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Spark: A Burning Man Story (2013)
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[mysterious drum and flutes, ] [Drum and flutes continue, ] [MICHAEL MIKEL] I drew a line on the ground. And I said, "On the other side of this line, everything will be different." And everything has been different. [ "Feel the Love" by Rudimental] To a lot people who aren't here, this is just a big party in the desert. But really it's a place where you can explore the possibilities of what we would create on this world if we weren't so busy with our 9 to 5's. [TOM PRICE]: The place is an idea. And that idea is that people have permission to be whomever they want to be. That's so powerful and so alluring, that people go to the worst place in the world, just to get a little taste of it. [WOMAN]: Burning Man is all about "Why not?" overwhelming "Why?" Why not dress differently, act differently, think differently... why not? [LARRY HARVEY]: We use the word ethos, and ethos means a way of life. This is all about identity. It's hard to belong. And that's really, in creating a city here... talk about a powerful sense of place. A cosmic sense of place. [MARIAN GOODELL]: We had drawn all these people like moths to the flame. They were having these transformative experiences. But what if they were more than we could handle? [HARLEY DUBOIS]: People say, "What, you do Burning Man all year round? Which is insane, of course, because I feel like I do five or seven people's jobs. And if we do our job well, no one even knows we exist. They don't see the infrastructure. [CRIMSON ROSE]: There is no book on how you do an event called Burning Man. We sort of made it up on the fly. Is this going to work? Let's try it. [WILL ROGER]: I did have some advice from circus carnies and designers and architects and people like that. [GOODELL]: The ten principles are guidelines. You know, it's something to work with. It means... Everyone is invited to come and play and build and do. Helping each other find that little spark of creativity. It means being responsible for yourself, and also being responsible for others. I am holding the decommodification. Gifting. Pick it up, even if it's not yours. You brought it in, you can take it home. [GOODELL]: You know, we have very intimate partnerships, you know, the six of us. Michael Mikel met Larry in 1988. And then Larry briefly dated Harley. And then Crimson came along and brought Will in. And then I came along and was brought in by dating Larry. So then what you have are, you know, intimate relationships. [LARRY HARVEY]: I'm not really a joiner. And I like to stand off and watch how people behave. See I never had to join anything, people join me. You know, that was my solution to that problem. [TV static] [Man]: Your first... Well, I've had enough!! [man laughing] [HARVEY]: I really wasn't an artist. I had a very, very modest, small landscaping business. I was hanging out with a lot of people, all of whom were, in their spare time, writing novels or painting pictures or playing music. So it was sort of a Bohemian scene. We had a friend who was a carpenter, you know, and uh... I just called him one day and said, "Let's burn a man on the beach." That's all it amounted to. I think he may have asked me to repeat my statement. [drumming and jingling] And along the way, we called a few friends. [drumming and jingling continues] [people chattering] [woman] Stay back! [MIKEL]: In 1988, I heard about a group of people who were going to go down on the beach and burn this wooden figure. And at the time I was involved with The Cacophony Society. We did things like parties in unusual places, stage plays in abandoned buildings, We'd do pranks. [JOHN LAW]: Anything could happen. You don't know-you have no idea what's gonna happen. Not necessarily fun, or great, but it could be. [LAW]: Could be frightening, could be transformational, you just don't know. That's the spirit of Cacophony. [MIKEL]: We loved to dress up in all kinds of costumes. And Burning Man takes a lot of that from The Cacophony Society. [HARVEY]: Michael Mikel and John Law attended some of the beach burns. That crowd were connected to others who'd been out in the Black Rock Desert. And using it for artistic purposes. It sounded to me like an ocean you could walk on. [Mysterious desert music] [LAW]: We drew a line in the dirt and stepped across it. And it was entirely transformational. [ And it was primarily the environment and... and a set of free spirits that made it so. [HARVEY]: The diversions available were very modest in number and scale. [chuckles] [drumming continues ] [engine roaring] [gunshot] Real slow, perfect, real slow. Keep coming, right at that speed. Hold that pose. [people yelling, cheering] [drumming ends with cymbal crash] [cheering and howling continues] [welding sparks] [KATY BOYNTON]: I have a degree in child development. And I was a nanny for years and years. Burning Man definitely changed my life. Once I got on the playa, I remember, we hopped on our bikes. and I practically slammed on my brakes and went, "Oh my god. What is this place." I walked away from Burning Man going, "I need to learn how to weld 'cause I've got ideas." [MARCO COCHRANE]: There's so much work involved in it, that I needed people who were just tenacious lunatics. Katy was one of the many miracle people who showed up. And worked, just full-on, 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. [sparks buzzing] [BOYNTON]: When I was coming back from Burning Man, I had this vision in my head. I had this idea of this heart that had been exploded and pieced back together. There's so many things that break our hearts. And that's what we do. We pick up the pieces and we put them back together and we keep going. I want to take large pieces of sheet metal that will lay over top of it and be welded together, riveted together. In my head it's going to be about 12 feet tall. So, that's it. OTTO: How's it going, Avis? It is going very well, sir, we're getting a lot of work done. Okay. Are you helping with the muralists? Or are you out painting out there? Right now, sir, I'm just trying to locate a cigarette. Here's a cigarette. [OTTO VON DANGER]: I'm a veteran. I've put my life on the line many times for people of this nation and I really hate seeing it go down the toilet like it is right now. Wall Street has affected a lot of people in a lot of ways. And I figured, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right and I'm going to do it big. Burning Man is a great venue to build giant stuff and blow it up. [VON DANGER]: There's five buildings involved. They range from 50 feet tall to 72 feet tall, so it's a huge piece. Think about building a block in downtown in a major city, that's basically what we're doing out of wood. So this is the bull, this is going to go in the middle of Tecate Park, Tecate Park is the... is in the center of Burn Wall Street surrounded by its four banks and the New York Stock Exchange. And then up here, we're going to have two big glowing red eyes so at night, again, he'll have his big demon eyes glowing and, you know, to show the evil that is Wall Street. [VON DANGER]: To me, it's more a representation of, uh, to the powers that be of this is what happens to you if you don't fix things. When the riots start, everyone will go down to Wall... Wall Street When you don't know how to feed your kids, what do you do? Go kill the rich people and take all their stuff. I'm a Marine. I swear to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, there uh, Congressmen and Senators and President. These will be capped, and you can see the ones that are completed over there that are capped. I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker, I don't believe in everything Burning Man says is the word of... of the almighty or whatever like that. Like, I don't think you should radically include the hippie that shows up with just a backpack and no water, no food, and expects us to take care of them 'cause it's a gift economy. I think, everybody should carry their own weight, and enough to help the rest of the community out. I mean, obviously we are, most of the people go to Burning Man... Hey! Stop hammering! [JOHN LA GRACE]: I got married at 24. She was 21. And she at the time was a professional figure skater. I'd always tell people what she does and what I do it's the exact same thing. The curtains go up, the lights go on and it's either the Jon show or the Jamie show, you know, she'd come home with a medal, and I'd come home with a bag of money, but it was still a show. [LA GRACE]: Well, it's very disconcerting, in a one week period of time, to realize that everything that you've done in your entire life leading up to that point could potentially be wrong. The a-ha moment for me was, like, the burn of the man. And I saw myself in that image. I saw myself and my life and everything that I thought that it was supposed to be going up in flames. I lost my job in banking, I got a divorce, I came out of the closet. The last decade of my life has been in a constant state of change and the only thing that's been consistent in my life in the last 10 years has been Burning Man. Playa Skool is a Burning Man theme camp. And we're about 150 members strong. It was created as a school because we thought that our form of giving back to the Burning Man community was to create a platform of learning. Welcome, citizens of Black Rock City, is this amazing or what? [LA GRACE]: I was a founder of PlayaSkool, I've been leading the project management aspects of it, leading the communication aspects of it. We have water trucks that we have to rent. We have a 40 foot kitchen trailer. All of those things need to be transported to the Playa and picked up from the Playa. It's an overwhelming amount of work. [GOODELL]: Yes, we decided four yes... Okay... for crying out loud. [ANDIE GRACE]: Okay... four per person. This is hard... Okay so then the better way to do this is... Because that's actually what we should try to do here... [GRACE]: So the question isn't, "How does the system work?," maybe the question is, "How can I get tickets to Burning Man 2012?" And we need to change this to not say, 'Burning Man Ticket Lottery FAQ, ' this is 'Burning Man Ticket Distribution process FAQ.' Are you going to make these edits or do you want me to? [GOODELL]: There's a lot happening right now. We're trying to improve our infrastructure, we're trying to improve our processes, we're trying to grow the Burning Man Project and have it go out in the world and create networks and connect with people in different cities. You know, a lot of change. This is to help improve the ticket process... But I wouldn't want anybody to think that they're doing a quiz to prove that they're a burner. I've been helping produce it since late '96, early '97, depending on how you want to slice the numbers, so at least 15 years. Fifteen years? I mean that's longer than my cat, you know, it's longer than any roommate or lover I've had. I think most of the people here are on the media team, but you're the art team and you're part of art cars... [GOODELL]: And we all took on whatever was in front of us. I took what was dropped in my hands, which was public relations and communications. So Larry, this is the media team and... and friends. [GOODELL]: And all I wanted to do was help Larry and the rest make the magical circus happen in the Black Rock Desert. Because that was the most interesting thing that I imagined I could ever do. ...you know, why is it this, why is it pagan, or whatever it is that you hear that you think the group might learn from, please feel free to ask it. [WOMAN]: What are your thoughts on the expansion of Burning Man? Do you see where it could be a point where it gets too big and it loses the essence of what it is? Believe me, that... that question's been asked for years. I guess the question is 'Too big for what?' There's some pretty important edits here that are... There's structural typos, and then there's... [GOODELL]: If the most important thing about being a woman is to have children and have a family, yeah, I absolutely sacrificed having children and having a family for this. Hands down. But I take a lot of solace in the fact that what I've actually done is build a community that won't be abandoning me when I'm in my 60's or 70's or 80's. I'm pretty certain that, that's what we've done is build a community of people that are going to look out for each other. [GOODELL]: I don't have enough stress right now. If you two would look at me and ask me to write faster, it might help. You don't like me, do you? [BOYNTON]: When I got back from the playa I kind of put a post on Facebook, saying um, "I'm looking for work of any sort." "I will paint your room, I will organize your closet." "I will watch your kids, I will do your grocery shopping." "Let me know what you need." And I've been coming out once a week since then, working my way through her house. I was forced out of my house because I couldn't afford it anymore. But, I do feel like if I have to go back to couch-surfing and living out of the back of my car, I feel like I'm stronger and I'll be able to do that. Yeah, this is, this is, uh, it's difficult to talk about my fears around her. Just that... She's gone through some scary things. And she's gone through sheer terror and loss of everything, and, um, is still doing it. And, I don't want her to get hurt. [LA GRACE]: Listen... listen, you guys. The existential threat that we face as a camp, is the fact that we are... we're marked against the ten principles. And the one principle that we got really, you know, raked on was leave no trace. So, anyway, put some thought into it and let me know when you have a short list. - [Man]: Okay. - [Woman]: All right, guys. [Man]: Take care, everyone. Alright everybody, bye. Oh my god. You know, and it's like, I get anxiety. I get, like, really... like, here's when, like, I get all the crazy anxiety happens. Because I realize, like, holy shit, you know, like, we have this massive thing going on. That's global with people everywhere and so many moving pieces and, you know, I do, I, like... I get, like, tightness in my chest, because, you know, there's just so much to do. [DUBOIS]: You know, there's this camp out there that kind of did it all wrong. And I kept hearing about it from this place and that place and the other place. And I pieced together that... that it was one camp. So I'm convincing myself that I'm ready, yes, I'm ready. [DUBOIS]: When I met Jon, he was really open and I thought, you know, he could really help me get a leg up on something that could ruin us. Really, honestly, this could ruin us. And there has been a regular stream of actual... concern is the word about plug and play camps, that it is eroding our event. You know, I think for us, you know, Playa Skool was an experiment in what plug and play really is. We had 200 people, they wanted to come with a RV, have everything that requires that most people that come to Burning Man to really think through, they wanted it ready for them. [CHIP CONLEY]: I have been there seven times. I had my 50th birthday party there. I decided to do a gift economy to my friends. And so I invited 110 friends and we did have a vegan caterer. We heard Chip liked dark chocolate, so we made aged balsamic dark chocolate truffles. Our client asked if we could pre-decorate their bikes, not because they don't want to be creative, it's they want to get out of their car and... They want to get on that art car and they want to get... go do that sunrise, you know, photo shoot in the buff with all their friends. [DUBOIS]: The benefit of having these camps is that we're getting people who can influence the world. That can telegraph further and wider and better to get our message out to people who are influential and can help with it. The trick is, do they really get it? [CONLEY]: The last thing any of us want is a... a bunch of venture capitalists and Silicon Valley CEOs being all that Burning Man represents. But many of the artists' projects are funded by wealthier people. So I actually don't think that money necessarily itself is the problem, it's what you do with it. [GOODELL]: The electricity created by the Burning Man experience will change lives and everybody who comes there repeatedly is coming there for a reason- is getting something from it. So helping contain that and frame it-super fun. And the results from it are people connecting with each other, and people having hope, and having faith in other people, and trusting humanity and our purpose. And that's worth replicating, and manifesting, and keeping it going. [emergency warning sound] [Anchorwoman]: Well coming up ticket fiasco at Burning Man... why some of the most devoted participants may not get to go this year. [Anchorman]: Burning Man has been surging in popularity in recent years and sold out the last two years... Nobody expected the number of registrations that came in. So, you know, that's... that's, I think, why I can't get a hold of anybody around the office right now, because they're all trying to figure out what those next steps are. We are fucked. This is, like, the worst situation I have ever been in my entire life and I wake up every morning crying. There's nothing fair about this anymore. It's how do we keep our community from falling apart? [Anchorwoman]: The annual festival in the Nevada Desert switched to a lottery for its ticket sales this year. [Anchorman]: The critics say the new system will destroy the free-for-all spirit that Burning Man is known for. All those theme camps and the art... is that going to be there? Because a lot of people say they can't go now. They don't have enough tickets to go out and build their contribution. There's a lot of people I don't see all year, I only see them at Burning Man. It's a thing that our community has done all together. You know, what's fair? The fair is that a lot of people put a lot of energy into this event over the years. All of the thoughts about doing bigger stuff, which we had... we had plans to do, I'm not going to bother... why would I? Our camp is called MalMart. It was really beautiful. Our structure, I think our top floor was nine stories. Over 60% of our camp does not have tickets. It's pretty much impossible to put together a camp this year. [GOODELL]: Less than 25 percent of their people have tickets. That means our esplanade, our interactive infrastructure, some of it is five, seven, and ten years old. They're... they can't come and interact, they can't bring out their motorhomes, they can't even bring out their rider truck. It takes 10 people to unload. Fuck you and your stupid lottery system. It's really hard to take when people are just pummeling you with all of the weight of their frustration... Who the fuck do you think you are playing god over who goes to Burning Man and who does not? When you're afraid, you can't think forward, okay? Stressed.. People are panicked. A large section of the community is panicked. They are panicked, but we owe it to them not to be panicked. Absolutely, but it's almost like we don't want to listen to what they're saying. Right now, let's see, the top one on my screen is: "BMorg: Nice job fucking over all the people whose lottery request for two tickets were denied. Too bad you didn't save more tickets for theme camps and experienced Burners." See how many U's are in this "Fuck you." That's the whole comment. There, to my knowledge, hasn't ever been a crisis facing the community that appeared in the A section of the um... nine months before the event began. That's probably a good indicator that this is in a different category than previously. The story is newsworthy, but isn't that more of a testament to authenticity that people are searching for in the rest of the world than it is whether or not this lottery system worked? The fundamental value of this event is its social capital, its absolutely unparalleled accretion of social capital, which is being destroyed by the minute by people's perceptions that the values that they contributed to they contributed to... around a certain set of values, are not being upheld by some nefarious force. Well, what would you do? I mean, you can't just make the event bigger. Yeah, this is... it's like in our house every day of the week. [LA GRACE]: Obviously everybody is freaking out about what's going on with the tickets for Burning Man this year. The... the initial reaction was - - was absolute shock and complete frustration and, you know, flat out anger. And so then that heightened all the other little things that people whisper, like, "Oh, they're, you know, it's... they're... they're, you know, they're about money" and "It's changed" and "It's, you know, they're not what it used to be". You know, and so it heightens all the things that it whispered in the hallway and it... and... and it elevates them to a shout. If we can all get on board and create a semi-transparent process, one that might even say, that these groups.. Are the curators and are somewhat... managed. [STEVEN RASPA]: I've just got to say though, I'm very uncomfortable with the term curator. The thing that I love about Burning Man is that we haven't applied judgment to people's work. Everybody's effort is equally valued. Oh we totally apply judgment. [RASPA]: The biggest part of the experience has been the uncurated aspect of it. So if now we're... we're placing a higher premium on things that are judged by this small group of people, I think it sort of antithetical to the larger amazing spirit of of the whole thing, personally. So I... I'm saying that this is important but language-wise... We don't have a choice. We need another word. We're already curating out there. The camps themselves... ...Matt says you can't just join [ARGUING LOUDLY]. No, you're right. That's why we wanted to change the word is what you're saying, Steven? [RASPA]: Right, and I don't want us, then, how... how many... how much effort did we put into saying, 'we're not a festival, we're not a festival? ' We don't schedule everything, we don't curate everything. So I don't want us to become a festival. It's not as... as... as simple as putting butts in stadium seats. That works if it's just a spectacle, that's... but then people wouldn't feel the way they do. I mean, people want... people want to go to the Super Bowl and they're disappointed but they don't get irate, as if they had been betrayed by their parents, you know, as if it was an intimate betrayal. We've always faced existential challenges, you know, from the very beginning. This is nothing like the dread year of '96. That involved personal, deep, dark stuff. People are streaming into the circle. This is swordfish-people are streaming into the circle. We had 10,000 people and we got to that size that you couldn't manage, really, anymore. [fire burning, screaming, crowd yelling] My children, evil lurks amongst you. That's right, there are those amongst you who are not spontaneous, those amongst you who are not creative. Hard though it may be to believe, you know who you are. [crowd screaming, becoming rowdy] We'll talk to him after the show if we survive. [LAW]: We did absolutely everything we could to try and ensure that the event wasn't unsafe. And... and it was unsafe, we couldn't control it. You know, we burned the Helco Tower and that was a 32 foot tower with 10 gallons of gasoline aerating in the dry air. And I was watching the wind to make sure that it didn't shift because if the wind shifted, you would have been... I would have emulated. [noisy crowd] [explosion, crowd cheering] [shattering] [cheering and yelling continues] [GOODELL]: And that was terrifying. I remember... I didn't think I was going to come back. It was before I met Larry and thought I wasn't ever going to come back. I was terrified. It was definitely Mad Max and scared the shit out of everybody there. You keep people back. Move back as far as possible, we've got propane tanks right there that are too close. So there was no guiding force, no organization at all. So it was like a train tipping around a corner, like, about to go off the rails for days. [crowd yelling, fireworks] [flames burning loudly] [firetruck sirens] At, like, 6:00 in the morning, somebody who was high on something ran over a tent with two people in it and then hit another tent with another person in it. [HARVEY]: It became apparent that we were responsible for everybody's welfare, there wasn't anybody else. It was on us. So then we were de facto The State, which... which was a conundrum for the... for the... the hipsters, you know, what... what does an anarchist say to that? [raucous crowd, fire burning] [LAW]: I could see where it was going. It's like if we're going to keep doing this event, we're going to have to have a bureaucratic infrastructure, and, you know, spin stuff. And I can't-I couldn't do that. I couldn't be part of that. [HARVEY]: It was a question of two different visions of what it should be. Should it be civilized or should it be essentially a... a repudiation of... of order and authority? But if it's a repudiation of order and authority and you're the organizer and it involves thousands of people, what's that say for you? What kind of a moral position is that to be in? We could have just said, okay, we're done. That experiment was fun, it's done, it's complete. And we could have not gone to the other level, but clearly there was more to be had if you were interested in what we are now. Well, I didn't want to be a cop and I didn't want to be a bureaucrat and it was clear that that's what was necessary for the event to get bigger. Well life after Burning Man has been, you know, like 15 or 16 years for me. I keep my little office for my little sign business here, and I, uh, write here, and it is a unique building, they have giant neon clocks and neon letters that wrap all the way around the building on the 16th floor. So I keep the neon going and also work on the clocks. I took my son to Disneyland not that long ago and we had the time of our life. A wonderful time. But you have to accept the control factor that maintains the infrastructure of Disneyland. Same thing with Burning Man. It's a great event, but it's anything but an uncontrolled event. It's a controlled, professionally mounted, corporate-owned event, which makes money. [MIKEL]: During those early days that John Law's referring to, yes, there was tremendous amount of freedom. And we can always go back to that... to that small group, But... You're never going to go any further than that. In order for us to survive and get along on this planet, we need to engage everyone. We have to engage thousands, millions of people. kAnd I think that, for me, is the most important freedom. This is significant, it's a significant thing, it's important. We have to do it, we're giving our lives to it, it's that important. [BOYNTON]: My engineer ran into some major problems with the calculations that she couldn't get past and so she asked if I could find somebody else. So that's... that's actually kind of stressful for me because I'm... I don't really know how much it's all going to cost to build. So that part has been very stressful. So, like, tonight is to give me a good nest egg so that as soon as I know what I need to order, I can order some of it and get started. It's behind the freezers, the double freezers. This one's still... they're still dirty though. Okay. Do you have tablecloths? Yeah, she can't find it, we're using the blue ones. Okay. The thing is is that you have to have your Burning Man application in by the 20th if you want, like, placement and stuff, which I do. You do have to know, like, what kind of a footprint you're going to leave, like how much you're going to need to dig and all that stuff, which I don't know yet. So I can't even start. Can't even do anything. Can't order metal, can't do anything until I know exactly what we need to build with. Not that I have any tickets yet anyway, so that's still something that's up in the air. [inaudible conversations] [tinkling glass] [applause] Thank you all so much for coming tonight. I really, really appreciate the enthusiasm and support. This piece, um, it started a long time ago for me. And there was something that happened there on the playa. And it really really inspired me and I thought of this idea, And I thought, "You know what, I have to make this." So the final piece is going to be 12 feet tall and 14 feet across. There will be... there will be hammocks inside where you can go in and hang out and really feel safe and warm and loved inside of it. With this whole ticket thing, I mean, everybody lost a lot of faith in Burning Man. And I, myself, had to think about that and why I went to Burning Man in the first place, what made me fall in love with it. And what made me fall in love with it was the art was for everyone. And that's really important to me and that's what I love about the Burning Man culture, is that, you know, we all come together and we make this happen. [GOODELL]: Come here. Come here. What? Oh yeah, get me out of here. Come here, come here, come here, come here, come here. So this is a perfect day for all of us to appreciate each other. Very grateful for everybody and for our opportunity to be here together. And thank you for the creative act that sparked other creativity and inspiration and desire to be around each other. Who are you talking to? You. Oh, right, thanks. You're welcome. Thanks. Now let's carry on. Thank you, Larry. Community is a pain in the ass, because you have to deal with all kinds of drama, you know. And as you get older, you're kind of less patient with drama. But really, the reason for me to keep doing this is a very sound one. I know myself. And if I detest and quit this thing... it would kill me. My life would not have meaning. [stammering] I wouldn't be forced out of myself. I wouldn't be in contact with, with people. I would... I'd be just this wretch, I'd be this lonely guy. This is the best thing that ever happened to me. [QUINN PAYTON YARBROUGH]: DPW is the Department of Public Works which is the crew of volunteers that come out for a month prior to the event, set up the infrastructure, and then maintain it during the event and take it down and pick up all the glitter and peanut shells after everybody's left. The entire infrastructure of Black Rock City is stored here on the ranch, so I am responsible for the overall care and maintenance of it in and of itself but also the infrastructure that supports that. These are staff art cars... the DPW. They may not be as pretty and flamboyant as the other people's, but we're busy putting the event together and not so much time working on the cars. Just to create a... a line of 100 shipping containers straight is no easy task in itself and all these are... are pretty much guaranteed to be packed full. [YARBROUGH]: Okay, so this is a caf container, Center Camp caf. I'm seeing some tar pitch and tents and some bicycles and benches and tables and... and yes, we picked this one at random just now. [OTTO VON DANGER]: I want to get that done today. I want to be done with that damn building. Most of the crew has been here for about two months, two and a half months, some of them. Administration-wise, you can add another four months. When all is said and done, it'll be seven and a half months out of my life. Every one of their problems is my problem too. Because if they're not happy, then they're not producing, or they quit. It's a huge endeavor, I cut every corner I can, and we have to work at a pace that's fast and furious. You know, at least we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're a month out, we're about two weeks from hitting the playa. So this is the paint crew. Say hi, paint crew. Hello. Burn Wall Street! We were really surprised by the demand. The lottery system worked just the way it was supposed to. And what we found out is that a lot more people want to come to Burning Man than we expected. So we're in a supply and demand issue right now, and it's stressing the community as a whole. We're going to be offering some theme camps tickets to its core supporters. The people that it really takes to make sure that camp happens. The criteria we used to judge which camps are going to be getting tickets is based on first of all the 10 principles. Whether you fully embraced the 10 principles... If you take a collaborative group and randomize who gets to go, you break down the entire purpose of the collaboration. And then people don't trust their membership in the collaboration. And that sucks. We are hell-bent in doing what we do best, which is finding really good solutions to problems that other people might just walk away from. Because this is our community. And everyone in our community is valuable. And we're going to take the coil, Katy, back over to... Oh god, we are a week and a half out from Burning Man, a week from when we pack up and leave. I don't like talking about it 'cause it freaks me out, but we're going to be fine. Oh my god. Let's put the pump up through the square, the rectangle, please. We are putting on the first two heart-shaped ribs of the interior structure, which there will be a total of six of them, so these are the first two of the largest ones. So this is... this is a big day. Luckily, I have a really good crew of people, volunteers and such, that keep showing up every day, so we have extra pairs of hands and that's been critical. There we go. There we go. Wait that needs to stop. The breathing deeply and yeah. Watch your step on those things, Jenny. Usually every year, I mean, we get a group of us and we come down to Haight and kind of kick off our... our adventure down here looking for costumes and whatnot, so... Look, it doesn't matter how I dress up, I always end up looking like Bea Arthur. That's adjustable. That's a good thing, yeah. Medium doesn't work, I think I need large. Woohoo! I've got a little kudunkadunk I got to get rid of. [WILL ROGER]: We're at the Black Rock city center where the Man is going to stand in the 2012 event. And we're probably within a few feet of where the Man is going to stand. I was a dreamer. Once I was a dreamer. I thought I could be an artist and I opened up a studio in Oakland. And Crimson saw one of the ads, and it's a self-portrait of me with a werewolf mask on holding a glass dildo. [CRIMSON ROSE]: I was immediately drawn to it. Yeah, so we finally decided that after 19 years, we're going to get married on the playa. We thought that that would be appropriate for us, for our wedding. [ILO KRATINS]: This is our... our Burning Man effigy. It's made of a little more than 400 pieces. It's about 35 feet tall, it weighs approximately 3,000 pounds. We have a crew of 20 to 25 people. It takes us about six days from start to finish from a pile of lumber and plywood. The procedures for making everything are put together in people's minds and passed down as sort of an oral history each year because there's a definite way that this has to go together in order for it to go together easily. They say, "Build it, burn it, repeat as necessary." [ROSE]: It's basically a bunch of wood that's nailed together. And I don't know if it's a child-parent relationship or it's something much bigger than ourselves that is a relationship that really is about drawing you to the man. But for me, it's more psychological and subconscious. Much deeper. I don't know if I'll ever know. I mean, maybe that's the reason why we don't tell you what it means, we want you to figure that out for yourself. Oh no. Oh guys that's even more sacrilegious. No clown nose on the man! Right now, this is the Black Rock Desert, but as soon as you break the bottle of champagne it's Black Rock City. It's the city that we build, 2012. Mr. Will Roger, cofounder of DPW, actually the founder-founder of DPW, my best friend for the longest time, I love you, Will. [cheering, applause] You still got the touch. So this is my 18th burn. The real thing begins in this moment. So what we have this year coming is 60,000 people and those people are all going to be affected. You people here today are the people from this moment on that creates the framework and the cauldron that will cook their souls. [cheering] Okay? You're... you're creating that cauldron. And so I... I hand this off... I hand this spike, the city, everything to you, it's dedicated to you and this moment going forward and the effect it will have on the world. [cheering, clapping] What's happening is we're setting the trucks into place right now. They're trying to square it. And this is our boss. That's Otto Von Danger. This is his project, Burn Wall Street. [over construction noise] Pay a little attention, move it into place and let it down. Alright, I'll try. And you can do a little bit. That's way too much, you're not going to be able to move it. That way? - Oh, shit, shit, shit. - Relax, just relax. Fuck, fuck, mother fuck. Just relax . I need to go out like that. Yes, what are we doing? They're going to try to set that corner first. Oh my god. Oh, it's looking good. It is, it looks beautiful right there. One side down, the other side resting. Thank you God. I'm frustrated about the piece not being out. There's still a lot of work to be done to it, which can't happen 'til it's installed and it's still sitting in a fucking truck. And I keep getting told "Go talk to this person. " "Oh, you're going to need that? Okay, wait, first you've got to go and do this." "And then go back and talk to that person." Then I go back and that person's not there anymore. Well, now who do I talk to? That's cool, we'll dig stuff out, it'll be fine. It'll be fine, thank you. Is it true that you get billed for heavy equipment, you get a bill for what you use? No, I don't know. But you've got... just tap into your endless wealth. Yeah, this is the first I've heard of that at all. Your trust fund. I would think that... how could they trust ...they'd have to tell you and get you to sign an agreement you're going to pay... I would think so. And frankly, right now I wouldn't feel like paying them for shit 'cause they aren't fucking showing up. Katy, start crying. It's tough to be the boss. But she's doing good, it's just really stressful. But then when it's hers, it is hers and she's doing it. Welcome... welcome... welcome to the Cordon Bleu. We're really doing well, we're really on good schedule. You know, making sure that the infrastructure's going in place, making sure that the build is going on time. Are there any parts that we can take off the back side? You guys know my goal is, you gotta stack people on top of each other if we're going to fit the maximum, maximum amount of people. It's like 180 degrees from where we were last year in this complete panic mode. Knock on wood, ahh! Can you do me a favor? Can we pull down the schedules? Awesome. Thanks, Travis. Alright, next adventure. Daxie! So you want to go for a ride? [indistinct chatter] It's nice out there, very calm. It's beautiful. Oh well this is my leg-pilot, see? Radical co-dependency. Collective Interdependent- so someone said, "this is a radical, collective, co-dependency experience here." We believe in radical co-dependency Radical collective codependency. That's why they corrected me. That sounds like something you go to a clinic to get cured of. I know. Well, the clinic for it is Burning Man. Why don't we start a clinic to cure people of Burning Man and that's where-that's where the money is. Oh the ticket thing. Yeah, the ticket kerfuffle. It turns out it's the best thing that ever happened to us, but I didn't expect the public to think of it that way. In curating those tickets, we sent out a message. It's not quite always enough to just attend. You need to contribute. [ZOLIE MAE]: Yay, I get to drive. Just steer towards what you want to see. Where are we going, Zolie Mae? [ZOLIE MAE]: Uh, Salt Temple! Who's got the map? I do. If you follow the esplanade around, you should run right into it. Do you want to go see that thing right there, Zolie? I think that might be the Temple of Salt. We have no idea what we're looking for. ZOLIE MAE: Then why didn't you look on the map. KYRSTEN: We did look on the map? ZOLIE MAE: Let's go on that first. - Make yourself at home! - Okay. Hold out your hand, I want to give you something. - Thank you. - You're welcome. What you got there? Want me to put it on for you? White out. Get in the car for a minute until the weather blows over. Stay down low, Zolie Mae. [ZOLIE MAE]: I am. How close are you to being done? Everyone always keeps asking us that. When you find out, let me know. Everybody's so frazzled. We've been working on average 16 hour days since we got here two Sundays ago, trying to keep, you know, trying to keep the morale of the troops and myself up as much as we can while we fight this weather. Literally, last week was 110 degrees every day and windstorms all night. In fact, one of the windstorms was so bad it took this trailer we're in right now and launched it about six feet in the air and back on its rear end while I was in it. There's been some engineering changes. I scaled back one level off the Bank of UnAmerica and three off the Goldman Sucks. In this weather, there's only so much work you can do and my crew is totally exhausted at this point. But uh, that's... that's life out here. Now I've got to go out and play strong leader, keep these people motivated, keep them on task or getting resting so that when the weather does get better I can get them moving. It's an endless job. There's a few buildings that they had planned to build and they're not going to be able to build it. They're also not going to be able to have people up on the second story of the main building because there's not time to build the stairs and the balcony and the balusters and railings and everything you need to make it safe, to make it code. Like show biz, you have a date that you open and everything has to be up and running. It gets to be these traditions. Some of these camps are so well established, they have a following. And one of my favorite camps, Brand-Ur-Ass. [Carnival music, ] It's a Disney land where the participants create all the rides. And it goes on for miles. Good morning! That is beautiful!! Get me a Marian and me shot, you know what I'm talking about. I sure do. You look so good, you look so freaking H-O-T Caliente. Yeah you should have received a page. Over. [on talkie]: I did, it said that you wanted to have a meeting. Over. Did they happen to use the word "urgent" on that? Over. Okay, if you guys are part of the volunteering for the stuff, if you could wait under the shade there. And she's eating with us too, right? Um, no, I had- I didn't arrange for that. I would mind talking to you for just a brief moment... Okay, Rosie-Lelia, I think I'm going to send Matt in to grab those documents. Was there some drama going on? I saw rangers here. And then also there's the couple you have on the list. Are they arriving today? Who? Hi, Marian. These gentlemen here are looking for Matt Cheney? Can you... and they're supposed to meet them at the VIP lounge, are you able to direct them? There's no VIP lounge. I'm going to kill Matt Cheney for even saying there is. We know everybody who's in the camp. I... I... I don't have just anybody drop in because it's really a private place with a bunch of people that don't want to be... Right, I understand. ...bothered. Are you having fun? Yeah, we're having a good time. And this is your first time, right? Yeah, do you have any recommendations? Ummm... no. I can't walk through this camp without getting bombarded with 15 questions from people about how, you know, can I, you know, "how do I get water in my RV," or you know, "how does this work," and you know, that's all part of radical self-reliance, is them really figuring that out for themselves. They're investment bankers, they're artists, they're interior designers, they're medical doctors, they are actors, they're models, they are, you know, I mean you name it. They're all used to their lives, and I understand that because I used to be that person, and you know, now I'm not. They see me as this, you know, this guy who just like does all this stuff for people. I need to shave, this is not appropriate, I am a diva. He's a sparkle pony. I am a sparkle pony. [LA GRACE]: Here, you know, it's really about trying to suspend the ego and explore for 7 days, a different experience because of that. We're PlayaSkool, you know, and we're all in this together. It already looks super rad right now. Seeing those back pieces on makes it really feel like, "Oh my god." It's that enclosed space that I wanted it to be, like that comfortable spot. Yeah, the plaques are inside, it's awesome. [muffled] It's beautiful. Congratulations. [UNIDENTIFIED SONG] [intense, loud drumming] [desert wind] I'm late I'm late, I'm so friggin late, it's a very important date. Gotta go, gotta go! No time to say hello goodbye... I'm late! Alice when did you arrive!? More tea for the queen! [drumming] We have Merril Lynched. Bank of UnAmerica, Chaos Manhattan, and Goldman Sucks! [CHORUS SINGING]: We are the 99% REVEREND BILLY: Watch out. We may be hung over! But we are the 99%! We're going to occupy this stock exchange! We are the 99! We are the 99... CHORUS: We are the 99%... Now I can buy everything. I can buy everything I need. Anybody else want some free money? Free money! [Chorus singing] We are the 99% [cheering] Now this is going to be a satisfying burn! Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Oh yeah, give me one like this... Try the ramp of death right here. Leave the planet surface, be free. Be one with the air. You hesitate, you're going to do it, you're going to circle around, and you're going to hit the ramp of death. Look at that tiger fly. Look at that, look at that. That was impressive. Did you see that, ladies? You're gonna get laid tonight. Come on green fairy girl. Come on, pink tutu boy. Come on, we haven't had a naked man do it yet, let's go. Ramp of death!! [fireworks] [fireworks, dub step music] [cheering] Ohh yeahhhh! [crowd roaring] [music ends] Next year, I will not do this. Let's get this show on the road, what do you say? You know, if I can create something out of dust that's pretty fabulous, then I can do pretty much anything that I set my mind to. I feel like I really got from this what I was looking for, And feel really confident that I could start a project and finish a project and... and find success in that for myself, not from the outside world telling me that it was good or bad. I love Burning Man, I'll always... it'll always have a special place for me, but this does not define my life. I mean, my life is way more than just this. It's been a catalyst for me but it's not, you know, this does not define Jon La Grace. [cheering] It's been a really interesting journey to be part of a six-way marriage. I think it's a perfect synchronicity that of the six of us, that two of them are life partners. It's actually sort of symbolic of the six of us and our commitment to each other 'cause we can't really separate from each other and what we're been doing together. And your union, to me, is part of a collaboration that we're all, not just the six of us, but all 60,000 of us, are doing, so thank you. [cheering] I now pronounce you with the power invested in me by all of us... [cheers, applause] Husband and wife! Procession is leaving Center Camp. [bells chiming] Thank you, everybody. Thank you, firemen. It's going to be a great night, no dust. Mwah, mwah, mwah, I love you all. [crowd cheering loudly] [intense dub step music ] [loud explosions] [music fades] [ "Let it Go" by Michael Franti and Spearhead] |
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