From Brooklyn to Burning Man: An Artistic Experiment

2008-09-09T14:21:00-05:00

At the end of this past month, I left the humidity and concrete of Brooklyn to camp in the desert of Nevada for the sake of art and the American Dream. I had just finished my Summer Internship at the Storque, and with some handmade buttons in tow, I embarked on my first Burning Man journey.

["Altered State" by Kate Raudenbush: The structure looks like the Capitol, but is composed of white steel carved in the style of Pacific Northwest Native-American imagery.]

The Burning Man festival is a week long affair, where fifty thousand participants make the pilgrimage to the center of an otherwise uninhabited desert. Large-scale art installations that spit fire or provide a climbing challenge sit out in “deep playa” while the theme camps that compose the “city” hold bluegrass jams, tuna melt-offs, and post-modern breakdancing.

[Michelle in a mustache, watching a fireworks show at the Flaming Lotus Girls' piece.]

This year’s Burning Man theme was the American Dream, which translated to covered wagon art cars, political tepees, and Alexis de Toqueville quotes. I camped with friends of friends, drinking pickle juice with whiskey, eating dolmas, and building shade structures in colorful tutus.

["Dr. Rainbow" and Michelle contributing to a mural on our ride back from breakfast at The Shady Waffle camp.]

There are a few central tenets to the Burning Man community, such as a “gifting” economy in which I was gifted from strangers an orange peeler, a necklace, a bloody mary. Litter on the ground is called MOOP (Matter Out of Place) and is swiftly picked up by any passerby. No one is allowed to be a spectator, only a participant. At Burning Man, I was encouraged to hug strangers, contribute to sculptures, and make the place more beautiful.

[Giant night wire man sculpture!]

Everywhere I looked, I was inspired. These artists construct giant glowing ketchup bottles from which to serve the masses fresh (and remember, free!) French fries, giant pirate ship vehicles that glow on the horizon and blast James Brown, or bicycles pimped out in fake fur and EL wire. These projects were clearly labors of love. The only motivation here is bliss, and consequently the results were high quality, innovative, and affecting. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Etsy, in this collective joy of making things out of passion, contributing to a community, and believing that we can help each other do more.

[Michelle amidst Gary Miller's "Papover Rubrum Gigaxiticum"]

For more stories of the artistic and handmade experience, check out This Handmade Life.

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From Brooklyn to Burning Man: An Artistic Experiment