JRS VOLUME #13; ISSUE #11
Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks
Volume 13, Issue #11
January 22, 2009
OK, just in case you’re wondering, we are everywhere. And by everywhere, we mean Bangladesh. And the Sausalito Yacht Club. And the Pacific Northwest. Read on to learn more about some brilliant examples of Burning Man culture permeating global culture, and the line between the two blurring more and more every day. And there are some videos that you just have to see to believe. It’s a hoot.
In other news, we’re giving away money. Wait, what? Yes, you heard that right. Screw the economy, we’re GIVING away money. You want to make art for the playa? Well, Burning Man’s art grant cycle is ending soon — February 1 to be precise — and you should get on your horse if you want to be awarded funding for your playa project. Meanwhile, our sister organization, the Black Rock Arts Foundation, is kicking off their grant cycle to fund interactive, community-based artwork OFF playa (e.g. out there in the real world). Read on to learn more about both of these opportunities, and how to apply.
In case you missed it, tickets for Burning Man 2009 went on sale last week, and everything went very smoothly — yeah, except for that *one* part. We have information in case you’re curious what went down. Get your tickets if you haven’t yet, while the cheaper tier tickets are still available:
Finally, on a brief (and very rare) personal note, we have truly enjoyed the opportunity to meet in person all the random Burners out there who read the JRS regularly. It’s been very gratifying, because you folks are great. Thank you. So there.
Until next time,
-Will
(Associate Rabbit)
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LATEST NEWS:
+ 2009 BURNING MAN TICKET LAUNCH INFORMATION
+ BURNING MAN ART GRANT DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING – FEBRUARY 1
+ BLACK ROCK ARTS FOUNDATION 2008 GRANT CYCLE UNDER WAY
+ BLACK ROCK SOLAR GRANTED 501(C)3 NON-PROFIT STATUS
+ BURNING MAN ARTWORK AT IGNITION NORTH WEST
+ WHITE HOLLY TAKES GRAND PRIZE AT SAUSALITO YACHT CLUB “PARADE OFLIGHTS”
+ BURNING MAN PHOTOS AT THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, BANGLADESH
PARTICIPATE:
+ THE COMBAT PAPER PROJECT SEEKS CONTRIBUTIONS
PHOTOS & IMAGES:
+ ED HOFFMAN’S BURNING MAN 2008 PHOTO GALLERY
ADMINISTERRATA:
+ Want to unsubscribe from the JRS? Srsly? OK, here’s how: http://tinyurl.com/2rwqzx
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2009 BURNING MAN TICKET LAUNCH INFORMATION
Burning Man tickets went on sale last Wednesday, and we’re very happy to report that the great majority of our participants successfully (and uneventfully) purchased their tickets that day.
However, while the initial launch went smoothly, there was an unexpected glitch that affected some participants, and we thought those who were affected might want to know what was going on. So here ya go, in as plain English as we can muster:
Just over an hour into the launch, a software process that communicates between the ticket ordering server and the payment server slowed down under the crush of users, resulting in some processing failures. The ticket team quickly saw there was a problem, paused the ticketing queue, fixed it, and started it up again an hour or so later. During this time, some people in the queue weren’t sure if their order went through and, thinking it had not, ordered more tickets. The next day, the ticketing team reconciled everybody who was affected, including refunding any unintended duplicate purchases that were made.
The team has met to discuss how to improve the system for next year, including a more robust testing suite, and better user-facing communications, so that in the event anything goes wrong (as things can), users will be clear what’s happening, where their order stands, and what to do next.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject, aside from those legitimately accidental duplicate ticket purchases, we do notice some repeat offenders year after year who try to be sneaky and make multiple purchases of restricted tier tickets. We limit the quantity of lower priced tickets each person can purchase so that as many people as possible have a chance to get them … so we appreciate people NOT doing that.
Finally, you can learn more about how to resolve any ticketing issues you may have by visiting our Tickets FAQ here:
http://tickets.burningman.com/faq
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BURNING MAN ART GRANT DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING – FEBRUARY 1
The deadline for submitting an art grant proposal for Burning Man 2009 is February 1, so do get your proposal together and in to us! To learn about how our grant process works, and how to submit a proposal, visit:
http://www.burningman.com/installations/art_guidelines.html
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BLACK ROCK ARTS FOUNDATION 2009 GRANT CYCLE UNDER WAY
Create interactive artwork *off* the playa. Bring art into your community! Apply for a BRAF grant!
A little about the Black Rock Arts Foundation:
On the playa, we witness how interactive artwork can bring people together, change the nature of our interactions with each other, and challenge our preconceptions of what art can achieve. In 2001, several members of the Burning Man LLC Board formed the non-profit Black Rock Arts Foundation, with the intent to provide funding to artists year-round — off the playa.
The Black Rock Arts Foundation began a grant program to facilitate bringing this new approach of art-making into communities everywhere, and expose it to people who may never have a chance to experience the art at Burning Man first-hand.
Grant giving is at the core of our mission, and at the heart of who BRAF is. It’s always with great excitement and anticipation that we announce the opening of our grant cycle. Our applications for 2009 grants are now available on our website. Read more about our grant criteria and on how to apply here:
http://blackrockarts.org/grants
Please note that we do not begin to accept applications until February 13, 2009, 9:00am, and that the deadline for submitting a proposal is March 13, 2009, 5:00pm. We look forward to reading about your project!
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BLACK ROCK SOLAR GRANTED 501(C)3 NON-PROFIT STATUS
We’re very excited to announce that Black Rock Solar, whose mission it is to gift free solar power to institutions who would otherwise not be able to afford it, has been granted their 501(c)3 non-profit status with the Internal Revenue Service. More information on our blog:
http://blog.burningman.com/?p=3341
Learn more about Black Rock Solar, and how you can participate in their efforts, at their website:
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BURNING MAN ARTWORK AT IGNITION NORTH WEST
Ignition North West pairs up with the City of Burien and a local land developer to create a full city block art space dedicated to temporary art!
B/ IAS OPENING Jan 24th! http://www.interim-art-space.com/
The Burien/ Interim Art Space (B/ IAS) is a year—long experiment, combining and transforming the concepts of art, temporary green spaces, and community gathering.
The Interim Art Space at Burien’s Town Square will be kicked off by displaying Burien’s first major temporary art piece, “The Passage,” a sculpture depicting a mother and child walking together to share and explore life. This artwork was first created by Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito for the 2005 Burning Man Arts Festival. The figures stand a dramatic 30′ and 20′ tall and are fabricated out of recycled and scrap metal.
B/ IAS will occupy a temporarily vacant one—acre parcel of Burien’s Town Square project. This exciting space will not only showcase art, but will be an energetic gathering place for Burien’s citizens. B/ IAS will be a working canvas transformed by the efforts of both artists and the community throughout the year.
The art space will celebrate its opening on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 with the installation of “The Passage.” The project will conclude a year later when the sculpture is removed and construction begins on another phase of the Town Square.
B/ IAS is a collaboration between Ignition Northwest, the Burien Arts Commission, Urban Partners and GGLO.
To volunteer, create, or to work a plot of land on the B/ IAS project please email info (at) interim-art-space (dot) com or to be updated on future information on the B/ IAS project you can joinb-ias (at) googlegroups (dot) com
Dane Johnson
Director of Operations, KUOW FM and AM Seattle, KXOT Tacoma.
To find out why “Burien is the new Brooklyn” goto: http://www.interim-art-space.com
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WHITE HOLLY TAKES GRAND PRIZE AT SAUSALITO YACHT CLUB “PARADE OF LIGHTS”
Our good friend Dan Das Mann reports on this awesome achievement of essentially bringing Burning Man to … well … a very fancy San Francisco Bay Area yacht club. Think Caddyshack on steroids, and the caddies not only win the golf tournament, they pretty much set fire to it. Yeah, this is excellent. Dan writes:
“On Saturday December 13, 2008 the former Navy ship White Holly, now a privately operated scientific research vessel run by Captain Vince Backen, was entered into The Sausalito Yacht Club ‘Parade of Lights’ held in Sausalito, California in the San Francisco Bay. Boat parades will never be the same … the event was organized by Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito in collaboration with Jack Schroll and Black Rock FX (El Diablo – jet engine fire effect, Chrysler air raid siren, smoke generator and methanol mines,) John Behrens and Omega Recoil (upside down Tesla Coil), Epiphany by Dan Das Mann, Karen Cusolito and Pyrokinetics (Danya Parkinson and Jo Bard), Headless Point Studio, American Steel Studios, Flaming Lotus Girls (Mini Mega Junior – fire poofer), Camron ‘Teiwaz’ Assadi and members of The Crucible of Oakland California (flame cannons on the upper poop-deck), Bonfire Bob and over 150 others! All of this so they could have a good time for approximately two minutes … THANKS TO ALL OF YOU! Let’s do it again sometime.
The video from online adventures:
http://www.ola.tv/olamail/4/email4.html
The YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0IS6unl0XE
A video of the victory siren:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx4FcxDf0z0
Photo links:
http://flickr.com/photos/jdvpics/sets/72157611315589548/
One more random video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm-PL5kdf80
A little blog:
http://tinyurl.com/5cgkll
Dan Das Mann”
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BURNING MAN PHOTOS AT THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, BANGLADESH
Marti has let us know she’s showing her Burning Man photographs in an international photography exhibition in Bangladesh. Pretty cool! She writes:
“I will have an exhibition of Burning Man work under the title of Krazy Kumba Mela in the 2009 International Festival of Photography in Bangladesh. They will show the Burning Man work in their National Museum! –Pretty cool, all in all. Something very different from the Expo I just had at the Singapore 2008 International Festival, which was very well received, too. By the way the Singapore organizers chose one of my Burning Man photos (the upside down truck 2007) for their events poster and there will be a catalogue done in connection with the Singapore Museum of Modern Art.
About Bangladesh–
The Bangladesh Festival begins on January 29th and lasts one month. The theme is freedom and features a conference on Nelson Mandela and Noam Chomsky. This is an important event, as Bangladesh has suffered enormous repression in recent years and the EXPO is really oriented towards social commitments, peace, and political harmony in the world. Bangladesh is about 95 percent Moslem and used to be known as East Pakistan. Freedom of expression will be an important part of the expo and Burning Man certainly represents a unique opportunity to demonstrate that.
Bangladesh is kind of out of the way. There’s very little tourism and travel there is not so easy, but I invite people to come and see it. I hope to be present for the opening myself.
Best wishes for 2009. See you all in August.
MARTI”
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THE COMBAT PAPER PROJECT SEEKS CONTRIBUTIONS
Phoenix writes to tell us about this cool project, and request submissions to help make it happen. Says he:
“The Combat Paper Project www.combatpaper.org would like to come to Black Rock City in 2009. Begun by U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a way to use their actual combat clothing in a creative process to aid their healing, the project has expanded into veteran’s communities throughout the country. Paper is actually milled from their combat cloth to provide a medium for poetry and art. Books will be created in Black Rock City from combat clothing! Some will be burned.
While special emphasis would be to invite military veterans in this community, we would invite all Burners who wish to participate in this paper making process to bring an article of clothing that holds special emotional significance. You can create paper for your art, memorial, or as a gift. You can burn it or not. More info later.
If you are a veteran of any nation’s armed forces, you are most welcome to participate.
We will have all necessary equipment from scissors to beaters and presses. (A local portable beater would be a wonderful gift/loan!)
Core groups to provide logistical support and leadership are being formed in the North East and the SF Bay Area.
For many of the participating (mostly, young) combat veterans, this may be their first return to a dessert environment. Their safety, and yours, is paramount and we are well aware of the challenges. We would like to add to our team, a couple mental health professionals familiar with PTSD in combat veterans. A fine second would be a well-seasoned Burner or two, who happens to be a combat vet. Any of you awesome Rangers have interest?
From this bastion of safe space, these veterans and the BRC community will be empowered to alter the clothing they wore in combat, transforming the cloth into useful and collectible art. The entire process is evolutionary and healing. The sharing of this is one reason CPP wishes to come to Black Rock City in the first place.
Pictures from a recent workshop at Mills College:
http://tinyurl.com/bg7u8g
A dome we thought we would be able to rent will not be a reality. We are in desperate need of a 30′ dome or canvas structure of similar size for which we’ve a budget and/or love.
Trailer from a movie, by Sara Nesson, about Combat Paper Project:
http://web.mac.com/snesson/iWeb/iraqpaperscissors/Home.html
Thanks for your consideration.
Phoenix Phrom The Playa
phoenix (at) rainbowpuddle (dot) com”
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ED HOFFMAN’S BURNING MAN 2008 PHOTO GALLERY
Here’s a beautifully shot photo gallery from Ed Hoffman, documenting his 2008 Burning Man experience. Enjoy!
http://hoffmanephoto.com/burningman08/index.htm
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Soundtrack for this JRS: Stereolab, Beats Antique, Jose Gonzales, Amon Tobin