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| Photo by Genevieve |
We spent
our summer vacation out in the arid wasteland of the Black
Rock Desert
once again, participating in the wild and wondrous phenomenon known as
Burning Man.
This was my 8
th year attending, my husband Dore’s 5
th.
This
indescribable festival has become an important part of my life. My first year, back in 2003, was a
revelation. The experience of the art
and the community totally blew my mind right open. It radically expanded my concept of what art
is and what it means to be an artist. It
also restored my faith in humanity, and gave me a taste of the incredibly
positive potential that we, as human beings, possess and can achieve if we make
it a priority.
Since that
first year, the Burning man community has been integral to my life. I had discovered my Tribe, and found
like-minded locals and organizations who held various social events in the L.A. area. Most of my closest friends have sprung from
this network of Burners, and countless amazing experiences, including meeting
my husband, have resulted from associating with this mad mix of artists,
musicians, dreamers, dancers, DJ’s, evil geniuses, builders, healers, helpers, hippies, teachers, clowns,
freaks, geeks and many more inspirational characters.
Over the
years I’ve been involved in many Burning Man art projects and volunteer
activities. I’ve installed my own art
piece in Center Camp. I’ve helped others
with their art cars and theme camps and installations. I’ve lit the lamps of Black
Rock City
in duststorms and guarded the sacred space of the Temple as the sun rose over the playa.
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| Photo by Dore |
This year I
was looking forward to taking it easy.
No art projects, no volunteer shifts, no commitments, no toil.
We just parked
Calliope next to Professor
Peacock’s Medicine Wagon, set up camp with our closest friends in the suburbs
of the city and chilled out most of the time.
The
Medicine Wagon is another camper trailer/art piece built by some good friends
of ours who’s last name is Peacock. They
commissioned me to do the artwork, inspired by the old patent medicine wagons.
Professor Peacock’s Miracle Elixir claims to address such troublesome
afflictions as Blueballs and Spontaneous Combustion , among other things. The Peacocks make specially-labeled
bottles of liqueur or herbal spritzer to give out as gifts. Their decorated camper wagon was part of the
inspiration for our own Calliope The Wonder Wagon.
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| Photo by Tom Varden |
The two
wagons have since become camp companions, and this year we arranged and
decorated them to form a welcoming entrance to our cozy camp kitchen and lounge
area. Even though we were kind of out in
the boonies, away from most of the art and action that takes place in the
center of the city, the wagons tend to attract attention. Folks riding by on their way to somewhere
else will stop to get a closer look.
That’s when we pounce – luring them into our little lair with the offer
of a cold drink and conversation.
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| Photo by Jeff Linebeck |
This year
we had a whole slew of visitors from all over the world stop by and hang out
with us for a spell. Old friends stopped
by, and strangers became new friends. We
cooked meals and shared the surplus, gave away many beers and sodas and
re-filled water bottles for thirsty travelers.
We heard many intriguing tales and received some lovely gifts. At one point, I’d say about 30 people joined
us for our Stone Soup night – a camp tradition where our campmates and
neighbors contribute whatever ingredients they can spare to two huge beer kegs
converted to soup pots (one with meat, one without). The resulting soup is
always magically delicious!
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| Photo by Mike Smith |
This
hanging out at camp and welcoming people to stop and visit is truly one of my
favorite things to do.
There are plenty
of elaborate “public camps” with bars and places to chill at Burning Man, and
they are great fun.
Our space is just
our camp, and inviting people in is more akin to good old-fashioned hospitality
than a civic service.
It’s simple, it’s
nearly effortless, and it’s incredibly rewarding.
But despite
our determination to be as lazy as possible this Burn, we managed to win an Award
of Excellence! Near the end of the week,
a pair of travelers stopped by wielding a giant suitcase. They inquired as to the makers of the two
wagons, popped open the luggage and handed us a large envelope. We had been chosen to be honored as one of
300 winners of the Necklace Factory camp’s Burning Man 2013 Awards of
Excellence. We were presented with an
iron-on patch and marvelous electrum medal featuring the UFO-shaped base of this year’s Man. The medal came with a battery to slip into
the back, which powered its sound-activated blue blinky lights.
We also
received a beautiful printed and signed certificate, which touched me so deeply I
couldn’t finish reading it aloud. I
wasn’t the only one whose eyes were watering.
It
references this year’s theme of “
Cargo Cult”, and it quite eloquently describes
the effect that the art and experiences out there on the playa can have.
I’ve transcribed the text here, in case the
photo is difficult to read:
“We come to
the desert, overflowing with abundance.
Great cars and trucks, recreational vehicles, motorcycles and even
airplanes. We bring more food than we can eat, more clothes than we can wear,
more music than we can listen to, and more friends than we have time to
visit. We rush into the day and race
into the night…stuffing our faces with wonder and magic. We witness miracles of
sight and sound that are brought to us by fantastic artists who travel frum
around the world…just to stretch our minds to overfull.
We are the
newest evolution of Cargo Cult, and we are created by you, the Artist of
Note. The Winner. Your cargo is splendid, your generosity is
boundless and your motives are beyond our understanding. YOU HAVE MADE MAGIC.
You are the
winner because through your magic you have made Hope. People you will never
meet walked up to your creation and were made happy. Strangers to you found reason to live larger,
and smarter and more free from the persons they were before they saw your work. That is why you are the winner of the
2013 Necklace Factory Awards. You join a rare group of artists who are
making someplace new – a richer, funnier, tastier future.
And when we
all return home in our great cars and trucks, our RVs, motorcycles and
airplanes…when we take home all the food we couldn’t eat, and the music we had
no time to listen to…when we are cleaning the mountain of clothes we barely had
time to wear…we will be thinking of the most precious cargo of all: the hope
that was created by being witness to your work.
When the
Muggles in our life ask why we glow with confidence, and move with a tired by
firm spring in our step, we can gaze fondly into the distance and think of the
artists of Burning Man.
We can once again be filled with the wonder of your work. And if they
ask what these magical artists were like, we can reply the same the Melanesian
man trying to describe the unimaginable abundance brought by another long past
John Frum: ‘’E look like you and me. ‘E tall man, ‘E live long.’
Your cargo
is splendid, your generosity is boundless, and your motives are beyond
understanding. YOU HAVE MADE MAGIC.”
Maybe I’m just
a silly old woman prone to unabashed displays of sappy emotion (or maybe
there’s no “maybe” about it!), but this thing gets me every time. I don’t really need this kind of validation
as an artist. It is its own reward most
of the time. But damn, it’s grand to be
informed so expressly that what we do matters to people. Even when quietly parked in the backstreets
of BRC, minding our own business!
So congrats
to Professor Peacock’s Medicine Wagon, and to Calliope the Wonder Wagon. Congrats to the Peacocks, and to my wonderful
husband who built the wagon I get to pour my creative energies into, and
congrats to me for finding my way here to this nexus of time/place/people that
allows me to have such precious experiences.
And a
heartfelt Thank You to the Necklace Factory camp, for expressing their
appreciation, even to the smaller efforts out there, which truly can be just as
impactful as the big dollar, fire-spewing extravaganzas. It was a delightful surprise and a highlight
of our Burn.
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| Photo by Mike Smith |
And with
luck, our “Award-Winning Calliope The Wonder Wagon” won’t become insufferably
conceited over this whole thing! ;)
