At the 2011 Burn, a small group of talented video producers and friends got generous. As part of a public relations gift initiative, they undertook to produce video treatments of selected art projects. The idea was to give Burning Man artists the benefit of what Media Team members do well, and to give the artists new tools to promote their work, their teams and their dreams.

The videos on this blog have all been gifted to the artists, and are being simultaneously made available to you. They are an example of how unexpected generosity serves new friends in original ways, just as it serves art in new ways. These “Profiles in Dust” are a gift from the Burning Man Media Team to all artists and Burners, whether depicted in this collection of films or not.

We encourage you to share these videos with your friends, family, and others who are interested in Burning Man. It’s truly amazing what happens when talent and inspiration unite with the spirit of gifting.

We look forward to exploring the artwork on the playa in 2012.  And, without further ado, we present you with the “Profiles in Dust.”

“Profiles in Dust” Crew:

Justin Gunn—Supervising Producer/ Editor
Terry Pratt—Producer/ Director of Photography
Gregory Sklar—Co-Executive Producer, Management & Logistics
Michael Fasman—Producer
Tom Greene—Producer
Noelle Charles—Producer
Christopher Breedlove—Producer
Mike Hedge—Additional Camera
Ben Page—GoPro Cameraman
Timothy Palmer—Motion Graphics Design
Robert Gibbs—Logistics and Artist Relations
Colin “Donkeyboy” Creveling—Graphic Design
Atom Smith—Music
Shpongle—Music
Transcenders—Music
Tom LaPorte—Executive Producer
Meghan Rutigliano—Executive Producer
Jim Graham—Public Relations Advisor

No one is stirring in camp. It is dark and quiet. As quiet as things get, anyway. The dance still rages on in all directions, but it sounds faint now that you’re home again.

The stars have moved a lot. The wind is chilly. Your legs ache, and your eyes are heavy. Take a slug of water. A few drops spill on the dust. Take another swallow.

You pan through the darkness with your pale headlamp. There’s your tent, just like you left it, rainfly flapping around unzipped. Pop a squat on the fold-up camping stool that wound up becoming yours. Your feet feel glad.

Time to untie those boots again. The laces have hardened and caked with dust, as have your fingernails, but you manage to loosen the knot. You work the laces free. Grab onto your right boot with both hands and yank, harder, prying the heel off first. Feel your toes in your stiff socks slipping out. Peel away that sock and throw it in your tent. Forget about it for a few more days until it’s time to pack up and go.

Now the other lace, the other boot, the other sock. Your grateful feet feel the wind. You turn on your stool and slip into your flip flops, which live outside your tent flap this week. Don’t touch the bare playa with your feet, they said on the first day. You’ve done your best.

Twist the grooves, flip the lid, drink more water.

Remember dinner? Remember the pasta Val had just finished making when you rolled back into camp, sunburned, elated, knowing more about acupuncture than you knew there was to know? Your bottles were empty, so you refilled them from the jug hidden in the shade under the car. You put on your chapstick, which a woman in a top hat had given you that morning. And Val handed you a steaming bowl of green linguine covered in marinara sauce she was making all day long.

Then everybody started getting dressed, trying on different colors, painting faces in the side mirrors of each other’s cars, clipping LEDs onto various parts of outfits, then moving them. Everybody refilled their water bottles again. The sun set behind the mountains, and the neighborhood erupted with whoops and hollers and cheers.

Finally, at last, everyone was ready, and you rode off down the spire toward the thumping drums and blinking lights.

The night whirled by in song and dance and shouted conversations. Your party split and rejoined and split again, everyone pulling in different directions. You jammed for an hour under a geodesic dome. You were nearly run over by a Victorian mansion on wheels, and then you jumped aboard and rode for a while. You traded jewels with a man whose accent you could barely understand. You watched hapless players lose an impossible game, and flames shot into the sky.

And after all that, you’re home again. Another day and night blown away. Slug more water. Time for bed.

Unclip your lights, remove your bracelets and other charms, stuff them in your pack. Remove the glowsticks from your shirt pockets.

Get the graywater jug, your toothbrush and toothpaste. The bristles are hardened now, but it feels good and clean. Spit into the jug, try not to smell it. Rinse with clean, cold water from your bottle, spit again. Screw the cap back on and slide the graywater back under the car. A few drops spill on the ground.

Splash a little water on your face, wipe it with a dirty shirt. Who cares? You’re really fading now. Shuffle over to the tent. Yank on the zipper, yank some more until the flap gives way.

The horizon is starting to glow. Just a little bit.

The quiet pulses in your ears. Throw down your coat. Collapse onto the air mattress. You sink toward the ground, and it folds around you. Pull the dusty, woolen blanket over you. You made it. You’re home. It’s warm again.

You survived.

All photos by the all-seeing Scott London.

Burning Man has been a family affair from the very beginning. When Jerry James and Larry Harvey burned the first Man in 1986, their 5-year old sons Robin and Trey built a Burning Dog alongside their dads.

PHOTO: A baby-Burner art car. Photo Georgie.

Because the playa is a colossal day-glow playground, children feel right at home. Kids already live in make-believe worlds, so when they experience the magic of Black Rock City, it feels natural to the way they view the world. Tots know how to play and have fun without inhibition, hesitation or fear of judgment. Follow that Art car! As a parent, I know it’s really my reaction that colors my kid’s reaction to something. Us grownups can learn a few things from tiny folk and how they embrace the art and culture of Black Rock City.

Black Rock Scouts were trained by Animal control on how to humanely catch critters at the Billion Bunny March. Photo by Beta Girl

TICKETS AND LOST CHILDREN

Burning Man enthusiastically welcomes children of all ages to Black Rock City, and kids 12 and younger don’t require a ticket. BRC’s infrastructure supports the presence of families, and has an excellent record in regard to the welfare of children. There have been no incidents of child abuse, abductions, molestations or serious injuries. Should a child be reported as missing, Black Rock Rangers initiate a Lost Child shutdown — an all-hands alert goes out to all law enforcement and infrastructural staff, citizen alerts are broadcast on BMIR, and the Gates are closed for all traffic until the child is located – usually, within minutes. A parent or guardian with a lost child should go to a Ranger right away. There are Ranger stations in Center Camp and at 3 and 9 o’clock Plazas, and Rangers rove the streets in their distinctive khaki costumes – they are there to help.

KIDSVILLE

In 2001, Kidscamp (a family village) was established as a supportive haven for parents.  Now known as Kidsville, the village has evolved into a space where families can happily live and play with other crusty little Burners. The village makes wristband ID’s for all their child campers, creates mini-theme camps with kid activities, and has its own in-house Ranger liaison. It is a place for families to support one another and share resources and kid-friendly good times. By 2011, the population of Kidsville swelled to over 600. Any family can camp at Kidsville so long as they have children with them. Contact TK to join the group or get advice about camping with kids. The entire radial area from 5:30-5:30 is designated “Family Friendly.”

WHO’S RESPONSIBILITY? PARENTS, OF COURSE!

Even with safety precautions and family areas in place, the ultimate responsibility is on parents to keep their children safe (it’s printed right on the ticket). Burner parents don’t plan to let their children wander freely on their own any more than they do back home — just because we are Burners, it doesn’t mean we take a week off from being responsible parents.

Communication is key – parenting is hard on the playa. Don’t kid yourself – we all become tired and cranky out there in the harsh desert. Think through your childcare choices – do you have an alternate for when you need a break, a nap, or a respite? Will your kid be able to sleep in a city where sound never really does? Not every child’s personality is suited for Burning Man, and parenting on the playa is not for every parent.

DUST

Make sure you have read the survival guide and are ready to take on camping in the desert. Dust is one of the biggest challenges of parenting on the playa.  You need to make sure you and your little ones have goggles, wet naps, lip balm, face masks/bandanas, hats, sunscreen, water and heat-resistant snacks – every time you leave your camp, even for a trip to the bathroom.  Dust will get into your tent, into your luggage, into every thing you bring.

Plan costumes as survival gear in a harsh place. Zippers may break (tip: lube them with a chapstick!) and feathers will definitely fly away (so don’t bring them!). Prepare for the dust and wind. Dust will dry up noses and crack your hands and bare feet.  Skin care is important on the playa, so wipe your kid’s skin down every night with wet naps and apply healthy oils/moisturizers to the dry bits. White vinegar mixed with water will also cut the dust.  Most Burners bring vinegar with them to clean – everything—before, during and after the event.

TEN PRINCIPLES

While survival skills are key, playa-cation doesn’t end with sunscreen and water bottles. As parents, we can teach our offspring about the Burning Man culture, compassion, responsibility, respect, self-reliance, courtesy and generosity. Although it’s fun to dress them in pink fur, children are not playa accessories. They are part of the community, and have the same responsibilities that adults do. At the same time, kids are citizens of Black Rock City; they bring freshness and diversity to the playa, and they deserve the same respect and radical inclusion as any adult Burner.

GIFTING

A word on gifts – your kid will likely get more gifts than you do! This can be one of the fun parts of being a child at Burning Man – many people appreciate seeing young people in our culture and may go out of their way to reach out to your family as you walk the streets, sometimes offering gifts or treats to express welcome. Black Rock City is a place where strangers are encouraged to meet, interact, and share openly with one another, but it’s important to acknowledge that it is still the real world, and to talk about personal safety. Kids should be reminded that in any gathering of this size, there can be people present who do not have our best interests in mind, and that just because gifting is one of our tenets that doesn’t mean you have to say yes to “candy from strangers” or stay in situations that don’t feel right.

THE ANTI-KID BURNER

There are some Burners who believe children do not belong on the playa. As a parent, I absolutely respect those opinions. Those I’ve spoken to have their reasons; some come to Burning Man to get away from their kids, some have grown kids and don’t want to deal with somebody else’s snotty-nose toddler and some simply don’t want to have to curb their behavior in front of children. It’s totally understandable.

The good news is, BRC is a big place. Respect goes both ways. There is plenty of room for every kind of experience, and for the most part, a parent can steer clear of adult activities with only a little planning and awareness. Over the years, when I’ve bumped into something I felt was inappropriate for my son, I simply went the other way. For me, those moments are opportunities to talk openly with my kid about taboo topics that might not otherwise come up between us. It has kept communication open between me and my son, in a really positive way.

BABY BURNERS ARE HERE TO STAY

The baby-Burner population continues to grow every year — and not just because babies are conceived on the playa. Even newbies are bringing their young. Still, the math is simple: Burners + Burners = homegrown organic free-range baby Burners. Burners naturally want to share their experience with their offspring, and have the rare opportunity to grow model-Burners from the ground up. What better way to assure our culture, integrity and principals will be instilled in the next generation?

A child-free Burner recently told me that she appreciates the difficult job that parents do. Kids are the future for us all… so breeders are not just raising their own kids, they are raising her kids too.

Below are some resources for families. We’d love to hear about yours!

Newsletter from Larry Harvey, on children

Advice for Burning Man with Kids

Kidsville

A lot of people, it turns out, have been inspired in life changing ways by the gifts of Grace.

At the time I didn’t say anything.  As regular readers of this blog know, I only attend Burning Man functions for the open bar.  Andie gets that about me.  Still, in hindsight my silence that day was a mistake.

Andie Grace is entirely responsible for my taking up the volunteer work I have performed for Burning Man for the past five years – and the story of how that happened, while not entirely flattering, seems worth sharing in order to thank her properly.

This story also might be enlightening for those who think Burning Man’s organization works like a well oiled machine, and who think that the Org is always plotting five steps ahead.  It’s not.  From the very first experience I had volunteering for Burning Man, it’s been clear that rather than leading from the front the Org spends much of its time desperately trying to keep up with all the things the rest of us do.

The story goes like this:

I moved to San Francisco over six years ago and the only people I knew were brilliant artists who’d invite me to a warehouse party and then disappear for months at a time.  They wouldn’t answer their texts but then I’d bump into them during a Viennese waltz at an absinthe tasting and we’d hang out on the roof until sunrise.

Such friendships are only healthy as part of a balanced social life – and I didn’t have one.  I really needed to meet some new people.

I’d been to Burning Man before, and thought that volunteering might be a good way to make local connections, so I went to one of the periodic volunteer fairs they held back at the old headquarters.

There are many ways to help out at Burning Man, but most of them are for … how to put this delicately … “competent people.”  I am not one.  I call the landlord to get my shower head fixed;  I survive on cold Chinese take-out because my microwave outsmarts me;  Whenever I call up friends to say I’m thinking about killing myself they always respond:  “Yeah, sure, like you can use tools.”

So building roads or fixing buildings or making dinner for artists was just not a feasible option.  Burning Man’s dangerous enough already.  But when I saw they had a media team to work with the press, I thought:  “Okay, I can do that.”  I have a background in that.

So I walked over to the Media Mecca booth.

I chatted with a few people, they seemed nice, and the job didn’t involve power tools, so I gave out my email and was told they’d be in touch.  A few days later I got a form email thanking me for attending the open house and explaining that the media team was between Volunteer Coordinators, so things were a little up-in-the-air.  Meanwhile our first step was to go online, fill out a volunteer survey, and make sure to check the “Media Mecca” box.

I followed the link, looked at the survey, and thought:  “Well, that’s kinda boring.”

It was (and is) so … utilitarian.  So straightforward.  So blasé.  I mean, “Interests and Talents,”  “What Do You Do For a Living,” “Degrees,” blah blah blah.  What kind of questions are those?  Filling out a survey like that, I thought, defeats the whole point of going to Burning Man in the first place.

So I decided to make my survey a lot more interesting.

I admit it:  for a guy who can’t even swing a hammer I am enormously demanding.

Listed here, for the first time outside of the Burning Man database, are a few of my answers to the Burning Man volunteer questionnaire.  They are real and unaltered (except for formatting) :

———

Emergency Contact: 

As a Cynic, I believe we are fundamentally on our own.  As an alcoholic, I believe that I don’t have a problem:  YOU have a problem!  Taken together, these two principles suggest that, in an emergency, what are you doing talking about my sister?  If I weren’t so drunk I’d kick your ASS!

Medical Condition:  

It’s being described in detail in an upcoming issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.  Look for it in June!  If you bring me a copy, I’ll sign it for you on the page where something’s gone horribly wrong in my limbic system.

Current Medications: 

Does anyone at Burning Man ever answer this honestly?  I swear to God – some of these people would sniff medical waste if they heard that’s what the kids at the clubs were doing now.

Something else you would like to tell us:

My dream is to finally crush the Amazing Spider-Man.

He’s managed to elude me so far – it’s almost as though he has some kind of strange “spider-sense” that warns him of danger. And he is formidable – possessing the proportionate strength and speed of a human sized spider.  When I attacked him with monkeys he was able to leap to safety.

If only I knew his secret identity!  Then I could attack when he least suspects it!

In the meantime, I’m preparing a small army of the world’s greatest villains – headed by my chief minion “The Vanishing Gingersnap.” They include:

• “Rohrshach” – he could be a rabbit.  He could be a chicken.  He could be your mother!  There’s no way to tell!
• “Syntax” – He possesses the power to cloud men’s grammar!
• “Statistical Mean” – the world champion of “Bell Curve” based martial arts!
• “The Quantum Mechanic” – they called her “unmeasurable” at the institute!

I didn’t want to be a super villain.  But not everyone’s cut out to be America’s Next Top Model.  This is a reasonable compromise.  I’m only human.

 Degrees: 

Are you serious?  Do you want a transcript, too?  I got a scholarship, you know.  Oh aren’t I just the best!

————

That’ll do it, I remember thinking.  That’ll either amuse the hell out of them, or get me blacklisted.  There wasn’t one useful piece of information in the survey – except insofar as it demonstrated that I was the kind of person who would answer a volunteer survey this way.  Sometimes it’s good to go for broke.

I sent it off.  I didn’t hear back that day.

Or the next day.  Or the next one.

Or that week.

Or that month.

Or that fiscal quarter.

Or that year.

By that point, I’d long given up hope.  Sometimes these things just don’t work out.  And hey, I figured if Burning Man was the kind of organization that would be turned off by a survey like that, we probably weren’t meant to work together.

… Stupid Burning Man …

After almost exactly 18 months, I got an email.  From Andie.  “Well hello!” it said …

I was just perusing the Volunteer database over here looking to fill a role on the media team, and came across your questionnaire — and my first thought was, “Wow, how’d I miss THIS one the first time he came through? We must capture him at once!”

Andie suggested that this incident showed just how desperately the team really, really, really needed someone to fill that Volunteer Coordinator role she’d been hoping to get looked at a year-and-a-half-ago.  Would I like to do that?  Would I?

Thus began my five-plus years volunteering for the media team.

Despite its delayed start, Andie proved to be the perfect boss:   her gut told her I would do the job, and she trusted me enough to prove her right.  She left me alone when I was on track, but was always attentive when I came to her with an issue.  Not once, ever, did I feel like my concerns weren’t important to her or the organization – and while they couldn’t always solve my issues, she always made it clear that they were her issues too.  Most importantly, it turned out that Andie hadn’t put me in a leadership role on the team in spite of my being a freak, but because of it.  She, too, felt that competence wasn’t enough.  She never needed to tell me to have fun with this job – she brought me in exactly because she knew I’d go the extra mile to make sure that happened.  That fun is contagious, and the result has been a new batch of volunteers who enjoy the hell out of the work we do.

This is a rare combination of right decisions – one I’ve frankly never found anywhere else.  It’s so easy for a big organization to lose track of the fact that each volunteer has a unique experience that can’t be reduced to a checkmark or a number.  The best way to deal with people is always by being a person.  Andie’s greatest skill (among many) may be the way she brings out the humanity in others.

It’s worth noting that on the media team 5 years ain’t nuthin’ for a volunteer to put in and come back smiling.  I’m still a relatively junior volunteer:  a lot of exceptional people have been coming back for decades.   Andie’s been a big part of the that.

Many thanks, Girl of Action, for giving me the chance to step up and make a difference.  Thank you for taking chances on unusual people.  Thank you for the open bars.

I hope you know I’ve been laughing my ass off.  I have a feeling you do.

Caveat is the Volunteer Coordinator for Media Mecca at Burning Man.  His opinions are not statements of the Burning Man organization.  Contact him at Caveat (at) Burningman.com

Photo By: Lanny Headrick

Your immediate response is to yell, “What, are you freaking crazy?” Followed by a list of reasons from food to hygiene to exhaustion that it is not possible.  And ultimately, a seed is planted and you start to think what would a lifestyle based on your experience during that one week in the desert really look like.

Over the past 6 months I have visited 25 communities around the USA and Canada and I have found that living “like this” all year round is not only possible, it takes on a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Photo By: Purpleganda

Mike is moving into his first house with Cindy, the wife he met at Interfuse 3 years ago.  She is a yoga teacher and he is a carpenter.  They organize burlesque shows and donate the proceeds to a different charity chosen before each event.  They have no children but are already talking about it.  They are active with a local community of Burners and regularly attend all the major events in the area.  But they are spending more time organizing shows, helping friends with other projects, working on their art, and hosting small dinner parties.  The have only been to Burning Man once in the 10 years they have been involved with the local Burner community.  This is what living this lifestyle all the time can look like.

Jim can be cranky sometimes but man does he come up with some crazy ideas, knows how to get them done, and he sure can make you laugh.  Everyone knows that they can count on him for help and knowledge about how to wire anything.  His metal sculptures are amazing.  After years of challenges, he is now making money off of his art and gets to travel extensively.  About every 3 years — sometimes more, sometimes less — he takes a large piece out to Burning Man.   This is what living this lifestyle all the time can look like.

Photo By: Nightshade

The Groups are a group of intentional communities spread around the city.  The all work together to create larger-than-life events.  Each house has its own ethos, style and purpose.  The annual Thanksgiving day party at one of the larger houses has become a staple of the local scene.  Everyone living in this community has made art, music or performance a daily part of their lives.  Some have called these urban theme camps.  The housing ranges from a large farm house to industrial lofts.  You can count on an event happening in one of the spaces at least once a month and you know you have a place to do that performance you have been working on.  Because as much as these are living spaces, they are community spaces too.  This is what living this lifestyle all the time can look like.

As many attendees as there have been out to Burning Man over the years, there are ways to live this lifestyle all year round.  There are a few things you can do .

Photo By: Thomas Fang

2) Find a way to express your creativity.  This can come in many forms: production, cat herder, performer, aikido, or craftsperson to name just a few.  It doesn’t matter the form just as long as you are doing something.

3) Be willing to experiment with many forms of this lifestyle until you find a one that fits.  Not everyone wants to live in a 24/7 loft space with no schedule.   And it might not make sense to drop everything and start making a film.  Living a lifestyle based on your experience with a Burning Man or Regional Event is possible if you want.

The Temple of Juno, by David Best

This year, a record 349 applicants submitted grant proposals seeking almost $5 million in total funding. The grant committee did the difficult work to winnow down this list to 47 projects, awarding more than $700,000 – the most ever, and a $100,000 increase over last year. This year’s list of artists includes many returning artists, as well as some new blood. We’re also very excited to announce that David Best — Burning Man’s original Temple builder — will return after a three-year hiatus to build the Temple of Juno this year.

Thank you to all who submitted grant proposals, and congratulations to this year’s honorarium artists … we’re very excited by this year’s artistic offering. Here’s the full list of the honorarium art projects for 2012:

Almost — Michael Christian — Berkeley, CA — http://michaelchristian.com/

Arc Harps — Jen Lewin — Boulder, CO — http://jenlewinstudio.com/community-sculpture/the-arc-harps/

Bapteme De Feu 2.0 — Anton Viditz-Ward — Telluride, CO — http://www.totallyawesomewow.com/Baptemedefeu/bapteme_du_feu.html

Bicycle Arpeggio — George Rahi — Bellingham, WA — http://publiksecrets.wordpress.com/bicycle-arpeggio-a-burning-man-art-project/

Burn Wall Street — Otto Von Danger — Oakland, CA — http://burnwallstreet.net/

Char Wash — Christopher Schardt — Oakland, CA — http://schardt.org/

City Of Lights — Gary Long — Los Angeles, CA — http://burningtribe.com/

Dragon Smelter — Daniel Macchiarini — San Francisco, CA — http://www.macreativedesign.com/public/bm.html

EGO — Laura Kimpton & Michael Garlington — Vineburg, CA — http://laurakimpton.com/about/

Front Porch — Zac Carroll — Mill Valley, CA — http://www.thefrontporchandbessie.com/

Fusion Fire — Team What-Dat-Do — Seattle, WA — http://fusionfireart.tumblr.com/

Harmonic Fire Pendula — Matthew Dockrey — Seattle, WA — http://attoparsec.com/artifacts/harmonicfirependula.html

Labyrinth Of Colorful Cloud — Rob Fischer — Brooklyn, NY — http://www.gofundme.com/fvh50&aff=GFMse

Luminous Passage 2.0 — Predock Frane Architects vs. Anderson — San Francisco, CA

Lune & Tide — Sarah Cockings & Laurence Symonds — London, UK

Man Pavilion Pistil — Gregg Fleishman — Oakland, CA — http://www.greggfleishman.com/

MetaMorph — Chelsea Jenkins — Alta Loma, CA

Mooving Sculpture — David Boyer — Reno, NV — http://www.boyersculpture.com/index.html

Murmuration — Jeff Maguire — Santa Monica, CA — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0spySCNqfoM

Neverwas Haul — Shannon O’Hare — Vallejo, CA — http://neverwashaul.com/

Otic Oasis 2.0 — Gregg Fleishman (Artist) & Melissa Barron (Concept) — Oakland, CA — http://www.greggfleishman.com/

Perception In The Absence Of Reality — David Clay (playa name Egg Shen) — Seattle, WA — http://daveclay.com/blackrockcity/

Pier 2 — Matt Schultz/The Pier Group — Carnelian Bay, CA — http://photoscribbles.tumblr.com/

Pins — Tom Woodall — Kennewick, WA

Pyropodium — Noah Rosenthal and Nathan Clark — Cleveland Heights, OH

Remembering Cap’n Jim — Dave Power — Pagosa Springs, CO

Reno Star — Mark Szulgit — Sebastapol, CA

Serpent Twins — Jon Sarriugarte & Kyrsten Mate — Oakland, CA – http://formandreform.com/wordpress/?page_id=4444

Singularity Transmissions — Troy Stanley and TEAM RX/TX — Houston, TX — http://www.singularitytransmissions.com/

Star Seed — Kate Raudenbush — New York, NY — http://www.kateraudenbush.com/

Starport 2.012 (Cafe Portal) — Carey Thompson — Novato, CA — http://www.galactivation.com/

Sub-Sonarium — Benjamin Carpenter & Daniel Yasmin — Oakland, CA — http://www.benjamincarpenter.com/backbone-radiation/the-sub-sonarium/

Sun Bugs — Adel Kerpely — Brooklyn, NY — http://adelkerpely.com/

Super Street Fire — Seth Hardy & Site 3 coLaboratory — Toronto, Canada — http://site3.ca/projects/superstreetfire/

The Temple Of Juno — David Best — Petaluma, CA — http://thetemplecrew.org/juno.html

Tesseract — James Reinhardt & Scott Chico Raskey — Seattle, WA

Third Space at Burning Man — Alexander Rehn & Greutmann & Bolzern — San Francisco, CA

Through The Gorilla Glass — GUILD – Spencer Rand, Johnathan Wong, Andrea Ling, Patrick Svilans and Jonah Humphrey — Toronto, Canada — http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&mapID=6

Timing Is Everything — Charlie Smith — Atlanta, GA — http://www.howhowhow.com/

Transcendental Cube — Joseph Quinn — Los Angeles, CA

Transformoney Tree – Dadara — Amsterdam, Netherlands — http://blog.artasmoney.com/blog/transformoney-tree-burning-man-2012/

Tree Of Transmutation — Kevin Christman — Talent, OR — http://kevinchristman.com/

Universe Revolves Around You — Zachary Coffin — Atlanta, GA — http://www.zacharycoffin.com/

Yoga Robot — Scott Harris — Telluride, CO

Zoa — Flux Foundation — San Francisco, CA — http://fluxfoundation.org/zoa/

Zonotopia and the Two Trees — Rob Bell — San Francisco, CA http://www.indiegogo.com/Zonotopia

"Ouroboros", Photo by Ales Prikryl

Burning Man is not your typical festival … not by a longshot.  If you’re a first timer, you honestly don’t have any idea what you’re really in for — and just how great (or miserable) your Burning Man experience will be is directly proportional to how well you’ve prepared. Lucky for you, there are a LOT of veteran Burners who are eager to share their expertise with you to get you oriented so that you’re ready to take this incredible experience head-on and rock it.  They’re gifting their time and talents to help the greater community … because that’s what we do (Gifting and Communal Effort are two of the Ten Principles, after all).  Read on, and find one in your local area (they’re in no particular order). Also, you’re encouraged to hook up with your local Regional Network group and get connected.

Chicago: 
Late July
See burningmanchicago.com for updates

Portland, OR:
“Burning Man for Beginners” orientation class in May 2012, details will be posted at BurningmanPortland.com

Seattle:
Now in its tenth year, the Seattle Regional Newbie Picnic has something for everyone! Are you a newbie about to take your inaugural trip to the playa? Come and meet seasoned vets who can share all sorts of tips and tricks. Seasoned vet? Here’s a great chance to help out the new folks by showing off cool gadgets, sharing time and space saving tricks, imparting dusty wisdom and/or just bragging about your playa experiences. Food and beverages will be provided but note – this is an ALL-AGES, ALCOHOL FREE event. No really, alcohol free. It’s in a public park.

Date: Sunday July 29th
Location: Heart of the Burner Triangle: Judkins Park SW Corner. Point Your Map Location Devices Here: http://tinyurl.com/3hwgupq

Barcelona (Spain):
From Barcelona! This is Diana the Bcn RC and I wanted to let you know about our event that will take place on April 28th. It is called Barcelona Burning Bash (BBB) and we will highlight the Gifting principle. The idea is that every edition highlights one of the 10 principles. At this event we will give the participators a little taste of the Burning Man culture, starting out with “Dust Devils” a 45 minute documentary on Burning Man and several other videos including “Gifting” by Halcyon. We will also infuse gifting into the experience by inviting people to participate in interactive games with gifting-like interactions, and giving participants “love-notes” with transformational messages. The night will be blessed with many performances by dancers, musicians, dj’s, artists, and circus freaks. We will also have a costume camp and a “Ask-a-Burner” booth. This booth will be hosted by experienced burners where newbies can ask questions and sign-up for mailing lists. Our event will also focus a lot on our regional event Nowhere. Our intention is to inform locals about the BM culture and inspire them to participate in our community, Nowhere and Burning Man. have a look at the FB event page https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/events/344560798916741/

Monterey, CA:
Spring Fling Campout & Ranger Roundup
Fremont Peak, California
June 15-17
$20/per person includes camping on Friday & Saturday night – kids under 18 free with parent or legal guardian
$10/per person – day pass
During this campout there will be a Ranger Training, Black Rock Scouts Training and Virgin Workshop.
Virgin Workshop will be on Saturday, June 16, at  11a.
www.montereyburners.com to register for the campout or for your day pass.
Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/158449297608278/

Los Angeles:
We will be hosting three Newbie Orientations before the Burn. One in May, June, and July. Please check www.laburningman.com for specific dates, times, and locations. Events are also listed on our facebook page LA Burning Man.

Great Lakes Area:
Newbie Orientation at this year’s Lakes of Fire in Michigan. Read the WWW guide to find out more details and time and location.

Arizona:
Arizona will be holding its 9th Annual Newbie Orientation in July… dates being firmed up but we are shooting for Saturday July 14th. http://azburners.org/newbie.htm

The Burning Man culture – (What is Burning Man and who are these people)
How to prepare for Burning Man – (Lists, packing, travel, costumes, gifts,art, and self)
What to expect of Life on the Playa – (Self-reliance and self-expression, gifting economy, LNT, WATER!, HEALTH issues, Finding your way, the law, I’ve seen that before! and much more)
This event in intended for those who have not attended Burning Man or have attended once before but still have questions.

South Bay Area, CA:
Virgin’s Workshop at SoulFire Regional Precompression – June 9th at 11am
Practical tips about grey water and vinegar, as well as how to make enough shade to sleep in and whether it’s “sand” or “dust”.  Review of Burning Man’s 10 Principles, and what to expect at the Gate.  www.southbayburners.org/events

Saskatchewan:
Sat June 30th 3:00pm-8:00pm
Free Flow Dance Centre 224 25th St. W. Saskatoon, SK, Canada
It’s that time of the year! Its time for the annual SK Burner BBQ and info session!  Please bring food and drink to share as this is a potluck style event. In the spirit of Burning Man bring your own cup,plate and utensils please. Newbies, veterans and interested parties are welcome to this all ages event!   We will also be taking cash donations at the BBQ to go toward the 2012 SCORE  project — for more details on the project as it evolves, please see  our SCORE group here: https://www.facebook.com/ScoreProject2012

Las Vegas:
Join us for Burning Man Newbie Orientation/ Las Vegas
June 18th, 2012 @ 107 East Charleston Boulevard, from 6-8pm with drink specials at The Arts Factory!
This is a chance to meet in person with other virgin & longtime Burners from around Las Vegas as well as the world. There is also time at the end of the talk for announcements within our community. Come on down for a drink, meet some of your local regional Las Vegas Burning Man representatives and share your Tales & Tips for the playa!

North Bay (Cotati), CA:
IGNITEaN00b!  Tuesday, July 17, 2012. Come at 6pm for the potluck,  stay for the 7-9pm meet and greet at FrogSong in Cotati.  This is an pecha-kucha format event where veteran Burners get five minutes to wax poetic about their favorite playa tips and tricks, or just tell us all about that one time at that thing in the desert.  You get twenty slides which advance automatically, and a live mic.  We will invite all our North Bay n00bs to come out and meet the dusty crew and say hi, and maybe find a new camp or a project to work on.  Email northbay [Email address: northbay #AT# burningman.com - replace #AT# with @ ] to participate!

Vancouver BC:
Announcing the Burner Skool Series!
This year we are going with a bi-weekly Wednesday evening class format from May 9 to July 4, so that you can choose to attend the courses that are of interest to you, or attend all, or share the dates with friends & campmates and compare notes afterwards! We’ll break for the month of July and have a Burner Skool Grad & GVIAS Volunteer Appreciation Picnicon Wed Aug 1st at Trout Lake.
See full series & class curriculum: http://bit.ly/BurnerSkoolCurriculum
Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BurningVan/ & see the Events tab to RSVP for each class.
Check the www.burningvan.ca site for info and to join the BMV Announce list.

Oahu, Hawaii:
Ka Pilina, the Hawaii Regional organization, will be hosting a “Black Rock City 101″ info-gathering for first time Burners with 2012 tickets. June 16th in Ewa Beach, Oahu. Virgins & Veterans welcome. Contact ruby_holly [Email address: ruby_holly #AT# yahoo.com - replace #AT# with @ ] for details.

Photo by Ales Prikryl

We recently posted about Plug and Play camping to start a dialog about this new form of camping we’ve seen happening more frequently in Black Rock City. The Burning Man organization genuinely wants to know what our community members are seeing, what they care about, and what good ideas are out there around this to create the best outcome for the community.

There have been no new decisions made about how to respond to Plug and Play camps thus far. We have neither sanctioned them (and now “welcome them with open arms” as some have suggested), nor have we decided to ban them altogether. Your input on the blogs and forums, when civil, has been welcomed and appreciated, and is being incorporated into this decision-making process.

In order to facilitate this ongoing dialog, we would like to address a few key areas of confusion, so everybody’s on the same page:

1. “Adventure” outfits (defined as purely commercial businesses offering a full service camp experience that have no connection to our culture and community) providing “a Burning Man Experience” are not considered to be Plug and Play camps, and as of this year they will no longer be allowed at the event. Before we had a formalized process for making deliveries to Black Rock City (introduced in 2011 as a “vendor pass” then renamed to Outside Services in 2012 to better reflect the variety of deliveries we facilitate which help build the city) we had no way of identifying these enterprises. Now that we do, we will actively prohibit adventure businesses that are not part of our community and merely capitalizing on our event. It will not be a completely clean process the first year; there are innocent people involved who need to be considered and, as always, a spectrum of outfits that could fit into this category or may be of benefit to the community. They will need to be evaluated and treated fairly, but rest assured, we will not allow our city to become a revenue stream for these sorts of businesses any longer. We are calling on the community to help us with this effort by identifying operations and reporting them to us by emailing outsideservices [Email address: outsideservices #AT# burningman.com - replace #AT# with @ ].
2. There has been confusion on an issue referred to as taxation for Plug and Play camps. These are the facts: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently informed us that they will require any business in operation at our event to obtain a permit and pay 3% of gross revenues to the BLM, just as Black Rock City LLC is required to do. This has always been their right. They began enforcement with commercial air charters at our airport in 2011 and this year they will require RV and trailer providers to pay as well. This will not apply to small “mom and pop” style operations or one-time deliveries. The BLM is not interested in capitalizing on every opportunity, but they do have federal permit regulations they are required to uphold, and this allows them to hold larger commercial operations accountable with regard to our event stipulations and their commitment to environmental stewardship.
3. In the video it was mentioned that the Burning Man organization may be able to help support the efforts of Plug and Play camps. To be clear, the type of support being considered is intended to affect positive change that would help turn a “bad” Plug and Play camp into a valuable contributor to our community. (The community dialog has made it clear that there is a broad spectrum of Plug and Play camps ranging from potentially exemplary to completely unacceptable.) While the organization has never told anyone how to come to Burning Man and how to engage (we don’t feel it is our place to judge people on their fitness to be a part of this community, 10 Principles or not), we have created guiding principles that have been adopted, and we have created rules that have been enforced. We now have the opportunity to make clear to Plug and Play camps what the community finds to be unacceptable so we can create a higher success rate for camps not already “in the know”. We could, for instance, create a list of things like “While it’s helpful to create a private space for your personal community, creating a fortress of RVs is not acceptable.” (It’s easy to imagine how if you are not well-studied or currently part of our community, such a concept would seem foreign.)

It has long been a goal of the Burning Man organization to affect the default world, creating lasting impacts that change the way people live their daily lives. Creating unnecessary barriers to entry for the Burning Man experience is detrimental to that goal. While small-scale private commerce is an issue that needs to be addressed by the community – and many of these camps approach or cross the line of what is acceptable to many of us – it’s within our capabilities to educate and bring them into the fold so that our entire community may benefit.

We hope this clarification is helpful and we look forward to the continuation of a civil dialog around this topic.

Photo courtesy of Black Rock Kids

It’s strangely easy to be judgmental about the way other people raise their kids. The idea that a young person  is being raised badly brings the knives out.

Perhaps it’s because kids are innocent and helpless, so that defending them is one of the few truly noble deeds we can perform in this life.  Perhaps it’s because everybody’s got parents and everybody was raised somehow – so parenting is one of the few standards we have in common.  Or maybe we’re all just judgmental fucks looking for an excuse.  It would explain so much.

Whatever the cause:  Complaining about what other people’s parents are doing wrong is perhaps the most popular human pastime after making kids in the first place.

That’s probably why every subculture I’m familiar with has, at some point, had an existential crisis about their kids.

People in the Society for Creative Anachronism worried about how their kids will develop if they feel a little too comfortable with feudalism;  parents into BDSM have worried how much to disclose and how much to keep secret.  Is it okay to insist that your 10-year old son be a flag bearer who died at Antietam for three weekends a year?  Can you bring your kids to a Star Trek convention if you want them to grow up and enjoy a healthy sex life?

God, people are weird.

All of them are worried – and yet only the children of the rich are famous for consistently turning into horrible, horrible, human beings.  Makes you think.

These same tensions bubble up periodically among Burners. 

Different parents allow their children different amounts of exposure to our human zoo, and while some of us delight in kids others feel uncomfortable having them around.  Periodically people within our own community will come up with the bright idea that kids should only be allowed at Kidsville … or that there should be no Kidsville … or that there should be no kids at Burning Man at all.

These arguments never entirely go away, but they also don’t get very far because – let’s be honest – a movement that asks parents to choose between a party and their kids only gets to keep the very worst people.   We don’t want that.  So we incorporate parents into Burning Man even though many of us honestly prefer to keep kids at arm’s length.

Now Apache County in Arizona is forcing the issue by refusing to issue permits for the Arizona regional unless it is an 18-and-older event.  Whereas before our internal discussions about kids were mostly hypothetical, we are now forced to come up with a concrete position we can put to a government body:  how do we feel about kids at Burning Man and how do we want to explain it?

This could be hard:  there’s nothing worse than being asked “How do you feel about kids?” by the wrong person at the wrong time.

Nor can we really expect Burners to agree on an approach to parenting.  We can’t even agree on an approach to sound camps.  (Fucking techno.)  As I’ve suggested elsewhere:   Burners are not unified by much of a common philosophy or set of common motives.

But I do think there are two broad strokes we can agree on.

The first is that anybody who tells you they’ve got raising kids all figured out is a liar or a fool.

Seriously “mainstream” America:  how are your kids turning out?

Fundamentalists raise drug addicts and criminals just like everybody else;  gated communities have teen pregnancy and school drop-outs just like everybody else;  suburbs raise anorexics and alcoholics just like everybody else.  From Rousseau to Dr. Phil, from research universities to self-help authors, from public schools to private schools, more time, money and brainpower has probably been devoted to figuring out how to raise perfect kids every time than any other problem in human history short of “how do I get lucky tonight?”

It hasn’t worked.  Nobody’s got it figured out.  No matter what approach you try or rules you set down, your kids are probably going to be fuck-ups with unhealthy body images, just like you.

Which is to say that we don’t need to be defensive about the environment at Burning Man events.  Mainstream America invented the “unhealthy environment for kids,” and keeps it going.  Hey, at least at Burning Man they won’t be inundated by commercials.  At least at Burning Man they’ll be off their cell phones and outside enjoying nature.

But we do know one thing:  parents who are empathetically engaged in their children’s lives yet capable of setting meaningful boundaries tend (tend) to have better results.    Nothing else seems to work consistently.

Parents like that are the best arbiters of what their kids can take.  Hands down.   Anyone else … including Burning Man and Burners … should just butt out.

By all means, let’s not sell tickets to people underage – just as movie theaters won’t sell tickets to an R rated movie to teens and liquor stores won’t sell booze to kids under 21.  But individual parents can purchase their kids a ticket to see any movie they want, or serve them wine with dinner.  There are guidelines about attendance, but the state only steps in when it has actual reasons to think that specific people are unfit parents.

If it has such reasons, by all means:  it should present them to the appropriate authorities.  But otherwise it needs to stay out of parenting as much as possible.  If parents want to buy tickets for their kids, it would be arrogant and presumptuous of us … or the state … to presume it knows better.

I think that’s ground we can stand on.  We may have to.

Caveat is the Volunteer Coordinator for Media Mecca at Burning Man.  His opinions are not statements of the Burning Man organization.  Contact him at Caveat (at) Burningman.com

Heather “CameraGirl” Gallagher, Burning Man’s Technology Dominatrix (or “director”, in default-world parlance) will be speaking on technology and Burning Man at the MLOVE ConFestival in Monterey, CA, April 24-26, 2012.  MLOVE invites 200 thought leaders and innovators to discuss the powerful and inspiring potential of mobile as a catalyst for change and opportunity. Heather will be speaking about technology in Black Rock City, as well as how technology is utilized to facilitate Burning Man’s year-round production efforts.