The ARTumnal Gathering
 

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Bently Reserve

400 Sansome St.
San Francisco, CA 94111

The Black Rock Arts Foundation invites you to the grandest annual celebration of our community’s vital spirit and extraordinary artists.

Once again, we gather in the majestic Bently Reserve to revel in support of  BRAF’s mission to inspire art, community and civic participation worldwide.

Enter into an enchanted world of abundant art, captivating entertainment, and tempting libations. Participate in interactive art experiences created by community visionaries.  Be the art!

Join us for our pre-event dinner for delightful fare, cocktails and auction.

Last year’s event sold out. Don’t miss out this year!

Ticket Information 

Artumnal Celebration

$35 Online presale
9:00 pm – Late
Includes an evening of featured and roaming performances, DJs, dancing, raffle, photography sale and surprises.
$35 presale online, $45 at the door.

Check out the BRAF ARTumnal Site for information about the fabulous music, art and interactive experiences

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW  

photos from the ARTumnal 2008

More photos from the ARTumnal 2008

And even more photos from the ARTumnal 2008

Artwork by Cory and Catska Ench

We had to be up in Reno for a couple of days, and we had the chance to squeeze in a side trip to the playa, and we took it. It seemed wrong never to have experienced the Black Rock Desert when there wasn’t a festival going on, and we were determined to rectify the situation.

Now the car is full of playa dust again, and it couldn’t smell sweeter.

Parts of the journey felt familiar. You felt the tightness in your stomach as you left the interstate at Wadsworth and headed out across the Indian land. There wouldn’t be any art or any music or any fire waiting for you at your destination, and all the amazing people weren’t going to be there, either, but it didn’t matter.  You felt the pull. It was just going to be you and the desert and the dust.

Burning Man has always had a quality of aloneness to it. Yes, you are surrounded by 40,000 like-minded souls, and one of the reasons you go is to feel connection and community. But still, there are times when you are alone with yourself, and if you haven’t felt that sense of being a single, solitary person, even in the middle of that  huge party, maybe you haven’t gotten all there is to get at Burning Man. People come to escape the loneliness, but it finds them there, too. Moments, in between,  it finds you.

There were no black Nevada Highway Patrol cars lurking around, but still you slowed down in Nixon and Empire and then finally Gerlach.  Yellow highway signs reminded you to be cautious, because cattle might be crossing the road. This is an open range, after all.

But even  the spectacularly gorgeous fall day couldn’t make Gerlach seem anything but desolate. There was no crowd at the gas station, just the attendant, who was walking out in front of the pumps, hands plunged into the pockets of his denim overalls, and he was kicking pebbles as he shuffled along. It seemed an act of resignation. “This is what my life is,” he could be saying. “It’s lonesome and dull, and winter is coming on.”

It’s 55 degrees, not 105, and although the afternoon will warm up a bit, there’s a chill in the air.

The desert floor  looked different in the late fall. The surface seemed smoother and paler, like the salts from recent rains had risen to the surface. There was a delicate crust,  like a water truck had soaked the entire site, and everyone decided not to walk on it, just let it dry naturally. The crust is light and flaky and easily disturbed. Fragile.

And it made you wonder as you stood at the place where there had been flags and cones to guide you to Black Rock City. Did we really leave no trace?

It would appear so. Random tracks led off in all directions at the entrance to the desert, but these were from the random and occasional off-roaders who reclaim the desert after we’re gone. Everything looked clean and undisturbed.

But before you take any bows for conscientiousness and cleanliness, though, you’d want to hear from the Playa Restoration crew, which spent so many long weeks after the event making sure that things were left as we found them. (And as the JackRabbit Speaks has noted, Burning Man did pass the federal inspection standard of no more than a foot of MOOP for every acre surveyed.) I did my own little survey, out where I thought Center Camp had been. I walked maybe 30 yards in a rough circle, looking for anything that wasn’t native. I found two very small pieces of black plastic, and a tiny silver bauble that made me wonder what kind of costume it had fallen off of.

Out in the middle of the playa now, there was only silence. No wind, no dust, just silence. Things looked as they no doubt have looked for thousands of years. Peaceful. Timeless. Beautiful.

It made sense to head out across the playa, following slightly-worn tracks left by vehicles much better equipped for the desert than mine. There are signs at every desert entry warning that the playa becomes impassible when it is wet, and you should take those warnings seriously. But today the conditions were perfect; there had been rain to tamp everything down, and now it seemed fine to be barreling across the playa floor, out past where the perimeter fence would have been, hitting a fast-for-me but still pretty tame 60 mph, watching the huge dust plume stretching out behind.

I went to the base of the mountain you see to the southeast of Black Rock City and looked for the railroad crossing. I knew that’s where the Trego Hot Springs were, and I knew that the Frog Hot Springs were over there too.  As I crossed the railroad tracks, I noted the shotgun spray on the crossing sign and remembered again that yep, this is the wild West alright.

I never did find Trego, but I double-backed and found the Frog springs. There were plenty of signs of use: A wooden ladder descending into the first spring, and a fire pit, and a table, and a beat-up old stove that had seen plenty of fires.

The water was clear, warm and beautiful. The nestling of trees surrounding the springs were turning gold, too, just like the ones outside Reno.

On my way out I noticed that someone had carved six-inch-high letters, deeply and seemingly angrily, into the permanently open wooden fence at the entrance to the springs. The letters spelled out  “homewrecker.”  I wondered about what had gone on there, who had hooked up with whom. But when I thought about the person who was blaming the hot springs for whatever had happened, I thought that the anger was misdirected. Whatever had happened didn’t have anything to do with the springs. My guess was that the situation was, as the health insurance people like to say, a pre-existing condition.

I tried to retrace my path across the desert, to go back exactly the way I had come in, but it was futile. There were too many random tracks, and it was easy to get waylaid. But there was plenty of light, and it was easy to figure out where I had to go.

By the time I finally reached the highway and headed back to Gerlach, the dust the car had raised had already settled. The desert was smooth and calm again.

Smooth and calm.  A good description of the overall mood. I’d had a couple of hours out there in the vastness, but now I wanted a couple of weeks.

Artists! The Black Rock Arts Foundation is now accepting grant applications for community-based, interactive art projects around the world. Apply now!

BRAFs grant recipients represent a range of ideas and interactions worth celebrating. Some of their grantees set out to create highly interactive, publicly engaging work in the spirit of the art experienced at Burning Man.  Others extend existing collective art projects, continuing the momentum and reach of their works.  Others still employ a valuable connection with the emerging Burning Man Regional Network, expanding BRAF’s geographic reach, while nurturing individual artists’ capacity to create works in and with their own local communities.  Seed and challenge grants given in this cycle help artists obtain further support.

Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

We finally lost ACE Junkyard to the ravages of an unreasonable San Francisco landlord. She won only on a technicality, after a long expensive battle by Bill Kennedy, proprietor extraordinaire of ACE Junkyard.

I hope many of you know the wonders of San Francisco’s ACE Junkyard.  If not let me clue you in to the significance of what we are losing.  Bill who is also known to some of as Billy the Junkman, Junkman or even Belinda, has been the purveyor of fine junk in San Francisco for over 25 years and ACE has been THE resource for playa artmaking in Bay Area for over 15 years.  Let it be known Bill has provided an incalculable about amount of funding for playa art in the last 15 years, in the form of JUNK – wondrous, glorious, re-usable, transformable, JUNK!

Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Over the years this junk has evolved into many ground-breaking forms of art.   Junk from ACE has been transformed into SRL’s machines, SEEMEN’s interactive work and Cyclecide’s pedal-powered carnival.  The list of artists doesn’t stop there. The following incomplete list of artists can all thank Bill for his uncanny ability to find that essential widget or for donating his  Junkyard venue to events like the famous Power Tool Drag Races: Flaming Lotus Girls, Rich Humphrey, Jarico Reese, Laird Rickard, Paul the Plumber, Big Daddy, John Law, Jim Mason, Michael Michael, Simone Davalos, Kimric Smythe, Shannon O’Hare, Sue Glover, Dan Das Man, Karen Cusolito, Scott Gasparian, Charles Gadeken, Kal Spelletich, Mark Perez, and Chicken John.

Come celebrate and say Goodbye to our favorite Junkyard on Saturday October 31st, Halloween at Cellspace 5020 Bryant Street. The Junkyard will be gone, but Bill remains and I’m sure he will figure out other ways to enrich us.

“The other side of it is…. well it was and is worth ever penny of it. The people, events, art, and most importantly to me the parts of myself that I found, and the person that I have become. A large part of who am now is because of the love and support on my family of friends I have made from this place.” -Bill The Junkman

Do you have a favorite ACE or Bill memory?

Sweetthang is the person who draws the lines in the sand

Take your plans and make them real.

For a lot of Burners, it’s a yearlong task. You plot and plan and meet and talk. You have an idea for an art car, and you wrestle with the logistics and the money and the know-how, and sometimes it comes out great and sometimes … well, it’ll be better next year. It’s an evolutionary thing. Same thing with art projects. Oh yeah, it was all going to fit together just fine. Except it didn’t. And then you had to adjust.

It’s like that for a lot of people in the Burning Man organization, too. A lot like that. And no one knows  it better than Sweetthang.

It’s Sweetthang’s job to translate the map of the playa, and the flags on the ground, into actual camp layouts. She has to adjudicate border disputes. She has to confirm (or deny!) where your theme camp begins and ends.

The task  has to be daunting. You know how hard it is to make what appears on your planning sheets actually show up in the desert dust. No, the DJ booth goes over HERE.  And it faces THAT WAY, not like this. And the sun showers go BEHIND the recycle stuff, not in front of them! Sheesh!

Ok, now exponentially increase the complexity of the undertaking. Imagine trying to figure out where it ALL goes, what ALL those flags in the ground are supposed to mean. Oh, the electrical wires are buried here? The spider box goes over there? Oh, then we can’t have the Airstream park like that. It’s got to go over here.

You get the idea.  40,000 people showing up with there own ideas about how it’s all supposed to come together, about where they’re going to set up, but the map says no. And you’re the person who has to figure it out. That’s Sweetthang.

Of course, things happen. Adjustments must be made. Because really, one of the best things about having a plan is changing it.

So the question is this: How’d you do? Did it all come together the way you thought it would? What did you learn this year that’s going to come in handy next year? Tips and tricks for playa preparation are most welcome …

Decompression season continues: Just a quick note to remind you that New York City Decompression is this weekend.  If you leave right now, no matter where you are you could still arrive in time for the 4pm start time this Saturday, but especially if you are in the area you should check it out.

For more information click here

I especially love the photo gallery on flickr

We stayed at my friend’s house in the Valley, we have known each other since the early 80s and are very close so I wanted them to know more about this big thing in our lives known as Burning Man.  We had dinner outside at their house, it was balmy, and then got in the hot tub, where it was like we were at a spa with a waterfall pouring over us.  What a luxurious way to start LA Decompression weekend. 

On Saturday off we went to “the cornfield” in downtown LA.  We had a blast, we walked around, Aiden’s favorite moment was dancing among the bubbles at Disorient, sat in the rickshaw, had some great food, watched the hoopers, and then it was time for them to go.         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     But Decompression was just heating up and it was time to make some new friends.  I was sitting in the shade and “some guy” (to the left in the photo) comes up to me, kind of gets in my face and says “I’ve made a Burning Man Movie and you are in it!”  Beyond Belief: Honeymoon at Burning Man

He goes on to say, “Didn’t you make Tara that year and she burned in a niche of the Man?”   That may be more than I remember about 2003, so clearly he was legitimate.  Their names are “Happy Lord Geoffrey” the co-director and “DJ Noj” who wrote the music for the film, of Graven Image Films.  So if you get a chance, you should check out their movie, who knows you might get to be in the next one.  

So at this point I felt like I had spent some time with my beloved friends, made some new ones and then CameraGirl and her friend Mark Roemer arrived.  CameraGirl is the head of Burning Man’s Technology Dept as well as calendar production and just all around factotum.   When I first started volunteering at Burning Man CameraGirl was one of the first people I met, so it felt great.  I had introduced my good friends to Burning Man, heard I was in a Burning Man movie and had run into one of the first people I had known on the Burning Man staff, and it was still early.  Then I ran into Vadym Vasylenko.  Vadym is one of those guys with a great big camera hanging from his chest, and we talked for a moment and he sent me these fabulous photos.  ENJOY!  

2009 MOOP Map (click to enlarge)

We’re happy and proud to share this glowing report, received from Black Rock City Superintendent Tony “Coyote” Perez:

“The vanishing of Black Rock City ‘09 was complete today with the passing of our annual October BLM playa surface inspection.  Roger Farshon was the BLM agent presiding and was deeply pleased to inform us that we passed well under the limits set by us and the BLM (those limits being less that one square foot of debris per acre of BRC city site).  Judging by his initial observations, Mr. Farshon was of the opinion that MOOP levels were lower than last year’s.

The MOOP map, which will be on display at Decom, was over all greener that last year as well. Especially Center Camp…!!  There were not as many red areas, but the ones that were the worst ever.  Fewer offenders are offending worse.  Don’t they know that they are surrounded?!

This marks the eleventh passed inspection in a row with a steady overall improvement as our event matures.

Special thanks, and all my love and respect to an amazing crew that toward the end had been enduring sub-freezing temperatures and snow, picking up litter for days on end, and kept their cheer and good spirits to the last.

Special thanks to my fellow Ops team members that kept the project on track and worked tirelessly, flying the ship through mine fields with just a few dings in the paint job. To DA the Playa Restoration Manager – he has become an expert in his field. To Logan, our volunteer coordinator for orchestrating and taking care of this amazing crew. And to the super staff of managers that each owned their tasks to the highest levels of professionalism.

I am not a person with shit-loads of money – but I am extremely wealthy in family, friends, and a community that truly is changing our world.  We are succeeding in getting an entire city to pick up after themselves – there’s hope for us yet!

Coyote
City Superintendent
BRC-DPW”

We’d like to add our heartfelt thanks to this hardy crew!!  If you agree, let ‘em hear it in the comments.

It’s easy to have mixed feelings about Decompression gatherings.

On the one hand, it always feels great to be digging out the playa wear and smelling the dust again.

Ah, the smell of the dust. Even if you’re on the anal retentive side and meticulously wash all your clothes and oil down the chains on the bike and run the car through the car wash three or four times, the smell of the dust rises up and bites you when you least expect it.

You turn on the defroster in the car and  plumes of the playa coming rushing out of the vents. Or you come across a scarf in a backpack, and it is still covered in a lovely dusting of white. Or maybe you missed one pair of shoes in the back of the closet, and when you go for Decompression footwear, there they are, just back from Center Camp.

Anyway.  Sunday was a day to dig out all that stuff, but like we were saying, it’s easy to have mixed emotions. Because after all the fun, and all the laughing and eating and drinking and dancing, at the end of it all you are not sleeping under the stars, and there is no Man to guide your way home. No. You are going to wherever it is you call home. You are most decidedly not on the playa any longer. And that always stings.

No matter. Decompression is a lovely reminder of the event, and for that we were all pretty happy on Sunday.

There were lots of clowns and stilts and fur, but maybe not as many blinkies and el wire as might have been expected. And you could buy food and drink. What a thing. And there plenty of shrieks and shouts from the reunions taking place all over the Dogpatch streets. It was a lot like Homecoming weekend, only without the football. A lot of your favorite people in the world were gathered in one spot again. Nothing wrong with that at all. Not a thing.

And the San Francisco venue has changed for the better over the years. Decompression used to be held in a parking lot near the baseball stadium, and while the square footage might have been bigger, it had no atmosphere at all. Unless you call macadam and hurricane fences atmosphere. Now it’s in a funky neighborhood, lined with trees and low-slung buildings. It definitely feels more home-y.

But one little question: Can’t we burn some stuff next year? I’m sure the fire department would hate it. And there’d be expensive permits and emergency crews and all the rest of the city rigamarole to contend with. But still. It’d seem only right.

Lots and lots more photos after the jump.

One of the lessons of the playa is that sometimes you find what you didn’t know you were looking for.

There’s a word for it: serendipity. Black Rock City may be one of the most serendipitous places on the planet. You can go off looking for one thing, but you come upon something that seems far more valuable than what you originally set out to find.

Maybe you went off to meet up with friends, or to hear a certain DJ, or maybe you headed to a class to learn how to tie up your partner. But you got sidetracked along the way, attracted to something that, as it turned out,  might have been far more important for you to experience.

Mystery writer Lawrence Block says of serendipity: “Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you’ve found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for.”

Basic needs can be taken care of that way sometimes: You set out for Center Camp in search of an iced coffee, say, and along the way you come across a pancake breakfast yours for the having.

Or you are going across the open playa at midnight, trying to catch up with the friends you haven’t seen for hours, and a small light catches your eye. You approach and find yourself standing at a martini bar, and you didn’t realize until that moment that a perfectly made, ice- cold vodka martini was in fact the exact thing you were really looking for.

Some serendipities can be more spiritual, more nourishing for the soul.

Tell us about yours …