When I dreamt, I found the spaces in between…

it’s a little late for this, and everyone’s moved on to their next project/event/ideas/thoughts/concerns, but too bad, you’re going to have to read about burning man one more time. it’s taken me this long to get myself to stop avoiding my laptop except for absolutely necessary business, and now i want to write about it. : ) i’ll keep it (relatively) short at least.

it was a good year for 60 mph dust storms, lanterns!, launching domes, 10 striped double rainbows, massive explosions and commentaries on our dependence on oil, beautiful art, debate regarding burning the man (the first time, and the second), silliness, knowing one’s limits, and just plain ol’ love.

and i love that the man burned early and that it’s shaken people out of some complacency around the event. it’s disappointing that addis acts like such an ass about it - the inflammatory finger-pointing and self-centered grandstanding just gets old - but i like that it’s made people think about what the event means, what it’s become, what we might want from it in the future. i’m sad that we didn’t take the opportunity to run no longer having a man and instead creating some sort of other ad hoc, new, meaningful ritual around that. i’m disappointed that as a larger community, we didn’t see it as a gift, but only as a threat, and that we rushed to build an exact new one in its place. maybe in hindsight it’s easier to say these things, but still - it’s something i was thinking about all week on the playa, and wished i had done something more about it. i’m curious to see what can come from this sitch.

i’m also really fascinated that larry has chosen “The American Dream” as the next theme. mostly, it makes me want to gag, but i also welcome the opportunity to conceptualize and create some really well-deserved political commentary and art regarding burning man, american society, nationalism, and racism. it’s a concept that i constantly question and regard as i myth, so i worry when the term gets reappropriated in what seems like such a flippant fashion. there’s no irony when burningman.com writes,

This year’s art theme is about patriotism — not that kind which freights the nation state with the collective weight of ego, but a patriotism based upon a love of country and culture. Leave ideology at home; forget the blue states and the red; let parties, factions and the issues that divide us fall away. Ask yourself, instead, what can postmodern America yet give to the world?

uh, why are we still focusing on “america the beautiful” here? what does love of one’s country mean - does it really mean anything? why are we yet again succumbing to nationalistic boundaries and definitions, even reappropriated? wouldn’t it be more compelling, opening, interesting to challenge that and redefine what’s actually important to us in creating change regarding humanity - why fall back on a tired concept? and why is that term being used in a way that so quickly erases the decades of pain that has been linked to it - the myth that all you need to do is bootstrap your way up to success, and if you don’t, it’s because you’re not working hard enough? denying the implicit meaning of it that it’s held for decades, and the consequences that it’s held for so many struggling families and individuals who don’t happen to be any combination of white, married, male, and christian, is just plain irresponsible at the least, and dangerous at its worst.

okay, i promised that this would be short, but you know i can’t do that… ha! i’ll stop here. more to come on the american dream soon. there’s a wealth of ideas here to be explored.