The NEB - Burning Man Quilt In person

[AntiM]

It takes me nearly a full week to give away about 500 hundred pieces of art, and much of it moves itself. I spend only a few hours on the project a day, and some days it is a real chore when my body rebels, and my spirit is sapped dry by the whole environment. I'm not just talking heat and an arid place, I'm talking everything... even a minor detail can put a person into meltdown mode. I promise, you have never experienced the same thing in real life. You may think so, but really, the playa sneaks up on your soul. Some days, it isn't in a good way.

Another approach would be to make this a multi-year project. Do a section of the quilt each year.

But yes, there is solid advice here, advice not given to discourage you, but in an attempt to give you a realistic picture of how life operates on the playa.

[funkyjigsaw]

Firstly, let me say that I think it is fantastic that TattooGoddess wants to do this and is enthusiastic about it. I hope she pulls it off in some fashion or other. I'm sure it won't work out as she expects, but that's the nature of it.

Last year was my first burn, and I spent a HUGE amount of time on here and elsewhere doing all the research that I needed. I had an amazing first year! And I think part of it was good planning and good thinking, and part of it was luck. For example, it took me 30 minutes to get in, I saw the Man burn and it took me 30 minutes to exodus. [Don't panic, I will get to my 'on subject' points in a minute!].

During planning, I got myself SO worked up about what I was going to bring to BM by way of contribution / gift. I was in a state of despair about not wanting to look like a total wanker by not being able to gift or contribute. This situation solved itself .... as I'm about to explain :

At first, I thought that I had to camp alone because I had no idea what camp I'd be interested in because I hadn't been to BM before. This was a good decision, until I stumbled across the Orphan/Endorphin camp, and I thought "This sounds like a good place for me!" Alas, no room in the camp .... SO .... having hooked up on Facebook, a few of us decided to form "Orphan 2", a satellite / offspring of the Orphan/Endorphans. I thus became one of the organisers of Orphan 2, and bingo, this was going to be my gift / contribution! I helped organise, bust a gut to be first in the gate to stake the claim etc etc ...

I fell on my feet last year : I had the advantage of a camp of people to watch my back, I had the freedom to do my own thing or to head out with a group. What I had contributed was all pretty much over by the end of Monday when the camp was established, which meant I could have the freedom to experience the whole crazy thing. I'm gonna do the same thing next year, but now I know what I can contribute, and what my limitations are, and what limitations the playa will put on me. i.e. the same but better! I will also bring gifts this year, sort out a serious shade structure for the team, and put more effort into costumes.

So ... to some comments :
- "crisp white material"! That is gonna turn all dirty shades of playa dust within 5 minutes.
- Therefore, this might not end up looking so pretty as you think!
- If you expect to 'leave' these crisp white squares with people and come back later and pick them up all nice and beautifully decorated ... think again ... a lot will become MOOP. You might think about checking the trash fence now and then ... you may find some out there ... and if you are not actively there helping and encouraging, people's attention will drift off to the next sparkly interesting thing that walks by.
- It's not clear to me what you want people to do with these white squares?? Are they gonna sew things on them? Write on them? Paint on them?
- If you are worried about shyness ... do something else about that e.g. join an orphan camp.
- I am really, really, REALLY REALLY REALLY worried that if this doesn't work out as you hope (and I'm certain it won't), then this may totally RUIN your first Burning Man Experience, and you will never come back ... or worse leave early and flee back to default vowing never to return.
- I'm worried that this may consume your time at BM. I was there the whole week and didn't even scratch the surface. Every day I see a photo online of an art project from 2011 and think "Fuck! I didn't see that!" or "I didn't realise that was happening!"

So here is my suggestion : I would treat this your first burn as a "pilot" project. Take only a fraction of what you suggest, and try out different strategies to achieve your aim. Spend only part of a couple of days testing out this idea. Your aim for this year can be to leave BM being able to say "I know how I'm gonna do this next year!"

Final parting comment : I can remember arriving at the playa, I can remember leaving. Everything else is a total blur with the odd moment of clarity sprinkled in. I missed a lot, not because I was walking around with my eyes shut or anything ... but just because I was so overwhelmed by it all, and I was LEARNING how to survive, how to behave, what to expect etc.

P.S. The weather was amazing in 2011 ... just lovely ... so I'm planning for weather armageddon this year!

[lemur]

hey tg

you might want to do this!

http://blog.burningman.com/2011/12/even ... -workshop/

Not local? No worries! This workshop will be accessible online – please indicate this when you RSVP so we can email you the invitation to the online meeting.

if the online meeting is anything like the ones ive attended in the past... its usually a pretty good way to spend an evenin..

[moonrise]

<snip>
Another approach would be to make this a multi-year project. Do a section of the quilt each year.
<snip>

Bingo! AntiM is correct, multi year = good idea.

I'd like to add I wanted to suggest bringing little teeny tiny small squares, like 6x6 inch or 4x4 inch and try to sit with people and draw, paint, write whatever with them. Don't let them walk away with anything, it's highly likely you'll never see most of it or them again! (shame on me for saying this, it's sorta like Hippie Paris) Then sew up a small quilt back at home and post photos online. BTW, The winds, dust storms and constant breeze alone will be a hassle for any size quilt (let alone a giant one TG...trust me!) I do an art performance with fire and an edible guntype powder and the night breeze screws with it. I have to find or bring my own wind blocks; not always easy! I have wanted to mention the suggestion to do smaller squares for a while (and a whole bunch more but many others covered those bases) I think 50 or 100 small squares would be more than enough. As far as others creating art for you, I had school teachers try to draw apples and spell apple on my black board, they coudln't even spell apple! hahahaaa...I had to help them. I also showed them how to draw an apple...so good luck with that! (in their defense, they were burngins)

I saw the video of you riding your bike in the graveyard, and you're a hairdresser...I seriously doubt you'll have trouble meeting and interacting with people!
Just get there, safely, and yea, joining a camp (theme or non theme) could be a good idea. I joined a badass chaotic camp on the Esplanade in 2010, my first year through the gate as a ticket holder...it was wild fun, loud, strange, and at times frustrating. (I did at one point have to let the camp leader know I had my own food, water, shelter and a running vehicle and could MOVE any time I wanted) Letting the 'leader' know I was radically self reliant kept said semi-stable camp "leader" in line..others in the camp finally took over leadership and there's more but I'll never tell! Nothing too serious, just a bit too much fun was had...ambulances and what not...fyi,we all survived beautifully, including the 'leader'! Have fun TG, and bring something to draw on.

[AntiM]

TG, advice does not equal criticism of your desire to create. Your project is a fundamentally good concept, it needs fine tuning. There are some good ideas being offered, do look them over and consider if they are workable or not. Ask questions, why have we said what we have said? For shits and giggles? No, but to help you build the project. Honest.

[funkyjigsaw]

TG ... I echo all the comments that encourage you to give this a go!! Go for it girl ... just start small and exploratory in this first year.
I will even help financially : I will pledge $200 to get you started. And an offer to you and friends to join the Orphan 2 camp (assuming we get it off the ground again this year). Check out our Facebook page from last year : https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Petit ... 9092206557
Love your attitude ... love the fact you are a virgin getting really stuck into the BM concept ... you remind me SO much of myself a year ago!
Love and hugs x

[wh..sh]

As far as others creating art for you, I had school teachers try to draw apples and spell apple on my black board, they coudln't even spell apple! hahahaaa...I had to help them. I also showed them how to draw an apple...so good luck with that! (in their defense, they were burngins)

Du'h. Stupid burngins giving other burngins a bad name.
If you had asked me, I would have spelt it right... P-A-P-P-L-E

[ygmir]

*chuckling..........papple...........snicker......*

[lemur]

there is no quilt

[junglesmacks]

Um.

[jkisha]

Seems to be a few posts missing from this thread since it has been unlocked.

[theCryptofishist]

1--Tattoogoddess, you might want to do budgets that are scaled to different amounts of money, so that you have appropriately matched supplies. My husband was bipolar, and sometimes he made very odd choices in regard to money.
2--Everyone else, we all deserve the chance to learn things the hard way. In fact, I bet that your most important lessons were learnt that way. Charging in all excited is one of the things we like about newbies--we get to watch.

[Shambala]

I split off some of the posts and stored them safely in a vault. I love some of these new buttons.

[jkisha]

I split off some of the posts and stored them safely in a vault. I love some of these new buttons.

Well I'm glad you're saving them, they were rich.

[wh..sh]

I split off some of the posts and stored them safely in a vault. I love some of these new buttons.

Thanks Sham. That makes me weak heart feel better.
Edited as a warrior.

[Shambala]

There is a process that weaves the colored threads into a photo quilt/blanket. I have seen these and they are very cool. You just upload the photo and they send you a full color quilt in the mail.

[Savannah]

1--Tattoogoddess, you might want to do budgets that are scaled to different amounts of money, so that you have appropriately matched supplies. My husband was bipolar, and sometimes he made very odd choices in regard to money.
2--Everyone else, we all deserve the chance to learn things the hard way. In fact, I bet that your most important lessons were learnt that way. Charging in all excited is one of the things we like about newbies--we get to watch.

Truth!