I’ve gotten moderator approval for my silly Burning Man art project fundraiser. First off, I’m not desperate for funding, and this project is going to happen regardless of whether or not my Kickstarter gets funding. So don’t donate money that is not well within your means! In fact, a one dollar donation is perfectly acceptable and also means that I don’t actually have to do anything for it. Nevertheless, this project is starting to get kind of expensive, so I’m making an appeal here. There’s a certain amount of ego satisfaction and validation that comes with success, so I thought I’d stick my neck out here.
My project is Sledgehammer Bowling Ball Playa Croquet and here is my Kickstarter project:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reekardo/sledgehammer-bowling-ball-playa-croquet
Burning Man is changing in complexion largely to the the increased hype and the population limits set by the Bureau of Land Management. Tickets are very difficult to get and the lottery had 100,000 entries for 40,000 tickets. I figured that this might be my last year to go, so I wanted to try and do an art project. Somehow, my project got approved, and here we are.
I think this is a good place for a general ask-tell thread about Burning Man and anyone else who has been is more than welcome to join in. I can also talk about Kickstarter “Crowd sourced fundraising” too, even though I have little experience other than this little foray into it.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Burning Man is a festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, about 100 miles northeast of Reno. It’s a huge party with several interesting aspects. The first one is that you have to haul everything with you and haul everything out. You are supposed to leave the “Playa” (the dry lake bed) impeccably clean as you found it. It’s in the middle of the high desert, so it can get over 110°F and below freezing at night.
The second consideration is that the festival is based upon the concept of radical independence. You should bring everything you need and not depend on others except in collaboration with your campmates, if you are in a camp. If you are soloing it, indeed you should be self-sufficient. I have a camp of friends that I camp with, but if for some reason I couldn’t find them, I have everything that I need myself. In fact, I usually try to bring two of everything, just in case someone needs something.
The most unusual thing is that you are not allowed to sell or trade anything. This happens of course, but it’s against the spirit of the event. You are pretty much required to give shit away, whether it’s a playa gift, or food or drink. The only thing sold is ice (thank God for that, it makes life much, much easier) and there is a coffee shop at center camp.
Burning Man is a mindblowing unique experience and an 8 day extravaganza of 24 hour music, absurdly creative art, camaraderie and weirdness. It happens around Labor Day, with the burning of the Man on Saturday night and the burning of the temple on Sunday night before Labor day. The Man is a giant wooden sculpture of a man that has been historically getting bigger and taller year by year. The temple is a custom designed structure where one puts mementos of loved ones who have passed away in the past year as a memorial of sorts.
Kickstarter is a fundraising website that has been in the news lately for raising gobs of money for some films and video games. There is no guaranteed return on your money and there is nothing to stop a person from just running off with the money other than your reputation being ruined. The idea is that you have set dollar levels for receiving some sort of item or communication.
My levels are:
$5. A custom designed postcard sent from the Black Rock City Post Office. The BRCPO is an unofficial camp that contracts with the Reno Post Office to create a custom Burning Man postmark.
$12. A custom designed shotglass that is the one I give out while bartending at my camp.
$25. A custom designed silkscreen t-shirt.
$125. All the lower levels plus I will custom design a mutually agreeable stencil on the stripe of one of the croquet bowling balls.
So, ask away.