Ugliest Temple Ever?

[changoloco]

I am sorry, I have to vent. This years temple was an amazing structure but, it did not give me the feeling of actually being in a temple. It felt like a bunch of old wooden boards that were just sloppily nailed together. I had a discourse with the artist that designed it that left an aweful taste in my mouth. It actually proved ot me that this temple design did not have the feeling nor the emotion that previous years did. The one redeeming factor? It went up like matchsticks! What are your thoughts about the temple this year?

[bluesbob]

It did was it was designed to do...piss you off.

[Kinetik V]

It reminded me of Uchronia from the webcam view...but Changoloco is right...it didn't really seem like it was a temple. Compared to what's been out there in years past...this year's temple was underwhelming.

[Bob]

Personally I find the presumed need for a public religious structure absolutely repellent, not to mention unAmerican, whether it's a gracefully sweeping lumber canyon or an oversized Japanese teahouse.

[Kinetik V]

Maybe it's time to retire the whole idea of having a temple out there at all, and put the burning of the man back to being the main event IMHO it should be. The temple burns kinda stole the man's thunder a bit.

That's not to say I haven't liked the temples....but change is a good thing.

[crstophr]

Amen.

I didn't like this year's temple at all. I have loved them in the past.

A wooden structure representing canyons... out on a dry lake bed... surrounded by.... hills and canyons? I felt it was really uninspiring.

Just my opinion. Other people I camped with seemed to like it. I just hope they go back to something more like the past next year.

[Gwydeon]

The design pictures and preview information could not have expressed well enough what the temple was going to look like once it reached the playa.

To me the temple upon first site looked like a mountain range. Once we reached it and traveled through I had more of the canyon impression. I still did not understand the full scope of the temple until I saw it from the man at night and was struck by the sight of a pile of embers smoldering, as it foretold its own end. When we watched it's crescendo on Sunday night, it was a raging volcano from the western side.

[b]Temple, Mountains, Canyon, Embers, Volcano.
This was an amazing temple.[/b]

The temple is MUCH more than religious, and anyone who follows religion can make anything beautiful or meaningful part of their religious experiences, YMMV so relax a bit, a lot of people use the temple to ease wounds and themselves in ways that are less than religious but more than they could do themselves. It has meaning to many people, find your own meaning or ignore it. It's existence does not detract from the man or the event, only a view centered on disliking it can cause that and only for those with that opinion.

[Bob]

It's existence does not detract from the man or the event, only a view centered on disliking it can cause that and only for those with that opinion.

A "virgin" burner, already adept at identifying thoughtcrime. Welcome Home!

Nothing's stopping you people from building your own Balsa Temple, btw.

[hollywallydoodle]

ugly?!

[ajs]

It's existence does not detract from the man or the event, only a view centered on disliking it can cause that and only for those with that opinion.

A "virgin" burner, already adept at identifying thoughtcrime. Welcome Home!

I don't see any judgment in what Gwydeon wrote (which I think the phrase "thought crime" implies); it's merely a logically coherent statement.

This was only my second year, but I was blown away by the temple. In my obviously subjective opinion it was among the most powerful art I've ever seen anywhere.

[edited to try to get the quote feature to format correctly]

[mournlight]

I liked it. A lot. I thought the individual pieces becoming one towering structure were powerful. I liked the nighttime lighting. I liked the fact that it didn't so much look like a traditional temple. And it burned like hell...

[Eric]

From the preliminary sketches & the artists statements I was expecting major disappointment with the Temple, as was the whole BRC Weekly crew. We all loved it. And the nightly view of it glowing from our Esplanade placement was wunderbar!

Look ma, no snark!

[junglesmacks]

ugly?!

Holly those pics are beautiful! Where did they come from? Any more?

All of my night pics are horrible and didn't come out..

[NevadaGrl]

I wrote this for a friend...What Remains on the Ground

Quiet reverence broken by drunken yells rolling back to silence. Holding small bird hand on one side and beloved strong moving hand on the other – but the connection is felt to others – the echo of a younger self one handspan away. This temple burns low to the ground connected to us through alkali dust. She is in flux, in flamed and sends embers to wet our dry eyes. Dust spins toward us with collected memory rising, taking away thoughts, devotions, intentions on a column toward stars – this the best night cathedral. The flames lick us, embers tease and bite but no harm floating over heads…sweet male voice from behind: “Goggle ups folks, protect your eyes.â€

[masho]

Beautiful time lapse photos Holly. Thanks

[Ugly Dougly]

Maybe someone has preconceived notions of what a "temple" should look like. Isn't it more important what it does?

[MyPlayaUserName]

I too was let down by the temple this year. It felt more like an elaborate message board reminiscent of the berlin wall, than a tranquil temple.
Something was strange in BRC this year for me.
I'm wondering if it's over for me, my love affair with Burning Man. The announcement of the theme has me utterly underwhelmed. I guess I have to go create my own universe somewhere, as I always suspected, if I want it done right. BRC is changing too rapidly into the desert rave I always thought it wasn't.

[Kenny Z]

Of course we are arguing opinion but a place of reflection and/or worship does not have to be beautiful or awe inspiring. That said, this temple sure was butt ugly and it was the first time I didn't think "what a shame to burn this".

[changoloco]

It didn't help that while I was trying to put my dog's ashes in the temple on Sunday morning, Rebecca, the artist that designed the temple, completely lost it on me while I was balling my brains out. It just left such a bad taste in my mouth about the Temple. This lady acted more heartless to me than anyone ever had in my life. I don't want to go into full detail here but, I will tell you that I was nothing but courteous to her and she was stone cold and did not care that I was saying good-bye to my dog of 15 years. The artist that designs the Temple should be empathetic of what we use it for. It really made me sad.

[Nitevenus]

I do believe the artist(s) intentions were pure and creative. Flux is flow and change and I found it provocative. It certainly has provoked much interaction here. Sadly I didn't get to experience it first hand, but the pics Holly posted are beauty in its own. I did see the sketches at first and had mixed emotions (probably my own preconceived notion) but I applauded the creativity. From online pics and webcast, I grew to appreciate it more. It seems to have offered up a large space for many people to write, attach and display items of loving affection.

Sorry to hear about the negative interaction that you had changoloco, quite possibly the moment in time may have been a factor. I am sure she must have endured much negativity with other comments and having the piece defaced and tagged probably didn't help. No excuse certainly to be seemingly heartless. Very sorry for your loss of your beloved dog and I hope your heart will heal soon. Not just from the loss but also the hurt you encountered there.

[Miles]

^ thats horrible changoloco.

Im really struck by the attitude of some of the more veteran burners out there. GET OVER YOURSELVES. if you dont want to be there DONT GO.

these things make me sad- but it makes me want to step up and make a positive change for the city myself

[marcgorcey]

Our group absolutely loved it. We approached at night, and it looked like a pile of glowing lava. Walking between the canyon walls, and peering in the viewing nooks was inspiring to us.

This was my favourite temple ever (5 burns)

[big baby jesus]

Just as Techno is the only music allowed to be played on the playa, maybe there should only be one style for all of the art and structures; governed and approved by HQ, just like NASCAR...

We could streamline the 10 principles down to a few. Let's get rid of Self Expression and Participation, that way we never have to confront an ugly Temple again. Inclusion would be out since everyone is included. Kick Immediacy to the curb, since there are no barriers to overcome.

Let's keep it nice and safe, no one has to leave their comfort zone or contemplate another point of view. While we're at it, let's get rid of the name too. Burning Man might upset those that don't like fire. We'll call it "Rapidly Oxidating Person" Who can complain about that! Fuckin-A, this is easy...

[Here and there]

Let's keep it nice and safe, no one has to leave their comfort zone or contemplate another point of view.

That seems to be what you want, BBJ. People saw an artwork, didn't care for it, said so, and then you had a meltdown over the fact that they said something that you didn't feel was complimentary enough. Whether you wish to accept this or not, criticism is itself a form of self-expression. Self-expression that you would try to browbeat others into shrinking back from.

If you want a good, clear view of the would-be censor in this discussion, you need look no further than the nearest mirror.

ugly?!

Seriously ugly. This structure looks like something that not even creative photography could save.

[big baby jesus]

H&T: No meltdown here, just making a point that the goal isn't to please everyone. (Sorry I didn't make it clearer) If it was, we would be stuck with an event that no one wants

I thought it was beautiful at night and ugly during the day, but I appreciate the sentiment behind it.

[Here and there]

I wish that I could, in some way, take credit for one of these photos. Or that I had the talent to create a structure like one of these. But I can very gladly salute the gifts of those who did, and thank them for sharing their work with the rest of us.

















On the other hand, I'm glad that I don't have to take the blame for this. It doesn't merely look like something that should have been condemned, it looks like something that was condemned, just after the wrecking ball got done with it.

[Kinetik V]

Here's a solution! Ban the temple! Yeah, that's right, BAN IT! Ban it for rude designers, ban it for it's excessive carbon footprint, ban it because you didn't pull off enough toilet paper to wipe your ass with this morning and you're in a foul mood. Ban it because it didn't allow you to climb up above the playa surface to see BRC a bit better. Ban it because it causes people to turn into darkwads when they get emotional and forget to turn on their blinkies and headlamps when they leave it.....

Maybe it's time for a temple that is not designer created, but community created. Take feedback on elements the community likes, create a website, have people vote on design choices. Hell if people can vote and choose the coffee cup Harvey Levin will use on TMZ-TV surely this community could help build a temple that takes it to a whole other place.....

It's all just thoughts...not that it matters.

[Here and there]

You share this with us

Just as Techno is the only music allowed to be played on the playa, maybe there should only be one style for all of the art and structures; governed and approved by HQ, just like NASCAR...

We could streamline the 10 principles down to a few. Let's get rid of Self Expression and Participation, that way we never have to confront an ugly Temple again. Inclusion would be out since everyone is included. Kick Immediacy to the curb, since there are no barriers to overcome.

Let's keep it nice and safe, no one has to leave their comfort zone or contemplate another point of view. While we're at it, let's get rid of the name too. Burning Man might upset those that don't like fire. We'll call it "Rapidly Oxidating Person" Who can complain about that! Fuckin-A, this is easy...

and then claim this?

H&T: No meltdown here, just making a point that the goal isn't to please everyone. (Sorry I didn't make it clearer)

Right.

Oh, no, you made yourself plenty clear. You threw a temper tantrum, you didn't get the response you wanted - which obviously was for all to back down out of the mortal fear that somebody might think that we weren't being sensitive enough to your concerns - and now that this hasn't worked, you want us to forget what we just saw, seeing what you're telling us to see, instead of what's out there in clear view, for all to see. Which, when one gets right down to it, is exactly what you just tried to do with this year's temple.

Freedom of expression, if it is to mean anything, has to include the freedom to tell somebody that's he's full of shit.

[SoSS]

I think that judging it by its aesthetic value, is the very behavior we all run to Burning Man to avoid. It's not about how it looks, but how it makes you feel.
The Temple could have been a hole in the ground, for people to throw in their messages to loved ones, or statements they wished to let go of, and that would have been just as moving.
We all have our own opinions. Thats for damn sure.
I for one was very thankful for it- just the way it was.

[Here and there]

I think that judging it by its aesthetic value, is the very behavior we all run to Burning Man to avoid.

Really? Because being told what to think and say is one of the behaviors I run to Burning Man to avoid.