Party Floats are not Art Cars

[matzoboy]

Even before I learned of the sad art car accident on the Playa this year, I had been disturbed by the way the concept of the art car, over a couple years, has morphed into a new beast. Art cars used to be objects made from the mad passion of welders, and Burning Man was a great place for them to be seen. Now art cars are designed as a form of collective transportation, mobile accoutrements to theme camps, and gussied up with sufficient dazzle to be exempt from the no-motor rule. I met a guy this year who told me he and his camp-mates “bought an art car to ride around in and painted it all over... but it didn’t pass inspection.” This typifies the new thinking, and I feel it’s a bad direction for Burning Man.

In addition to the valid safety concerns already raised by others, the proliferation of Party Floats - that’s what I think these vehicles should be called - has another pernicious effect: increased sound level. The sound system has become a party must, and you need a generator to power it along with the lights. The music has to be cranked up to mask the generator noise, and when two or more floats get near each other, you have to crank up your volume so you won’t be drowned out. Human hearing quickly adjusts to ramped up volumes, so we often don’t notice what’s happening if we are not paying specific attention. But the cumulative effect still works on us. The sound-track to this year’s burn was an unbelievable cacophony of generators and competing DJs - many of whom had actually disembarked and left empty vehicles blasting at full power.

(An irony here is that so many B-Man DJs play basically the same music, built on the same drum loop du jour, but it occurred to no one that all these roving jocks might be able to somehow sync their beats together. Imagine if these people were actually musicians working together on some kind of intentional sound, rather than merely dumping wattage into the air without any consideration of the sound environment.)

Don’t get me wrong - there should be a place at Burning Man where the psychotic creations of vehicular artists can be appreciated in motion. But I don’t think an elite group should get to use motors as a means to travel from A to B. Art cars should be restricted to a remote zone on the playa where they would be free to roam. They should be disallowed on the streets of BRC or anywhere near static artworks. No, you should not be able to use your penis-mobile to visit the Man. Art car camps can be located along the outermost street on the North side of the city (in the same way walk-in camping is designated on the South side). From there, art cars can gain access to the playa beyond 10:00.

And the number of people on a moving art car should be restricted to 4. Period.

[Kinetic]

Art Cars have turned into a royal pain in the ass, and I know weighing in on this is going to invite flames. But after Kathy's tragic death, changes are definitely needed.

Matzoboy's comments hit the issues dead on...large scale sound and overworked generators need to be toned down a bit. Also art cars need people limits....4 people is very reasonable. See Playa Air if you want an example of an art car done right in my opinion. And the DMV needs to crack down and make sure an art car is really about ART, not an overglorified personal shuttle to haul someone's happy ass from theme camp to theme camp and being such snots that they deny anyone else a ride on their way through.

The DMV should require that any ART car on the playa be at least 50% modified from it's original configuration, or that it pass a review by a panel of judges inside the DMV. I'm sure a diverse group of judges can be found. The vehicle must be illuminated....and I mean serious illumination if it's able to run at night. Headlights should be diffused though to prevent blinding others on the playa and this year there were several examples of how to do it...R-Pod's art car comes to mind as another perfect example.

Also the art car rule needs to apply to scooters. Stringing el-wire on a scooter is not going to get it. Build a platform around it and make it into a P-51 Mustang, and that is art. Scooters, regardless of powerplant need to meet those requirements.

Again I will have lots of disagreement but the cirucumstances regarding Kathy's death need to be investigated, and reasonable and prudent steps taken to prevent a repeat. This is not NASCAR though where we stall before implementing safety fixes. I hope the ORG considers some of these changes and 04 becomes a safer year for BM.

Thanks for letting me voice my opinion....in the end I want all burners to have a safe yet entertaining burn.

[telizas]

Have either of you made an art car?

[Kinetic]

Almost had a pedal powered variety ready to go before the event, and I have one that I am working on for 04 that will be ready, regardless of the theme. I respect what goes into one and I hate being negative about it. But Kathy won't be back with us....so next year I hope everyone works towards preventing a repeat. One loss is one too many.

This year was all about taking my 15 yo sister to BM for the first time and honoring my best friend's last wishes....and with the 2nd anniversary of 9/11 and his death coming up, and since I couldn't do the tribute right last year, everything else took a side seat. 04 will be vastly different.

[Kilmore]

Well, First, you might want to reconsider your use of the word 'should' all over that post... Perhaps changing 'should' to 'I wish' might come across as more palatable, as few people, especially burners, appreciate being told by anyone what should or should not be. Then again, maybe not.

Second, You seem to have a problem with art cars/party floats based on the noise issues in addition to the safety issues. However, I do have to refute your assumption that there are generators powering the sound systems. The few vehicles with large sound systems I managed to see up close all ran them off the engine of the vehicle -- the battery/alternator. In fact, many of the art cars I saw out there this year had no Big elaborate sound system at all, just a couple of speakers that pumped out about as much as standardly equipped car stereo would. There may have been sound systems out there that did require an additional power source, it is not hard to imagine that as the case. However, I would imagine that even so, those systems could not exceed the limitations imposed on any of the non-mobile systems.

Third, safety -- While I have no problems with the BMOrg holding art cars to a certain minimum level of safety, (EG having lights for night driving, working Breaks, working steering) we are all ultimately responsible for our OWN safety. If you feel a vehicle is unsafe, don't ride it. Kathy's very unfortunate death came from dismounting a vehicle in motion, not because of an inherent flaw in the design or any irresponsibility on the part of the driver. I for one am getting pretty tired of the cry for increased rules and regulations because something is not perfectly safe.

While I understand your lament for years past, when Art cars were just that -- modified cars that looked like something else, or had an artistic theme to them (the Toy car from '96 comes to mind), I am not certain that banning these so called party-floats is a good idea. Telling anyone how many folks they can and can not have in/on their vehicle is more imperialistic and paternalistic then even the current presidential administration, and does nothing to promote personal responsibility. Telling folks their idea of art is not valid and that because they do not agree with someone else's idea of art is just plain boorish.

One of my all time favorite Art Cars was "Barzilla" a green motorized Bar, complete with bar stools. It carried anywhere from 12-25 people, depending on how friendly they wanted to be, and was a centerpiece of the '98 and '99 incarnations of Gigsville. While I only got to ride it twice, I had some great experiences on it both parked and in motion. Perhaps it was a 'party float' as you say, but to a lot of folks it was something much much more. (Aside: I do not remember it having a sound system at all.)

Finally, I am not a big art car rider. I caught a ride on exactly one art-car this year, and it was to get from the Man to 3 O'clock/esplinade -- and that was technically cheating during the Skynyrd Marathon, cause I was pretty drunk, and thought it would be funny. It was.

I say if someone wants to assume the responsibility of creating a motorized party, let them. If they want huge sound system, they have the same limitations as any other sound system out there. And leave it up to the owner/driver of the vehicle to determine how many passengers is 'safe', not some arbitrary rule that does not take size, stability, engineering, or purpose into account. And just like anywhere else, personal responsibility is the key for the driver and the passengers.

[Kinetic]

As I sit here thinking about this, there is not enough manpower to police BRC as it is. So regulating art cars is going to be tough if not impossible. Scratch the regulation approach except by the DMV at permit time.

Really all I want to see is art...I just want to see more cool stuff. A few leftovers from last year in a tight economy is great, but bring in some cooler stuff or at least make some tweaks on it so it's a bit different than last year. As for lighting, Cool Neon dropped the price to $1 per foot...and considering some of the budgets out there, lighting should not be a problem.

If I come to BRC with any expectations, one of them is to be inspired. And for the most part it's not a problem...I just hope it continues.

[Borris]

I consider the party floats as a vital part of BRC, they serve not an art but a social purpouse

[Guest]

i don't want more rules. i hate rules. a lot.

however, there's definitely an issue here.

so. the first thoughts are completely bitch-free and implementable, and things that i think about w.r.t. art cars and/or party floats. these are "common" sense.

- first are foremost, i read my ticket
- if it's overloaded, i'm not gonna get on it
- if i'm walking, i light myself up, so it doesn't hit me
- if it's going to hit me, i move out of the way
- if i decide to try to get on it or off it while it's moving...i read my ticket
- if it's parked, and overloaded, and rocking, i'm not going to stand next to it in case it falls over...i read my ticket

now, we get into some admittedly subjective areas...would love some help in thinking through how we might actively, collectively, positively deal with:

- reckless driving -- it seems that we (the community) have determined that 5mph is a reasonable speed limit in BRC -- however, i saw a number of cars going waaaay faster than that this year. any brainstorms on how to encourage folks to slow down? (and was anyone else almost creamed by that fucking blue shark this year that was blasting down 4:00 and onto the Esplanade without slowing?)

- some folks are bitching about art car noise pollution. hell, it's the playa. deal with it. that being said...we (the community) have deemed that "large scale sound art" belongs out at 2 and 10, facing into the playa. if you're pumpin' wattage of your mobile cottage above 300w, get yer ass out there, and aim it out into the playa, just like everyone else.

- physical (non-art car) theme camps are given a location, and placed in a particular location, and limited to a particular space. why is that? are any of the reasons for putting some structure around theme camp size and location applicable to art cars? is an art car just a theme camp, with wheels?

looking forward to some discussion...

[Kilmore]

On reckless Driving -- This is tough to enforce, granted. There is the 'step-in-the-way' and hope they slow down/stop so you can berate them school of thought, but there is always that chance that the driver is not being as attentive as he/she probably should be. There is the 'Let the rangers or other LEOs enforce the law', but I think most folks think there is already too much of a LEO presence in BRC, and I have to agree. The Citizens of BRC have, to my experience, always been good about policing themselves.

On Shark Cars -- Dunno if that was the same shark that almost tore the passenger door of a friend of mine's truck during the DPW parade or not, but it would not surprise me in the least. I wasn't there, don't know a lot of details, except that it was a shark vehicle that nosed up to the open door, then hit the accelerator almost tearing the door from the hinges and mutilating it bad enough that it would not close.

On Noise Pollution -- Yep, You said it. Don't think art cars get any special noise privileges above those of theme camps, and then are encouraged to keep it down when not in the areas outlined above. If not, perhaps these things should be implemented.

On the Physical issue -- Not sure what you mean here... Theme camps are mapped like that based on the space they require, how interactive the theme camp is, and how soon they get that request into the BMOrg (I think) Space is also tighter closer to the esplanade then it is further back. An Art car is it's own beast, but in almost all cases, the mobility of the vehicle is a large part of the art. I saw a couple of tricked out Segways out there, one a little mobile bar, and one a horseless chariot. The flying carpet was wonderful. And of course, La Contessa was amazing as well. I am hard pressed to come up with anything that applies to Theme Camp mapping that can also apply to art cars.

--Kilmore

[Guest]

On the Physical issue -- Not sure what you mean here... Theme camps are mapped like that based on the space they require, how interactive the theme camp is, and how soon they get that request into the BMOrg (I think) Space is also tighter closer to the esplanade then it is further back. An Art car is it's own beast, but in almost all cases, the mobility of the vehicle is a large part of the art.

I guess what I was getting at was that, for some reason, I can't set my camp up in the middle of the playa, or make it spraawwwwwl all over the place, or put it in the street. The camp is given a defined location and constraints.

Theme camps are "placed," by the theme camp folks. Why?

Playa art is "placed," by the Artery folks. Why?

Should art cars have a "place," or a set of well-known "routes?" If so, why?

(again, just brainstorming here)

[tbone]

On Shark Cars -- Dunno if that was the same shark that almost tore the passenger door of a friend of mine's truck during the DPW parade or not, but it would not surprise me in the least. I wasn't there, don't know a lot of details, except that it was a shark vehicle that nosed up to the open door, then hit the accelerator almost tearing the door from the hinges and mutilating it bad enough that it would not close.
--Kilmore

I heard more complaints, and a lot of them came from people who rarely complain, about that big shark car. The driver was way out of control and did damage to both people and vehicles.

The driver is a fucking idiot, and has more than one person looking for him.

If it comes back next year, it might be smart for the driver to not bea total flaming asshole with no regard for people and vehicles on the playa. It might be smart of it comes back as something other than a shark, just so people don't recognize it.

I'm not suggesting that people disable it, but I won't be surprised when it happens.

[precipitate]

> Theme camps are "placed," by the theme camp folks. Why?

Because Larryland has to have a Boardwalk. God forbid participants set
up where they choose on the city grid and let things grow organically.

> Playa art is "placed," by the Artery folks. Why?

Because Larryland has to have a Map of Art for the docents to use
when leading tours.

> Should art cars have a "place," or a set of well-known "routes?"
> If so, why?

They do. They get permitted for travel in certain places. Open playa is
one of them. Esplanade isn't.

I don't think more rules is the answer to the art car problem. Actually
enforcing the rules might help - as in, you bring in an art car, you go
straight to DMV and either get a permit or an impound. Or when you get
busted for driving an unlicensed car, the car is immediately disabled.

[Guest]

I don't think more rules is the answer to the art car problem. Actually enforcing the rules might help - as in, you bring in an art car, you go straight to DMV and either get a permit or an impound. Or when you get busted for driving an unlicensed car, the car is immediately disabled.

Sounds good to me. Since most participants are non-DMV members, I suppose we go to DMV and "let them know" if there's an unlicensed car?

I'm also going to begin instigating some serious mob behavior on the reckless (YES, YOU, YOU SHARK-DRIVING MOTHERFUCKER) folks out there -- starting with the "20 of us walking at crawl speed in front of you" and escalating to the "oh! I'm sorry...did i drop that cinder block right in front of you? geez..." and going up from there.

(note to self: going to need more rebar next year)

[shotgun]

I have a question.

This is my first year on the playa - so I don't have a very good historical perspective. I've noticed from the BM website that the population of BRC has grown by about 10% a year recently. But has the playa space inside 3 and 6 o'clock expanded to accomodate the growth?

At night, there were TONS of art cars running around in this area of the playa (many going a touch faster than 5 MPH). The sheer number of party floats tooling around a small space created layers upon layers of tunes and beats, which in turn, created many games of "pump up the volume".

I read the back of my ticket, and by applying a small bit of common sense (glow sticks, etc), I did not feel at all endangered by the art cars on the playa. That said, if the number of cars each expands faster than the space, I would imagine that chances of additional injuries will increase as well. (For every ten people who apply common sense on the playa, there are at least a few who do not, right?)

So do we defer to the back of the ticket, or will it be necessary to reduce trafffic by applying some of the rules proposed previously?

[precipitate]

> But has the playa space inside 3 and 6 o'clock expanded to accomodate > the growth?

Sorta. They've increased the depth of the city by adding more
circumferential streets.

[Kinetic]

I wasn't going to say anything but the shark car almost ran 6 of us over...2 adults and 4 kids as we walked out to the man...and we had enough glowsticks and lights to make a raver jealous. The driver was a lunatic.

And if he made the mistake of messing up a DPW vehicle, god help him. I saw DPW turn a huge forklift around over by Kidsville and proceed to speed up and put the forks right under the back end of an F150 pickup that caused them problems. Those guys in the pickup had no idea they were so close to being literally picked up and airlifted out of BRC. That was just a pickup...I can only imagine what they'd do to an art vehicle.

And next year, just enforce the rules....if it's not an art car by DMV's specs, park it or impound it. I'm sure DPW would love to have fun impounding art cars....heck I can even visualize a repo man theme camp built around the concept....better yet why not give Chupacubra Policia expanded powers and let them handle this? I didn't run into them out there but I heard plenty about 'em.

Again, just my $0.02 on the subject......

[Isotopia]

If it comes back next year, it might be smart for the driver to not bea total flaming asshole with no regard for people and vehicles on the playa.

If it comes back next year I will burn it. Collectively the largest concentration of pricks I've ever encountered on the playa. Ever.

[L:Gringo]

Glad I missed the shark out there -- I wasn't out many late nights this year. But I did notice a horrific number of people who put a frame, a deck, and some glitter on their pickups, towing generators.

While I firmly believe that "art" is what you deem it to be, not what I deem it to be, I do think that a party float is not "art" any more than a neighborhood bar is "art."

That said, far be it for me to say, "You can't have that annoying vehicle roving our streets." Just because they annoy me, doesn't mean they annoy everyone.

I am nostalgic for art cars that are inspired more by something trying to get out of an artist instead of something intended to fit 50 of my closet drinking partners on it for a whoop-ass good time driving out to the Temple.

Just my thoughts. More rules? No. Enforce the ones we have. Party floats as art? Um, not in my opinion.

--RIP Kathy. Hope we don't send anyone else your way next year.

L:Gringo

[GuavaS]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........

some of us Mr. fricken weenie worked our asses off to provide a safe, comfortable, rockin fun means of transportation to the citizens, for the citizens, and of the citizens of BRC. We counted 50+ people attached to ours at one point, all of whom were having cocktails from our bar, dancing their beautiful little asses off, and having the freaking time of their lives whilst moving! This was all done very considerately, and very safely. So please please please don't generalize and be so freaking negative allright?? We're all trying to have a good time, we're all trying to participate, we're all doing the best work we can. Let the DMV do their job, they really do rule the world, and remember~ this is Burning Man! you either die or you don't.

Extra Surly )*(

[L:Gringo]

Sorry GuavaS. Didn't mean to sound negative. It's just that, IMHO, a party barge isn't art. It's cool; it's a great time, it's like a party in your, well, your car. But, is it art? C'mon.

--I may have to change my name to "Mr. fricken weenie"

L:Gringo

[Lydia Love]

<< thread drift alert>>

"Barzilla" a green motorized Bar

One of my fondest first year memories is of Barzilla. My husband, I and two other people arrived for our virgin burn crammed into a toyota celica - completely exhausted and sick to death of each others company. We had to bring our water piled up in the back seat rider's laps. There was no room for little ameneties like beer.

After our first day of suffering in the heat my husband and I walked to the man as the sun set. I could not imagine what the hell I was doing out in the middle of the fucking desert. I was sick from the heat and feeling profoundly out of place. As we looked at the man my husband sighed. "God, I wish I had a cold beer." I agreed. We both stood had a moment of shared misery.

Then a mighty rumbling sound approached. There came Barzilla, no soundtrack aside from it's unmuffled volkswagen motor. It thundered up to the man and people were vomited from it's many barstools. As they swarmed the man we approached.

We asked for and were granted a barstool apiece at the rolling bar. We we warned not to let any appendages too close to the unshielded motor and we were asked what we wanted.

"Um, a beer?" I yelled over the motor.

We each given a cold beer and a loud and magnificent ride around the playa - and I fell in love with Black Rock City. I don't recall ever being that grateful - before or since.

[Kinetic]

Collectively the largest concentration of pricks I've ever encountered on the playa. Ever.

Sorry, but with a few notable exceptions like Flux, that would have to be Playa Info. The sorry prick working over there Sunday morning should never have stepped foot on the playa...he's the poster child for everything negative about BRC. And he had some sidekicks that were not far behind him in the race to be the worst ass on the playa. The shark driver was a Saint compared to those fuckwits.

Playa Info: The worst use of playa real estate in BRC. Totally worthless. People slam Rangers but if you want real help, go see them. At least they give a damn and try to help.

[bradtem]

Art cars have existed for a long time, outside of burning man, but of course they like to come to burning man.

In the mid-90s, people camped sparsely and everybody drove. In particular they drove to the rave camp, miles away from the main city, and in a horrible tragedy, somebody drove over a tent and there was death.

It was clear you couldn't have everybody drive, but nor, due to the cool cars, was it wanted for nobody to drive.

Thus there need not be a rule that the cars be art, just that there be some restriction so that the volume of vehicles is kept at a safe and pleasant level. It's a dept. of "mutant" vehicles, not artistic ones. I think what matters is that when you drive by, people go "cool!"

That includes party cars, though they may need more safety regimens on them.

There should be one set of rules though. DMV, Larry's golf cart, BLM rangers, even emergency vehicles should make you say "cool" when they go by. Why not? The city can afford it now. As a photographer I hate those unadorned Ryder trucks that sit out in the playa near art installations.

I agree about the sound, but as I've already said, I don't think recorded music is the same sort of self-expression as other stuff at BM, or as live music. It's somebody else's expression filtered through your tastes. Putting together a mix takes 5 minutes of point and click today, it's not the creative effort it once was.

[Isotopia]

Why is it that I get the distinct feeling that those art car/bar folks who are chiming in here with their frustrations are probably the very one's who caused little or no problems on the playa?

My experience this year - and it was considerable - was that the majority of complaints about vehicles came from folks that identified marginally decorated, unlicensed vehicles as the number one culprit in bad driving, close calls, rudeness, intoxicated operators, etc?

I'm picking up a pattern of sorts here. Namely, those folks who did invest time, registered according to the regs, were familiarized with the expected driving do's-and dont's are probably the very persons who least deserve the ire of this board or the community as a whole.

[GuavaS]

Art needn't always be so visual. Art is an idea, a feeling, a thought to express. Art is the freedom of communication that exists no matter wich way we choose to express it. Most importantly Art is created by artists, and only Art critics criticize Art... I don't like Art Critics, and I'm very sorry as to my earlier ranting, but I'm very defensive when it comes to my Ghetto Utilitarian Post Apocalyptic Gospel Assault Vehicle. In it's defense, it was fricken beautiful, provided a service, and managed to expand some minds along the way. Peace, I love you~

Not-So Surly

[precipitate]

> DMV, Larry's golf cart, BLM rangers, even emergency vehicles should
> make you say "cool" when they go by. Why not? The city can afford it
> now.

Whee! More stuff for my ticket money to pay for that I didn't ask for and
I don't need. Yippee!

I think it'd be nice if ranger and staff cars were decorated. But I don't
want to pay for it. I want my money to go to my art projects, or at the
very least to specific art projects of my choosing. If they decide to sink
their money into decoration, rock on. It's frankly not an essential service,
and therefore one I don't think we ticket buyers should be asked to subsidize.

[Isotopia]

Playa Info: The worst use of playa real estate in BRC. Totally worthless. People slam Rangers but if you want real help, go see them. At least they give a damn and try to help.

Ohhhhh.... Kinetic......

I feel your pain like a marlin hitting the hook.

I'm assuming your bad experience might have been at playa info sometime after 6-8pm?

If that's the case, there's been a few folks who've elected to turn the booth into their own disinformation compound and it sounds like you got hit. Big time.

Unknown fucks that they are, they've been setting up for the past few years pretending to be the real thing. Usually after sundown and especially after 11pm or so. Sounds like they snagged you. In spite of what Bob, III or any of the other old timers suggest, Rangers will at least try not to bullshit you as far as answering your questions. In all fairness though they're often right about us not always knowing the answers.

[bradtem]

Your ticket provides funding to various art projects, way beyond essential services. If BRC is to be a community, though, and to have rules, is it not important that the rules be for everybody? While I suspect that if Larry asked people to decorate his golf cart, he wouldn't have to pay them, that's not true for some other vehicles.

But yes, it's worth more to me (though I don't think it would need to increase the price) if it meant that rules meant to make a good community applied to everybody. Nobody, not staff, dpw or even feds, should be above them.

[Isotopia]

I think it'd be nice if ranger and staff cars were decorated. But I don't want to pay for it.

That's OK. I don't decorate my car. It's white. It's plain, it's clean. It's a station wagon. It gets around BRC - quick enough I'll add. I inhabit the realm of almost perimeter, almost gate, mostly Ranger. I don't consider the blinky accouterments when I'm using my car to respond to situations. It's just something I add to the mix when I volunteer. Honestly, I figure a week on the playa probaly equales 10k (seriously) of excess mileage on my rig but it gets me there. I do it because I love you fucks.

Still, anyone familiar with getting playa dust out of a tubo charger?

[Kinetic]

Precipitate: I agree...I want my ticket funding more art, not excesses like decorating Larry's golf cart. (And in 2 years now I haven't seen Larry once, maybe a decorated golf cart would help me spot him).

Isotopia....please tell me your pulling a fast one on me...I thought the BRCPO was the only place I would run into performance art like that...did I get fooled at PI? No, this can't be.

If it's truly the case, then the guy on Sunday morning should get an honorary Oscar for his performance. He was, the ultimate ass.