| 2001: What I did on my summer vacation or Burning Man 2001 This year was much better than last. To start with the Bus was already completed, the renovations are finished. All that was necessary to make it ready was some basic maintenance and little improvements to the interior. I also have put an awning on one side, another fuel tank (75 gal), roof vents, a small 110V AC converter, and a ladder to the rack on the back. Previously this summer some vandals had smashed the front windows so I replaced them. So with the stress of working on the bus out of the way I was in a much better place when leaving for vacation. We, Kristen and I had posted notices on some appropriate web sites and newsgroups looking for riders to the festive and had very good response. We ended up have six persons go total. Jason, from Dayton, David from Indianapolis, Crystal from Chicago, and Bobby from Michigan. Some of them had been to Burning Man, http://www.burningman.com/ Before, others were virgins to the festival. This year the Theme camp I went to my first year (1999) was back. And we were going to stay with them. The camp was on the main strip (the Esplanade) near the loud areas. (Cataclysmic Megashear Ranch), http://www.megashear.org/ After much e-mail back and fourth between all parties or plans were as set as they could be. We would be picking up people along the way and bringing what we could to help support the camp. After a week of preparing and packing the bus was ready. We left Friday night and drove west. Picking up people along the way. The drive out went well, we got stuck for 4 hours in a traffic jam outside of Chicago due to an accident, and one of the air brakes had to be replaces in Iowa. I was able to replace the brake with some excellent help from a very nice man who was waiting for his truck tires to be replaced. We were able to fix it before the shop could even take a look at it! We also ran out of fuel and I learned that the bus will not go faster than 25mph when hooked to a small tank of Propane, it will freeze the tank due to the greater draw upon it. We arrived in Black Rock City on Monday night, and were able to find our camp with no problem. After some unloading of equipment we settled in for the night. The weather was very hot, (100f-110f) but not windy or to dusty. At night it was not to cold, (high 60’s) and this made our stay more pleasant. Last year the winds and dust were terrible and the nighttime temps much lower. Setting up the camp was slowed due to the heat but we eventually got it all done. Our camp was a corner lot and had a wooden fence around it, with a big arch over the front entrance. A large shade area was made with a circus tent and a trailer for a stage. We put up more tarps and the awning on the bus to complete the camp, and cover the kitchen. Most of my time was spent hanging out and relaxing with the rest of the camp, and riding around on art cars. For those of you who have not experienced a Burning Man Art Car, its anything that has wheels and can travel under its own power, it could be a lawnmower pulling a trailer, a quad-runner, or a car with its top cut off and a platform to ride on, or a motorized couch. Art cars are the best way to get around BRC, as the dust was deep this year and bicycling was difficult. Who wants to walk when you can ride in style! We had several in our camp. The main one was a car that had been chopped down from the drivers area back, with cushions in the rear area and a second floor built up over it with another bed like area to ride on. It had bamboo covering the angle iron frame, a small cargo above the top bunk for shade. Christmas tree lights and a flamethrower. With its military/jungle theme it was know as the ‘Hart Of Darkness’, http://home.austin.rr.com/nimbyzone/BM2001/thumbs.htm Another art car in our camp was a very large baby buggy or ‘Pram’ it was built on an Atv and lit with E.L. wire. , http://www.rhythm.com/~asiaadam/BM2001/Art_Cars/pages/IMG_0903.htm Also the RyBorg was in our camp, It would take the rest of this letter to describe the RyBorg so here is an image, <insert web add here> ( sorry at the time of sending this I cannot find any images of it) he also had a very clever machine built, with a Electric wheel chair and huge wheels to ride around on but it was a one person device. , <Insert web adds here>. The camp across the street was put on by Rock Star Todd Rundgrin, it had a tiki theme and was quite nice. Todd was friendly he sang some lounge songs and served drinks... Down the street was a huge stage with 20’-30’ tall green neon Crystals and a laser so powerful it was shining on the mountain several miles away. It was called the Emerald City and could be seen 5 miles away. A very helpful land mark at night. I saw several good bands there. Right next door to us was another large stage that was playing Dub (Reggae) constantly, with extra low bass. Its hard to sleep when you are being vibrated out of your bed... I saw lots of really neat sculptures and fire installations also. Some more images can be found at: http://home.austin.rr.com/nimbyzone/ The ride home was uneventful for the most part, only on layover due to not being able to buy fuel. Other wise it was just a long slow drive, (the bus has a max speed of 70mph if you are lucky) in a land where the speed limit is 80 and the cops don’t seem to care if your going faster it just feels like you are crawling along... We made excellent time on the road. Only taking about 3 days each way. After when returning to work on Friday I hade to go to the prison for work, (to drop off an pick up materials for a ongoing project, that the prisoners are making chair back bags for students.) It was quite the culture shock. Coming from a place of almost total freedom to a place of no freedom. Still it was nothing compared to what happened on the 11. I will save you from a big opinionated view on those events, we all know the tragedy of what happened and that our world will never be the same. Times are changing and we will reap what we sow. In the past week I have been getting my stuff cleaned and put away. Cleaning and resetting my house and studio, getting caught up at work. Now I am going to work on finishing sculptures and I think I will be going to work on more garment type stuff and continue with performance art projects in the future. |