Burning Man at Night...
"Burning Man" has embedded itself into my life in many ways. For those whom haven't been, it's so difficult to explain the experience. My usual story is, that "Burning Man is a series of remarkable moments. Some of them are beautiful, some of them are hard, some of them are shocking, some of them are inexplicable. Take each one on it's own."
Every year it is different from all the others. Every year there are some similarities. This year was even more different than any other, for a number of reasons.
First off, this year I decided to really dive into Burning Man, and as such, I have spent many weekends and evenings for the last 6 months or longer working with the San Diego group (formerly know as CORE) to build the San Diego Wonderlust Arcade. I have been working at my company on and off for more than 20 years, and there have been some elements of it recently which have been dragging me down. I needed an infusion of meaning and passion in my artistic/creative space - and this project was a fine place for that. It was a "forced perspective" room, with custom color reactive wall paper, RGB LED lighting, 4 arcade cabinets which other folks took classic games and "burner-ed" them, and created new games. They also wanted some physical games - so I went about creating "Love Tester", "Simone" and Operation. Then, it needed custom control for the color of the lighting. Oh, and with just a couple of weeks to go before the burn, it was decided that we needed a big, flashy sign.
The project was interesting in that it was so different from my work. At an early meeting, the organizer said we're doing this, what skills do you bring to the table, and what would you like to work on? It allowed a wide interpretation of how to create and solve. It allowed me to refine old skills (aesthetics, woodworking (including with lasers), and programming) and stretch new ones. The group provided very positive feedback for the things that I created. And interestingly, instead of paying me, I paid to do it - both in my time, and materials. It was a gift which we were creating, together, to give to the citizens of the remarkable, temporary city, which so many of us call "Home". Between my regular work (and current frustrations), and the significant hours that I contributed to the project, I know there were some grumpy moments - and thank my family for their putting up with me.
I had already purchased tickets for Barbara and I to go, and a vehicle pass, but because of my work on the project, the group offered me a special opportunity: Early Admission to help build the project at Burning Man, and an Art Ticket and Vehicle pass. This changed the dynamics of the trip significantly. Instead of just being a partisipant in Burning man from Sunday for a week, it allowed me, and some of the other project volunteers to go on the Thursday before. This also meant that we would have to find another way up for Barbara - so I sold my ticket to our friend Scott, and offered that he could drive her up in our car.
I knew that I would have to take more stuff up there this year - in particular, a bunch of tools, and also some of the games, and parts for the still to be built sign, and also additional gear for the extra half week, and stuff for Scott's camping needs. So, I purchased a small trailer about a month before, which Delilah, Kelly, Scott and I put together. As if I didn't already have enough projects, I also decided to electrify one of the Trikes to make it easier to scoot around the Playa.
So, there were a lot of projects going on. There were also friends that were thinking of going, and couldn't or thought they couldn't, and could - there were camp divorces, and expectations, and all that emotionally loaded side of it. Then, there was the interesting pitter patter of little things that just weren't quite right...
Tuesday nights loading leads to Wednesday mornings Trailer imbalance leads to bent frame (bend it back), hitch looked to low in back yard (bought drop hitch), no hitch is too low (replace with original hitch), can't swing loaded trailer out from side yard behind RV (hitch up Subaru to shuttle), transfer back and forth (floor jack added to stuff to haul). We managed to get on the road only an hour or so late, and all was well until Mono County Sheriff pulled us over. Bad tail light on trailer (we had tested this the night before fine), He was a jerk, threatening to call in a dog team, but eventually let us go with just a warning. Tried to fix light there (no luck - though it was bad bulb). A couple hours down the road, went to a Walmart and bought a replacement bulb (found it wasn't the bulb at all - but an intermittent ground through the bracket after an hour or more of troubleshooting). Somewhere around about 1:30AM we stopped for dinner, and decided to stay the night in a Casino in Carson City. Early Admission is great for short lines and quick entry - and only and hour or so in Will Call Line.
We get in early afternoon on Thursday, thinking that the other truck, pulling the big trailer with the Arcade parts on it would be soon to follow. Turns out, they had their own issues and were about a day out. We managed to work on the sign, and get some part of that complete. I holed up in the RV and wrote software for blinking lights for the sign. The other guys that had come up with me in the RV, had most of their gear in the other trailer, so ended up sleeping under the camp shade structure. Thursday night the winds started.
Friday morning, much mayhem from winds. The large canopy across from us was intentionally lowered during the night, and holes cut in it to allow people to escape from their covered tents. Down the way, a 30 foot dome broke the rebar in the wind, knocked over a trailer, smashed a windshield, and fortuitously wrapped it self around a rental truck, instead of plowing through tents and hexayurts. Everybody finally accounted for, we head out to start the build, only to find that the CAD files that were sent us, which we had based the design on, weren't representative of the actual canopy under which the arcade must fit. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth, gentle negotiations, and finally, late in the afternoon, a resolution - they were to bring some poles to push the fabric off and clear the arcade. Back to camp again, I discover that the inside left tire of the dualies in back is completely flat. That's one of the two tires that I had just had replaced the week before... The good news is that with dualies, you can still crawl around with a flat -just slow and not far. I go to the Rangers to see if AAA is available to swap tire for spare. No luck until event opens. I at least get a pass to take RV to the build site around the man to haul parts and tools out. More sign building in the evening.
Saturday was the main build day - and also a nearly complete "White Out" most of the day. I brought the RV out to transport the carcass of the sign and games, wired, soldered, cut and assembled. That evening, we all went back to camp, and recorded the sound for the Operation game. Made a big pot of Beans and Span, which when sprinkled with flavored popcorn was a tasty treat for the crew, which we nicknamed "Crackerjack stew".
Early Sunday, "The Big Show" started - the main gate opened, and I had to move the RV and trailer
out to the outer rim where our camp was to be. Problem was, I didn't want to risk popping other tire, so had to find someone to tow trailer out and at least stake out space. Thanks Michelle/Abraxis :) Late Sunday, we finished. Updated the arcade machines, finished the wiring for the lights, installed all games, and finished constructing the sign. I had to build a lighting controller on the Playa for it. Had to rewire and debug on the fly, update code, and finally, it was done (ish). Ok, so I have to go back a couple of times over the next few days, because the sign wasn't part of the initial power budget - and was pulling more power than the rest of the arcade combined... Had to do some reqiring, reconnectorizing, crimping, trying out other power supplies and finally a solution...
Sunday night, Barbara and Scott got to camp, did some set up, and made dinner. So glad to see them, and thankful for their help!
It was the windiest, most harsh burning man that we experienced. My focus on the project took much energy out of me, and much time. After days of setup, seeing the joy and satisfaction that it brought to the people playing with it felt great.
Light wind...
Made some Tuna Salad Crackers to share with folks coming in, and of course had our potluck on Thursday night.
Enjoyed camping with Scott, even if the wind did blow him away early!
Some of the build crew
Playa Art
Somethings I picked up along the way...
Despite proclamations of plague like proportions, this was one of only 7 bugs we saw.
The bike ride out to tear down on Friday. Complete white out - barely seeing handle bars on bike...
We decided to head home early - turns out it IS possible to have Too Much Burning Man, especially when overtaxed, sleep deprived, wind burned, and sand blasted.. The trike, which I had electrified, fused its motor Wednesday night so that not only was it not helping, but it was actually dragging... And of course it did so when I was a mile + from camp, with Barbara in tow, in a head wind... So much for that project... When I contacted the Rangers about getting the tire fixed, they informed me that AAA isn't allowed on Playa any more - so there are NO non-emergency vehicle repair services. Fortunately, we were able to find a guy who's playa gift was to repair things - who had a 12 ton jack and pneumatic driver, to swap out the tire on Thursday. Headed home Saturday with an overnight in Independence CA.
Still recovering, but at least the tire is now mended (thanks Discount for honestly replacing the tire at no charge), Trailer officially registered at AAA, unloaded (thanks Scott), and at least some stuff put away.
Overall, as always, a remarkable experience. I won't do the Art Project to that depth again for a long time - it was just too depleting, and changed the whole dynamic to one of a provider, instead of a balance of giving and taking. Who knows, maybe we'll even take a year off next year... Or maybe not...
