A Free Mouse: September 2006

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Burning Man Article

Friends-
Here is a little article I wrote about Burning Man. I'm not sure if it will be published. But if you're interested in what the event is, it is my best effort to explain it...

-------------------------------------------
Burn Baby Burn
Creativity Explodes at Burning Man

By Sky Hornig

My friend Dante and I were on our way to get coffee. We pedaled our bikes over dry, cracked desert through a mass of naked or costumed people, while parachuters descended overhead. Out of nowhere, a man painted entirely silver darted past us on a silver skateboard. “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” exclaimed Dante. I laughed. It was Dante’s first day at Burning Man and he was bound to utter that exact sentence at least a dozen times a night for the next four nights.

Burning Man is a week-long festival in which over 35,000 participants gather in Black Rock Desert, Nevada to construct “Black Rock City.” The “city” is the collision of each and every creative mind present.

In it you find larger than life, interactive art installations—such as the 90 foot, coiled, fire breathing, fang gnashing “Serpent Mother” built by the Flaming Lotus Girls, a Bay Area women’s art collective. (The installation used nearly 8,000 gallons of propane.)

Roaming among the stationary art pieces are bicycles and art cars, or Mutant Vehicles. “Imagine giant Cheshire Cats. Or mobile disco parties. This year there was a gigantic Venus Fly Trap—it must have been over 50 feet tall,” says Jonathan Kleves, second-year attendee.

And, at every turn, are enormous domes where DJ’s spin non-stop.

“It is, at once the biggest art exhibition, playground, and party you could ever imagine,” said two-time participant, Betsy Winston.

Every participant is considered a citizen. The website explains, “Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play.” People dress in costume, or nothing at all.

“Pretty much anything goes here,” said Greg Snyder, in his favorite ‘Pink Trapeze Artist’ costume. “Yesterday, I danced with a man on stilts and three naked people.”

The Burning Man festival dates back to 1986, when Larry Harvey and Jerry James held a small fire ceremony on Baker Beach in San Francisco. Today, at the height of the event, Black Rock City is the third most populous city in Nevada.

“These people make the journey...to be part of an experimental community, which challenges its members to express themselves and rely on themselves to a degree that is not normally encountered in one’s day-to-day life,” states the Burning Man website.

This year’s gigantic installation “Uchronia” exemplified the collision of work, art, and play at Burning Man. An amorphous cavern, 15 stories high, constructed of 2-inch by 3-inch beams that ranged from 8 to 10 feet long, Uchronia became an all-night dance haven drenched in neon green light and electronic music.

Jan Kriekels, who funded the project, said the project began as a drawing on a napkin at a pub in Belgium. He said, “[it] is a message from the future. ‘Uchronia’ means ‘no time.’ We are all living in logical systems today…[this project] represents a more creative system…[it] will hold a lot longer than something created by an architect because it is organic. It is coming out of you.”

The homage to creativity required 100 miles of wooden beams, $250,000, and the help of 90 volunteers.

As the Burning Man principles explain, along with “radical self-expression,” comes “radical self-reliance.” At 4,000 feet above sea level, Black Rock Desert is a harsh environment. Temperatures can rise above 100 degrees during the day and can plunge to the 40’s at night. Common ailments range from sunburn to extreme dehydration and sunstroke. Participants are expected to bring all necessary survival tools.

“I never would have made it without the Gatorade,” said Amy Benziger, a first-time participant.

And what participants pack in, they must pack out. Burning Man has a staunch Leave No Trace policy. Volunteers return to Black Rock for up to a month following the festival to collect “MOOP,” or Matter Out Of Place, and return the lakebed to its natural, pristine condition.

“People take Burning Man very seriously. The most surprising part of the event is the sense of community,” said Winston. “It is a place free of judgment, where everyone is here to help out one another. There is no commerce, only gifts. There are no strangers, only friends. In many ways, it feels this is the way the world should be.”

Burning Man culminates on Saturday night with the “Burn.” The entire community gathers to watch fireworks erupt from the 40 foot “man” as he bursts into flames and finally topples to the ground.

Sleep deprived, sun burnt, dry skinned participants pack up their costumes and camps for the journey home—until next year. “This year, I finally understood why the greeters say ‘Welcome home!’ when you arrive,” said Winston.

Perhaps it is because in its guiding principle of immediacy, the website says, “[Burning Man] seeks to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers—No idea can substitute for this experience.”

Thursday, September 14, 2006

what's up

I've been getting phone calls and e-mails from people I consider to be very good friends asking me where the hell I am and what I am doing. When did I lose touch with everyone? So, for those interested, here is a brief update and recap.

Labor Day Week: Burning Man.

Preparation for Burning Man began long ago--last year really, when Betsy and I discovered how drastically under-thought our costumes were at our Burning Man debut. This year, when we sprawled out in my mother's laundry room with pink fur, purple velvet, sequins and other various sparkly objects. We cut, we pasted, we sewed (well, my mom did mostly)... we held preview fashion shows for Sally and Jim (my dad: "wow girls. It's like a steady regression, isn't it?" Regression? Are you kidding me?! Bets and I have made significant headway in our costume designing careers...)

So we packed up our costumes and a few nutrition bars and headed in for a week in the desert.

Betsy and I joined up with a group of like-minded costume-loving individuals--about 15 of us, aptly named the BetsySky camp. (whenever we lose one another, someone calls out BETSY!!!!! and the lost individual cries back skKKYYYY!!!) Our first endeavor was to build a cloud lounge--meant to be like the top of beanstalk. We laid sod (YES REAL SOD! which we watered every day with a watering can...), hung glow-in-the dark stars and a cloud mobile, blew up rafts and innertubes and covered them in soft sheets and topped it off with a BetsySky purchase--the inflatable Spring Fortress--meant for kids in a pool, but comfortably fits 3-4 grown adults for sleeping and/or lounging day or night. At night, it glowed in black light and WAS MAGIC...

Anyway, the whole experience is a lot to fit here.
A few highlights:

The Deep End: all day dance party, free drinks, and awesome DJ's. Drinking and dancing in the desert sun--logical and healthy? No, but aren't we all allowed a minor yearly indiscretion on our otherwise impeccable records?

Cubitron: I cannot explain this. It is like a massive cube filled with ping-pong balls, evenly spaced out. The balls have LED lights of all colors that make patterns that constantly change. When you put on Santa's Magic Glasses (those little paper glasses that split light into rainbows...) it is-- the most amazing thing I've ever seen...like travelling through a prism, 3-dimensional rainbow...

3-dimensional Chamber: We walked into this room and found Day-Glo Paintings on the wall, a strange little fountain with a face spitting purple water and various objects painted in Day Glo, all lit by black light. THEN WE FOUND THE GLASSES. Put them on and everything was 3-D. once again, one the coolest things I've ever seen.

Outfits: Betsy and I really redeemed ourselves this year. Our outfits were fantastic! Tutus, sequins, you name it, we had it. Our group dressed as nursery rhymes one night--we had a dish, a spoon, a little dog, a cow, bo peep and many others... the last night we were Superheroes-- WonderWoman, Karate Kid, She-Ra, a Viking, Mario AND Luigi, Fire Master (Betsy) and Wind Princess (me) -- thank you Mom for making our unbeatable capes that helped us fly quite gracefully that evening.

Tiki-la Sunrise Bar: my friend Jonathan's (who I met in Guatemala) camp (camp Bojon..."no job" spelled backwards) set this up, far out in the desert. We made it twice for sunrise where Jonathan set us up with 6 a.m. tequila shots (what a way to end the night and start the day...)

and last, but certainly not least, THE RIBBONS: Save for coffee and ice, you cannot purchase anything at Burning Man. It is a gifting society. This year, Betsy and I stocked up on those little award ribbons we used to get as kids. We searched long and hard for the proper recipients and here are a list of some of the ribbons and their respective winners:

Prettiest Costume Award: to Betsy Winston for her hand sewn pink outfit (see below)

Dancing Star Award: to various people whose names I don't know but really stood out on the dance floor

I Can Ride My Bike Award: to a man who had created a lounge-like bike with a nifty umbrella on top for shade. In return, he offered Betsy and I a peppermint patty shooter, which he happened to have on his bike..

Potty Training Award: to two men from Wisconsin who gave us directions to the porta-potties. They were driving around in a two-seater giant piece of cheese wearing cheese hats.

Great Artist Award: to me for the amazing Costume Trunk I constructed for Betsy

I'm Special: to a man on stilts, dancing his ass off without falling

I Like Myself: to Greg, our camp director

I'm Learning to Share: awarded for various acts of kindness. Such as giving us glow stuff. Or misting us with an essential oils misting spray in line for coffee.

Clean Hands and Face Award: to those who passed inspection

I Can Tie My Shoes and I Can Count to 10: to those who could

We ate a little bit. Slept a teeny bit. And emerged alive, exhausted, sun burnt, and creatively inspired.

Now: San Francisco

Have been here a little over a week. Managed to land a temp job (starts at 6 a.m.--whaaat??!!) Am still homeless, but staying with a very generous, patient friend. Realizing that my ripped jeans and smelly t-shirts aren't going to get me very far if intend to have a job that supports any kind of lifestyle and that I have no money to buy new ones. But, also embracing that it doesn't really matter when the mountains are a stones-throw away....

Last Wednesday I began Holistic Nutrition School--so if you have any questions about your dietary needs, feel free to contact me....

Betsy and I signed up for a 25 K up Mount Tam. Crazy, perhaps? It felt like the most sane decision of my life when we went for a training run along the coast line yesterday-- brown hills dropping right into the sea, along a trail that looked like it might lead your right onto the crystal ocean. I imagine running out onto the water, skipping over the waves to the place where it just fades into the clear sky... I said to Betsy, "I feel like I might be in heaven."

We've blown up our Spring Fortress on the deck-- so, while there are a lot of things to figure out for this next chapter, there is is the best place in the world to think, write, laugh, dream and imagine....

Missing your beautiful faces. many kisses and hugs to all...
sky 952-836-7620