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winneganfakeAll right.
So, welcome to the yearly rant. A good chunk of my friends are currently leaving or have left for Burning Man, and well, while this isn't directed at any of them, there's quite a few other burners I've run into who seem to have this issue.
They're weekenders.
They spend three-quarters of the year working their ordinary day jobs, living their ordinary lives, and doing nothing further. Until springtime rolls around, when they begin working in secret, building the mega-art abomination of awesome to show to all their friends on the playa. Who, of course, being on the playa, fucking love it. And afterwards, it's deconstructed, as is that part of their life, and they go back to being just a simple accountant for the remainder of the year.
No.
What happens in Black Rock City needs to stop fucking staying in Black Rock City. If you're going to make art, then fucking make art, and make it everywhere- not just for a tiny population who will love it, but for everyone. bring the goddamned insanity to the rest of the world because they need to fucking see it. If you're going to do art, then fucking do art- use it. Challenge things. Inspire things. Get naked in public, smear yourself over with paint and chicken feathers and start making gorilla noises at passerby. But do not lock off the most burningly intense part of your life where not a single fucking soul who actually needs to see it gets to see it. I'm not saying that every moment of your life should be an artistic fight against The Man, or anything like that. But I am saying that art should not just be relegated to a yearly asylum of our own making, something we just keep in a giant, hot, dusty closet to only show to our closest friends.
It's not for nothing that I'm got the old brecht quote "Art is not a mirror, art is a hammer." tattooed on the inside of my wrist. No. It's because art is a fucking tool, and should be used constantly, not just for a big yearly party where we all get to feel safe about our work because we know everyone there's into that shit. It not only defeats the whole point of doing things like big flaming installations, it cheapens it.
And I'm not saying make your art accessible to common man. Don't. The common man is a sheep that needs regular challenging, if we're going to force it into anything other than simple sheep-hood. Keep it challenging. Keep it intense. Keep it on fire, just like on the fucking playa.
Just make sure that it can get seen off of it as well.
So, welcome to the yearly rant. A good chunk of my friends are currently leaving or have left for Burning Man, and well, while this isn't directed at any of them, there's quite a few other burners I've run into who seem to have this issue.
They're weekenders.
They spend three-quarters of the year working their ordinary day jobs, living their ordinary lives, and doing nothing further. Until springtime rolls around, when they begin working in secret, building the mega-art abomination of awesome to show to all their friends on the playa. Who, of course, being on the playa, fucking love it. And afterwards, it's deconstructed, as is that part of their life, and they go back to being just a simple accountant for the remainder of the year.
No.
What happens in Black Rock City needs to stop fucking staying in Black Rock City. If you're going to make art, then fucking make art, and make it everywhere- not just for a tiny population who will love it, but for everyone. bring the goddamned insanity to the rest of the world because they need to fucking see it. If you're going to do art, then fucking do art- use it. Challenge things. Inspire things. Get naked in public, smear yourself over with paint and chicken feathers and start making gorilla noises at passerby. But do not lock off the most burningly intense part of your life where not a single fucking soul who actually needs to see it gets to see it. I'm not saying that every moment of your life should be an artistic fight against The Man, or anything like that. But I am saying that art should not just be relegated to a yearly asylum of our own making, something we just keep in a giant, hot, dusty closet to only show to our closest friends.
It's not for nothing that I'm got the old brecht quote "Art is not a mirror, art is a hammer." tattooed on the inside of my wrist. No. It's because art is a fucking tool, and should be used constantly, not just for a big yearly party where we all get to feel safe about our work because we know everyone there's into that shit. It not only defeats the whole point of doing things like big flaming installations, it cheapens it.
And I'm not saying make your art accessible to common man. Don't. The common man is a sheep that needs regular challenging, if we're going to force it into anything other than simple sheep-hood. Keep it challenging. Keep it intense. Keep it on fire, just like on the fucking playa.
Just make sure that it can get seen off of it as well.