A page from the sketchbook of Man KCrew member Meredith Scheff, in which Fawkes, the Black Rock Station Crew Chief, lays down the rules.
click to see full-size image
A multi-talented artist and cartoonist, Meredith also blogs for The Steampunk Workshop.
Black Rock Station, Nevada – June 27th, 2009
Yesterday, the DPW workshop stood empty, a nondescript metal quonset amidst the low, gravelly scrub that rings the Black Rock desert. Today the workshop is full.
Full of people. Full of movement. Full of sawdust.
Full of activity and creativity and – to keep things balanced – a little destruction.
Full of music from a dusty stereo, doggedly fighting its hopeless battle with The Carpenter’s Orchestra: the bass drone of belt sander and shop vac, the baritone buzz of table and chop saws, the three tenors, jigsaw, Sawzall and drill, and the 30,000 rpm soprano herself, the trim router, ever the diva.
Full of intention, the magickal force necessary to resurrect an icon from the ashes, so that it may once again take its place at the center of Black Rock City, our dear dusty Brigadoon.
Full of the elaborate dance of lore, luck and skill that gives birth to the Burning Man.
Man Build 2009 has begun.
Rathskellar wants you to get out of their camp.
Get out of their camp and do something, that is. The organizers of Rathskellar, a new theme camp “risen from the ashes of Spike’s Vampire Bar“, are asking all of their members to volunteer with at least one other group at Burning Man.
As Rathskellar co-founder Chris “BoyChaos” Bishop says, “Many of us already choose to work with other groups for the growth and benefit of our city. Making this a requirement to join our camp was a good way to encourage more people to do the same, and to show them the value of such participation.”
Their experiment is already bearing great results. At two recent DPW volunteer work weekends, the Rathskellar crew showed up in force, contributing their sweat, blood and beers to the many tasks needed to prepare Black Rock Station – Burning Man’s Nevada work ranch and permanent staging area – for this year’s event. The Black Rock Desert also benefitted from their efforts, with Rathskellar volunteers helping to clean the playa of nails and other MOOP (Matter-Out-Of-Place) which is sometimes brought to the surface by heavy Winter rains.
“These work weekends play a vital role in delivering on Burning Man’s promise to Leave No Trace,” says Chris, noting that “They’re a lot of work, but they’re also a whole lot of fun.”
Head frame & lattice (Photo by Aaron Muszalski)
Black Rock Station, NV. June 23rd, 2008 - The cutters are nearing the end of their task, and are gradually moving on to gluing each ring or rib together with its mate. Thus assembled, each curved piece is meticulously hand sanded to remove any remaining imperfections or irregularities. Meanwhile, Krew members Dr. Glowire and Spyral have begun plotting out the complex angles required to create the Man’s iconic head.
Photo: Ben Stoelting. Baconeer: Meredith Scheff
All of the Man Krew’s work is based on a complicated algorithm.
[Note: My apologies for the lack of posts. A dodgy Internet connection has made updating impossible for the past few days. It's sorted now, and the story of the Man build will resume forthwith.]