JRS VOLUME #10; ISSUE #15
Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks
Volume 10, Issue #15: Special Edition: Art Grants Announcement
March 17, 2006
We are very pleased to announce Burning Man’s sponsored art projects for 2006, and we want to thank everyone for the wealth of interesting proposals that were submitted. This year we received 175 proposals, and we were able to fund 30 of these for installation on the playa. Some additional projects are being funded for the Pavilion on which the Burning Man stands, and these will be announced shortly.
We were very excited to see the number of well-thought-out, fantastic, and inspiring proposals, and it’s clear that there is a LOT of momentum for the creation of art at Burning Man. The 2006 theme, “Hope and Fear: The Future” seems to have tapped a deep creative vein for many artists. We would like everyone to know that we sincerely wish that we could fund all of the art that is proposed to us each year – but this is never possible. Creativity, predictably, exceeds our financial resources. Still, based on our conversations with those who we couldn’t fund, many of those folks are still planning to find a way to make their vision a reality on the playa. Keep your eyes on the JRS to hear more about such projects and find ways to get involved.
We awarded grants of $5000 or less to over half of this year’s funded projects. Nine artworks were funded at levels of less than $15,000. The relatively few projects that cost more than this involve larger collaborative groups. They generate community by the mode of their creation and by provoking large-scale public interaction on the playa. Overall, we’ve awarded over $400,000 in art grants this year, approximately the same amount as in 2005.
The group that oversaw this process included Beth Scarborough, Artists’ Liaison and Artery volunteer; Mark Van Proyen, SF Art Institute professor, Larry Harvey, Crimson Rose and Christine Kristen aka LadyBee. We study art proposals very carefully; if we have questions, we call the artists in order to discuss their work, sometimes asking for more information . We also seek the advice of several people on our staff who contribute specialized knowledge. Many of our concerns regard the safety and feasibility of projects, including fire safety, burn scar prevention, flame effects technology, digital technology, and engineering. While examining each proposal, we look for interactivity, overall impact on the community, and originality in form, content and meaning.
Here are the funded projects for 2006:
2piR by Nicole Aptekar, Reed Kennedy and Melissa Piercey, San Francisco, CA. http://thebluenight.net/2pir/
Big Round Cubatron by Mark Lottor, Menlo Park, CA http://nw.com/nw/projects/brc/
Burninator by Bill Codding, San Francisco, CA: A linear series of towers produces computer-sequenced patterns of flame visible anywhere across BRC, controlled by participants.
Burning Tree by Kasia Wojnarski of Carson, WA http://www.blackledgecreativeindustries.com
Cat’s Cradle by Tomi Paasonen and KunstStoff Dance Theater, Helsinki, Finland, New York, and San Francisco Participants will work with dancers to weave a cat’s cradle within four large-scale hands.
Conexus Cathedral by Gunther Jones, Dan Dunkle and the Conexus Village, Bay Area http://conexusvillage.org/art.html
Dachee by Greg Bard, Santa Rosa, CA A 24′ square pyramid made of burnt timbers emits mysterious lights.
Dragon Smelter by Dan Macciarini, San Francisco A 20′ mobile dragon contains a can-crusher and a smelter; here participants can make aluminum castings from recycled cans.
Duel Nature by Kate Raudenbush, New York, NY http://www.kateraudenbush.com
Exothermia by Vince Cearley and Andrew Sano, Oakland, CA. To be seduced by the beauty of things that may ultimately prove our undoing seems a fundamental human trait. Extinction by exothermia. Stone in love with our own doom. (fire and ice)
Facing our Fears by Sondra Carr, Glenwood Springs, CO Reach the top of this mountain by climbing perma-stone face casts: http://people.tribe.net/sondra/photos/a9ebc10b-4367-43c8-8b6d-4273aa94fe6d
Field of Sunflower Robots by Stefano Corazza, San Francisco, CA http://www.sunflowerrobots.com
Flame Dance by Michael Conner, Seattle, WA Participant-activated dance pads trigger nine smoke ring/fireball generators.
Hope Flower and FearTrap by Patrick Shearn of Los Angeles, CA The Flower returns to BRC with its fearsome companion, the Venus Fly Trap.
I.T. by Michael Christian of Berkeley, CA Climb and crawl your way up three curved tubular legs into an elevated central pod.
Inner Mind by Gary Stadler of Rancho Santa Fe, CA http://www.heartmagic.com/InnerMind2.html
Love and Dragons by Sean Sobczak of Los Angeles, CA http://www.sandmancreations.com/loveanddragonsproposal.html
Manic by Mark Woloschuk of San Francisco, CA http://www.bullettrainmedia.com/manIC/manIC.pdf
Manigotes De Esperanza by Pepe Ozan of San Francisco, CA Seven colorful surreal creatures, from 5′ to 14′ in height, surround a central fire pit.
Mantis by Rex Norman and Damian Janssen of Reno, NV. http://www.mutantvehicle.com/mantis.htm
Metaluselah by Diarmo Harkan of Dublin, Ireland http://www.blackrockburnerhostel.com/metaluselah/homepage.htm
Mondo Spider by Jon Tippett, Charlie Brinson, Leigh Christie, Brad Buss, Ryan Johnson and Tony Geluch, Vancouver, B.C. http://www.industrialus.com
Omagination by Peter Mathews and Ralph Jaszkowski of Eugene,OR http://tribes.tribe.net/omaginationinstallation?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5B9d8ee262-055b-4463-8705-fe3a8702ef2a%5D (or, try http://tinyurl.com/raqdc)
Serpent Mother by the Flaming Lotus Girls, San Francisco, CA http://www.flaminglotus.com/serpent_mother/web/
Spectre by Michael Matteo, Los Angeles, CA http://www.matteovision.com/Spectre_final.asp
Starry Bamboo Mandala by Gerard Minakawa, La Paz, Bolivia http://www.minakawa.com/bamboo.html
Sunflower by David Butts, Portland, OR This parabolic sunflower focuses sunlight onto its stamen, where consumer culture detritus can be melted.
Temple of Hope by Mark Grieve, Mill Valley, CA This year’s Temple is a complex grouping of tall white structures surrounding a central stupa.
Time Machine by Garreth Wilcox, Austin, TX Participants can view and record the past, present and future in this mobile art deco -style video kiosk.
Venus Eye Trap by Luke Egan, Bristol, England http://www.designsinair.com
Categorically, we funded:
Large-scale sculpture: 8 fire art: 6 mobile art: 6 light art: 4 architecture: 3 video/sculpture: 1 dance/sculpture: 1 inflatable: 1
A word on mobile art and funding: We define mobile art as sculpture that is moved by people power or an engine. If the sculpture is built over a car, golf cart, bus or van, the vehicle must not be visible. It’s all about the sculpture, not the vehicle. This is ONLY for funded mobile art; the Dept. of Mutant Vehicles applies different criteria. Seehttp://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/playa_vehicles/dmv_2004.html .
Congratulations to the artists! A full description of each of these projects and contact information will appear on our website in a few weeks.
Last year’s funded projects are listed here: http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/2005/05_art_funded.html .
Just a few of the many reasons we hope the next 169 days go flying by…what are YOU going to do in BRC this year?
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