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Volume 19, Issue #22 | June 25, 2015 
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ROUND-UP OF BURNING MAN WRITINGS:
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GET ME OFF THIS CRAZY RIDE!
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Guess what? Chicken butt.
Guess what else? Burning Man's around the corner.
Things are starting to get fast and furious now ... you know how we know? The printed Survival Guide for 2015 was plopped on our desk and we went "ohhh Jeez." And fresh off the binary presses, we've got the spiffy online version for ya too!
Read on to learn more about the Midway that will surround the Man (think last year's Souk with a helluva lot more greasepaint), and how you can get involved, formally or informally, or full-blown clown.
We've also got a collection of some things we've picked up from around the extended Burnerverse (and things that just smell like Burning Man) that we wanted to fry onto your brainpan.
Strap in for the upcoming onslaught of preparation editions of the Jackrabbit — that's the darkening sky you see off to the west. They're a-comin'!
The Man burns in 72 days.
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Welcome to the Midway
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This year, the Man will be surrounded by an interactive Carnival Midway, featuring booths created and staffed by 32 Regional groups and artists from our global community. There will also be two performance stages and other carnivalesque art installations, completing this hyper-immersive center of Burner-style carny madness.
What to expect? Games of chance, cabinets of wonder, costumed characters, sleight of hand, lion tamers, showgirls, bearded ladies, showboys, jesters, bizarre creatures, mad professors, mysticism and of course, clowns! Enter at your own risk!! And be prepared for soul-baring, self-reflection, silliness and schtick!
Regional groups and artists will be participating in the Midway from all over the USA, as well as Taiwan, China, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Canada, Argentina, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Japan and Russia. It will truly be an international circus!
To participate in the Midway on playa, all you need to do is don your clown noses and pinstripes or whatever you Burners are wearing and step right up to the marvelous menagerie of delights.
To get more deeply involved and to help host this fabulous experience, we invite you to participate in the Carny Corral, a welcome center and resource hub for the Midway. As a Carny Corral volunteer, you will take a more direct and spontaneous approach to getting people into the playful Midway spirit. Part street theater, part clowning around, you’ll escort visitors playfully to the various booths and let them run with it! Contact carnycorral@burningman.org if you're interested.
So step right up and immerse yourselves in our marvelous Midway!
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Job Opening: Burners Without Borders Program Manager
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In case you missed the news, Burners Without Borders (BWB) became an official program of Burning Man Project (BMP) on June 1, 2015.
BWB, born in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, has a storied history of facilitating global grassroots volunteerism and civic participation in everything from disaster relief to beach clean-ups.
Burning Man Project is now seeking a high caliber Program Manager to administrate Burners Without Borders. Please go here to apply — the application deadline is Monday July 6.
As part of this transition, Carmen Mauk, BWB’s founder and longtime Executive Director, will help onboard the new program manager and then continue her own community outreach efforts, including her most recent work on alternative currencies in Africa. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Carmen for her outstanding work over the years guiding and nurturing BWB to amass an impressive list of accomplishments, from Haiti to Peru, New Jersey and Japan.
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Job Posting: Director of Art and Civic Engagement
Together with Painter Executive Search, Burning Man is searching for a Director of Art and Civic Engagement to lead the staff in creating programs that elevate and support artists and participants as they bring Burning Man culture to the world. Please consider your network and send this opportunity along or contact us for more information. We welcome your suggestions and recommendations and appreciate your help in identifying potential candidates.
Reporting to the CEO and working with an established team, the Director of Art and Civic Engagement (Director) will lead the team in developing a support organization that collaborates with artists and participants in the creation of life-affirming, interactive experiences of art and civic participation. The team's work will build upon the previous work of the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF), Burners without Borders (BWB) and other services such as Black Rock City's art department.
This group generates opportunities for funding, technical support, collaboration and learning so that the collective knowledge required to bring Burning Man art and civic action into the world is accessible to all. By strategically developing relationships, hosting convenings and sharing resources, this department is a conduit of information, resources and support for those building Burning Man culture on and off the playa.
View the full position description (PDF)
Please contact Nancy Painter if you're interested in learning more about this role.
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Last Call for Remembrance Plaque of Names of Burners Lost: 2014-2015
Each year since 1996, an anonymous Burner has created a plaque to commemorate members of our community who have passed away the previous year. This tradition honors those who have participated in creating Burning Man and affected our Burning experiences.
This is a call out to you, our community, to please let us know of any Burners lost in the last year whose names you feel should be added to this year's Remembrance Plaque.
Please send only their name, exactly as you would like to see it appear, to remembrance@burningman.org. (Please DO NOT hit reply to this newsletter to submit a name.)
Submissions must be received by July 20 to be included on this year's plaque. Submissions after the 20 will be added to next year's plaque.
Please note that the plaque is displayed at the Man Base, not the Temple, where more elaborate and personal memorials are created by participants.
May their spirits move on to the eternal playa!
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Czech It Out … Prague Artists on the Playa!
Peter Bejger writes:
"Jakub Mierva of the Bambufonomat Project (Bamboo Element), funded by the Global Art Grants program two years ago, is sharing the wonderful news with us that their interactive musical and visual instrument for four players, as well as work by the Czech artists Jakub Nepraš and Linda Mikolášková, will reach the playa this year."
Read more on Voices of Burning Man
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Getting Your Bearings in Wine Country
Peter Bejger also writes:
"Reno artist David Boyer’s 2014 Burning Man kinetic wind sculpture Getting Your Bearings is now on display in Napa, California as part of the Napa ARTwalk public art program. This work is one of fourteen that will be on loan to the City of Napa for a period of two years."
Read more on Voices of Burning Man
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Meet the Woman Who Brought Fire Dancing to Burning Man
Graham Berry wrote this deep profile of Burning Man founder Crimson Rose and the origins of fire art and performance in Black Rock City:
"Often hailed as 'the godmother of fire arts' (she was the first-ever fire dancer on the playa), Crimson reviews conclave auditions with a panel of legends to select the crème de la crème for the ceremony. Year after year, fire performers strive just to be a part of her continued legacy by pouring their souls into their Burning Man performances so the tradition is passed with grace on to the next generation."
Read more on Fest300
(Photo by Steve Fritz)
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Vito Fun's Cheeky Burning Man Galleries
Vito Fun writes in the third person:
"Vito Fun has documented The Burn for the last five years. His street photography approach creates an interesting dynamic on the playa.
He recently consolidated the best of his photos into two galleries."
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Temple of Promise Needs Volunteers!
There's no better way to feel like a part of the collaborative engine that is the Burning Man community than contributing to the creation of its spiritual centerpiece ...
Our Temple this year — the Temple of Promise — is being built in Alameda, CA by a brand new team called Dreamers Guild. They are eager to welcome all who may feel drawn to bringing the Temple of Promise to life.
There are opportunities for people with specific building skills as well as those who don't yet have experience. Kids are welcome too!
Stop by the build site Monday through Friday, noon to 10pm or Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 10pm. You can find them at 651 W. Tower Avenue, Alameda, CA.
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Wanted: Volunteers for Center Camp Stages
Reneasy writes:
"Oh hey there!
Yes, you, the guy standing next to the mixing board! And you there too, the gal holding two tons of cables! And yes, you too — I know you're busy herding that bucket of cats, but set it down for a sec. Center Camp Café needs you now!
Join the Center Camp Café's Sound & Performance Team! Facilitate awesome and odd acts of exponential diversity, from ballet to magic and from circus to fusion.
Fill out one, the other, or even all three of the very quick questionnaires below (so we can find you the best fit), and within a few days you will be able to sign up for shifts!
Contact mulder@burningman.org with questions."
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SukSha Shabbat at Milk + Honey, Friday (of Burning Man) at 7 pm
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Yosef writes:
"Join Camp Milk + Honey Friday night at Burning Man to welcome Shabbat with ecstatic singing, creative ritual, and a hot veggie meal. All denominations welcome to join hands and hearts. BYO plate!
Come to our large dome as the sun sets; you welcome the sabbath while a sea of twinkling stars envelopes you, our public shade structures transforming from daytime misting cloudscapes to light installations. We fire up our sound responsive LED beacon to help guide anybody who hasn’t found their way, and our singing voices set it to a communal pulse of light.
After the service we guide you to our dining area and seat you at a communal bedouin-style table. We fill your cup, nourish you with a multi-course meal, and ease you into the embrace of a subtle sound environment. Later, once our souls and stomachs have been nourished, we transition into celebratory dance."
You'll find Milk + Honey's placement location on the map you receive at the gate.
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Life Cube Project Gifting 1000 Squares for Tapestry Wall
Skeeter writes:
"Create your flag, art, message, and vision. Become part of a collaborative community mosaic, sharing what’s in your head and heart with the citizens of Black Rock City. The canvas panels are FREE to the first 1000 requests! If you’re ready and willing to paint your canvas and contribute your art to Life Cube 2015 at Burning Man, use this form to enter your mailing info so we can send your free canvas."
Photo by: Christian Ardita
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How Do I Support a Burning Man Art Project?
So you'd like to help out with an art project, but you're not sure how. Well, you can gift your services, skills, time, resources, or funding. There are plenty of projects in need of assistance. Here's how to find them:
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Zendo Project: Harm Reduction for Black Rock City
We're thrilled to be able to share the Zendo Project's important work with you for the first time this year! Brad writes:
"The Zendo Project needs your help to fund its biggest year ever. For three years, Zendo’s mostly volunteer order of trained caretakers has been holding down a 24/7 safe space on the 3 o’clock side of Black Rock City for people to recover and be helped through overwhelming experiences. This year, for the first time, the Zendo team will build two structures, on opposite sides of the playa. Precise location information will be available in the WhatWhereWhen guide.
To lovingly provide this essential service to Black Rock City, the Zendo Project needs to raise $50,000. Can you help?"
Check out their Indiegogo campaign
(Photo from AfrikaBurn by Mike Suss)
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Straightedge: A New Way to See Your Planet
The people at Ardent Heavy Industries always come up with something wild. Get a load of this year's project:
"We're building a 2.7 mile (4.3km) straightedge, which you can use to see the curvature of the Earth. To make it a reality, we need your help. We're bringing it to Burning Man, since the Black Rock Playa is one of the few places in the world that's flat enough for this to work."
Check it out on Kickstarter
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Everyhere Logistics Is Coming to a City Near You This August
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This is right up the Burning Man alley, taking what amount to interactive theme camps on tour across America. Super great. Jonah writes:
"Every Saturday in August, a different city across America will host a Lost Horizon Night Market: an open source creative platform where artists create interactive experiences inside box trucks and showcase them in late night guerrilla pop-up exhibitions.
Everyhere Logistics is ten teams of artists — six starting from New York and four starting from San Francisco — who will travel cross country to the towns hosting Night Market, bringing their own trucks to share the Lost Horizon experience.
Our fundraising is to support the ten “critical mass” trucks from the East and West coasts. Each truck crew of 2-3 people (around 30 people all together) has committed a month to the project. The primary drivers of cost for us are vehicle rental, gas, food and lodging. Monetary donations will go directly to project expenses, and are fully tax deductible, as we are sponsored by a 501(c)3 charity.
Our Kickstarter is closing on June 30th. You can find more information there and all sorts of terrific rewards, such as a zine on how to start your own night market, snapchats from the road, truck ornaments, elixirs, headbands, dancing dog videos and plenty of in-person experiences for folks based in the Bay Area or NYC."
Check out their Kickstarter
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Find Your Own Way at Burning Man 2015
Dmitry writes:
"In 2013, these Russians brought 'Cradle of Mir' a replica of MIR space station (watch a video). Now they are coming back to bring you something greater, a stairway towards the stars, 'OWN WAY'!
This pentagram-shaped spiral stairway will stand as one of the tallest and most colorful art installations on the playa. Its esoteric symbolism represents humanity's striving for greatness and its illusive, transparent design pushes this year's theme to the edge and beyond!
Help our Russian comrades find their way from across the ocean to make 'Our Way' a reality at Black Rock City this year."
Check out their Indiegogo campaign
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Illumacanth: "Yes We Canth!"
Hot Metal writes:
"Illumacanth is a 28-foot-long, 20-foot-high sculpture of an enormous deep-sea fish charging up out of the ground; a depiction of extreme and sudden adaptation. It’s a creepily beautiful interactive installation, with spiky purple scales, glowing soft interior, and overhead flame effects.
We ask for your support in raising funds for transport, light effect systems, tools, and materials. Every donation is valuable and deeply appreciated. Your encouragement says that you believe in big and challenging art, and you want it to happen. We thank you for this: it really matters."
Check out their Kickstarter and learn more on the Illumacanth website
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Camp Hellnback Is Bringing Combat Veterans and Their Art to the Playa
Claymore writes:
"Camp Hellnback is bringing combat veterans and their art to the playa, to open minds and conversation about the effects of war on the souls of soldiers.
Art is borrowed from military and veteran hospitals, art therapy programs and individual artists from all over the country and our own Burner community.
The camp will also have two large installation builds; a memorial wall for Burners to write names and messages for loved ones who served in the military and a 12 foot art installation addressing the daily suicide of 22 veterans.
They will also offer open conversation about war from the soldiers' perspective and PTSD talks and tools.
After the individual sale, only five campers were able to secure tickets, mostly through their work volunteering for the event. But they are determined to follow through on their commitment to the artists and the hope of bringing some peace to our veterans on the playa.
If you feel a connection to this project, Hellnback is looking for more art, campers, workers for the art builds and repurposed materials. And are welcoming financial donations or Home Depot E-Gift Cards.
For the breakdown of Hellnback projects and to donate, please visit our GoFundMe page.
To donate or lend art or materials, contact claymore@camphellnback.com
Learn more on their website"
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Element 11: Utah Regional Burn
Joe Buck writes:
Utah's Annual Regional Burning Man Event, the Element 11 has a new home! Element 11 will be held this year at the beautiful, wild and aptly named Star Gazer Ranch, July 9th-July 12th!
The move to larger and less expensive location has allowed us to fund even more community art this year, and will allow us room to grow in the future!
You can find more information about Element 11 on our website. Please sign up to receive our newsletter, The Salt Shaker, to stay informed of important dates and upcoming events. You can also join our Facebook group.
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We were listening to ...
Will Butler — Policy (2015)
[because of Hrishikesh Hirway's Song Exploder podcast, which is the coolest.]
Four Tet — Morning/Evening (2015)
The Ethiopians, because Reggae. And Green Day, because grrr.
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