeeeeeeeeeedback....

does this sound like something you would like to be involved with?

[BoyScoutGirl]

Simon, as somebody who had a Mormon SO, I think I'd probably find such an installation hilarious. But would the BMORG? I could be wrong, but I had the impression not every CORE application is accepted into the effigy circle proper.

Also, I think you guys can be classier than only jabbing the magical underwear party. Can you satirize cults and new religious movements in general without your audience having to know about the golden plates in particular? Dadara did something similar with his giant "thumbs up" this year (I think it was called "Like 4 Real") and, from my conversations with folks, it seems a lot of people didn't get it.

Not that people need to get it. I'm all for making people think on the playa and the wider world, too.

[Simon of the Playa]

actually, my hidden agenda is to start a cultural war with the state of utah, but my Official Stance is We Gonna Build this sucker whether we get Official Approval or not.......He'll Cum, Aura....


quite frankly, i think Mormonism is a perfect Target / Subject, and since we (western new york, BIRTHPLACE of the Anti-Mormon Movement) chased them out once, it's time to let them know nothing has changed, and we still think they're ridiculous and will burn their precious non-existent golden plates in effigy just to remind them of this fact.

fuck your Moroni.

[FIGJAM]

ALL religious text are sacred and should be burned before reading!

[AntiM]

There's a reason Element 11 is so well attended. There's no Mo like an ex-Mo!

And it isn't mainstream Utah you need to worry about, it is the whackjobs like Warren Jeffs:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56998 ... s.html.csp

[Simon of the Playa]

i've already sent them a link and a pic.

[H.G.Crosby]

ALL religious text are sacred and should be burned before reading!

fuck....



all this time.


i've been doing it WRONG.

[media]

[chiefdanfox]

Evarra and his 4th god. Golden. Horrible. Giant. Flammable. ADA compliant.

[FIGJAM]

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[FossaFerox]

The name of the sketch show is essentially perfect.

[chiefdanfox]

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