Monday, October 27, 2008

Finally, a post where I write a little something....

So life has been kinda crazy the past month or two... I moved to a great new place, still in the same neighborhood. I have been working ALOT and really enjoying this show. This film is going to be amazing. I have been dating, that's been fun and i'm gonna leave it at that so I don't jinx anything. I have really wanted to do a post for some time about my big annual trip to Burning Man and either just haven't found the time.... or have felt somewhat uninspired to write. I'm gonna try to break that spell right here right now.

I had a blast, as I did last year, but this was a very different year for me. Much less of the group of friends I went with managed to drag their asses out to the Playa this time around. It was sad to not have them there with us, but all turned out amazing. It was a very different vibe this year, with generally people being more friendly and open. Last year there was a sense of tension and in some moments anger floating around the city.

So many of you may have heard me expound about the amazing art I've seen out there, and this where that happens... This trip is my annual march to the biggest art opening on Earth in my opinion. I adored to just aimlessly walk out into the night to experience what treats await.... and that's how I got my playa name finally.... "Sinatra" ......most people will think Frank, but no... it's Nancy... These boots were made for walking and usually clock about 10 miles a day when I'm out there.



Here's our camp. It was a little more modest this year as the boys took a break from "Our Lady of Schlongs" This year it was simply titled "The Red Scare" to fit in with the theme this year of The American Dream.



Mark and I were forclosed upon one evening and it seemed to spread all over our street. Its a sad state of affairs in this country when you can't even avoid such things at Burning Man. (My little contribution to the art of the place.... hehehe)



During a terrible dust storm our neighbors had some fun with a "Duck X-ing" stopping passing motorists who were trying to get the hell out of there during the storm. The looks in the cars ranged from extremely amused to some really pissed newbies who didn't know to just stay put!



Me and the boys up atop the obelisk the man stood on. This was a great evening!



The Ketchup bottle at the 4:30 plaza that served fresh french fries and ketchup every night of the burn. Such a welcome delicious treat after eating alot of dust each day just while trying to breathe.



The coolest art car we saw this year. Flames, a packed dance floor, and all mobile disco duck fun.



This was the oh so amazing "Tantalus" by Peter Hudson. I got some face time with him while it was temporarily broken down. I had trekked far far into that tundra to see the piece and loved his Zeotrope take on the "Golden Apple" dangled just out of reach all mounted on a spinning Uncle Sam hat. This piece blew my mind.



Thanks to Ian Lauder for the photo.

This is a pic of DreamYourTopia by the artist Dardara. I stumbled upon this around 2 in the morning one night and entered with little hesitancy... I was game. You were first harassed and approached by armed guard agents for the Checkpoint to your dreams. You then fill out a two sided form and get in more lines. Eventually they interrogate you, and if you are found to not be a robot, and an able minded individual, your passport is stamped and you are released into your dreams. This piece blew me away. What a visceral, hysterical journey with amazing twinges of what it must be like to immigrate in many ways. The hoops you had to jump through only grew if you spoke up, talked back, or stood out. Unnerving and really fun. My friend Mark said i'm the only person he knew who would travel into the middle of the desert only to spend an hour filling out a form and call it fun. Check out the digital tour below to get a taste of what they created out there.

1 comment:

Ernessa T. Carter said...

Zacki, I always have 0 desire to go to Burning Man, but this post kind of makes me wanna check it out. If only there were no camping and desert involved...