Georgie Boy Placement Sucked Ass

[Tafkah]

Georgie Boy was the art installation at the center of the 3:00 Plaza. People could push the button to watch robotic Georgie Boy perform one of his 8 scenes. The robotics and design were interesting for a few minutes, but the audio drove everyone on the plaza crazy. Georgie Boy blathered 24/7 with his repetitive, unimaginative dialog and click-click-click of the roulette wheel. And to make it worse, Georgie Boy would talk and play music, even if no one pushed his button. In my 13 years of BM, I've never seen an art installation that was so universally hated by those camped around it.

[theCryptofishist]

Are you sure that placement wasn't the issue?

[spygeek]

I was camped at the 3:00 Plaza and I may have been the only one in our camp who didn't hate Georgie Boy. I wish I understood the hate. People were throwing around "that ain't art" and stuff like that. My response was, the same concept could easily be a play at a Fringe festival somewhere, so how is it not art? I do get the noise issue - I was at the back of our camp so the 6:30AM wakeup call did not seem to affect me as much as some.

There was talk about the placement and that maybe he would have been better in deep playa where people could have discovered him and heard his story.

[C.f.M.]

Georgie Boy was insanely amazing but as I told someone, probably too high-brow for the BM crowd, who want blinky blink and big fire 'splosions.

[Mr. Googles]

I think it was placed in the wrong area.. would have been way better deep in the playa.

I LOVED it though! It made my heart sparkle when the rats popped up and started singing along. Someone put so much work into it, and I hope to see it again!

[Bay Bridge Sue]

You know, it would have been a HIT on playa, just like the Dicky box years ago... people would have flocked to it to experience it. I'm surprised it got put in the 3:00, but the ways of the man are mysterious and interesting. Whatever it was, it is, and in history it shall be. What else can be said?

[hookahdude]

I was unable to make it this year due to real world influences, etc. To use the term "sucked ass" about any piece of art that an artist created I feel is pretty harsh. You didn't like it. That is cool.. But the vitriol spewed about an art piece that obviously took a fuck-ton of work to complete is kinda harsh and if I might say - pretty fucked up. I followed the construction of "Georgie Boy" as much as I could via different channels because I know the artist and thought it was a pretty amazing endeavor. It really sounds like the issue was more placement than the piece "Sucking Ass". I know "Georgie Boy" was a labor of love and that the artist who created it has been responsible, in part, for some of the coolest shit I have ever seen.

But like I said, I wasnt there this year. So I don't know shit. Other than it is really fucked up to be that harsh when it sounds like it was really a placement issue.

But I may also be an Uber Asshat.

Salut.

[robrob]

i was camped on the plaza and GB generally bled into the random background roar that is burning man.

i was amused by the megaphone people yelling at people to stay away from that button early in the am though

[robrob]

also, my gf just walked by, saw this thread title and said "what did they make that was soo much better"? <3

[polyresin]

I agree with some other posters that it should have been way out there, though I did live in the area and coming home to a giant retro motel sign right next to the popcorn palace was pretty adorable...

Anyways... kind of a harsh post, a lot of people worked really hard to make it happen.

viewtopic.php?f=189&t=37761

[C.f.M.]

also, my gf just walked by, saw this thread title and said "what did they make that was soo much better"? <3

Please high five your girlfriend for me.


I commented one evening that it wasn't just the constant music I miss, but you get used to specific noises around your living area. The clacking of the wheel spinning is one constant noise I heard all week, that made me happy to know something as incredible as GB was out there and someone like Jellyfish puts his whole fucking life into creating things for one week of our lives.

[hookahdude]

C.f.m - You had a Jayne hat!?!?!?!

I am green with envy. I sincerely hope you get it back! It says a lot about a person who can wear a hat like that!

You can't take the playa from me...

[bigbluedoggy]

Our camp was just off the plaza at 3:00 and A on the corner. We could clearly hear GB at all hours of the day and night, and while the clatter of the roulette wheel did grate after awhile, and the songs and crying jags did get a bit repetitive, I have great respect for the work and incredible effort that went into creating that piece. To create a thread to bash an artist for something that was completely out of their control is childish and extremely inappropriate. I'm sure the incredible interactive artwork or installation created by you in your plaza camp far outweighed the countless hours and thousands of dollars spent bringing Georgie Boy to life on the playa...

We need more folks like Mister Jellyfish who give completely of themselves for an entire year to execute their artwork. If not for people with that kind of vision and determination, BRC would just be a bunch of dirty people camped on a lakebed staring at each other while they get drunk and stoned. Yes, the Placement was a bit odd, but MJM had no control over that and I guarantee you he was grateful to not have to deal with a generator running 24/7 as he has had to do for the last few years with most of his previous projects. I recall a post he made where he seemed rather dumbfounded yet happy by his placement. Congrats MJM, on a fabulous piece that actually survived the full week fairly intact, something much of the artwork on the playa cannot manage to do, especially those involving electronics. You can put it right it in front of my camp next year if you need to.

[Sic Pup]

I have to agree this sounds like a placement issue, the piece itself was pure genius, IMO.

Unimaginative? Hardly, it had me rolling. Jellyfish and his crew did a bang up job and managed to pull this off with grace and aplomb when it could have potentially gone a totally different way. The attention to detail was incredible, the four chorus critters popping up, the comedy and tragedy masks, the sidekick..... all extraordinary, and the dialog and songs were stellar, spot on. If you were at the brandy party you saw how inspired and, rightfully, pleased with himself the artist was your opinion might be different. It was a joy watching him (and the brandy girls rolling in the playa on top of one another was also a hoot but I digress). Also, the fact that he posts with progress updates throughout the creative process, solicits opinions and feedback makes me feel more involved, increases the level of anticipation and ultimately leads to a vicarious sense of accomplishment seeing thoughts come to fruition, it sucks me in and makes me feel a part of the project.

That said, I can see having to hear it constantly might lead to Small, Small World syndrome but pinning that on the artist is misdirected.

[Kinetik V]

If it wasn't for artists like Mister Jellyfish, Burning Man would be nothing more than the Electric Daisy Carnival moved to the playa.

[Bay Bridge Sue]

I was unable to make it this year due to real world influences, etc. ... But I may also be an Uber Asshat.

Salut.

We WONDERED what happened this year... we had the special 435kVa sysem ready for you, and... nothink.

We will be expecting even MORE of awesome art next year, komrade? After all, the Hookah Doom will to have its own Dome for 2012... if you dare to be willing. Da??? Or will we half to drag you behind halftrak to get you there? We HAFF ways, komrade!

Alllllso... we LOVED GB... It was one of the JF Collaborations finest. I cannot fraquin wait to see what he has in his zeekret planning stages.

(And BTW - he has been extendd officious invite for 2012. After all, what is the end of world without those mostest closest to ones heart??)

bbs

[oscillator]

Just curious Tafka, what art did you make & bring to the playa that didn't suck?

\Osc

[snake]

the 'taka taka taka' of the roulette wheel rocked me to sleep and meant i was home. georgie boy and smoochie poo's banter lulled me into comfortable....the 'neighbors are at it again' familiarity.
if you didn't like the 'noise'...wear earplugs...or don't go. cause surely, next and every year, something will irritate you.
ART surpasses any of your petty complaints.

[C.f.M.]

If it wasn't for artists like Mister Jellyfish, Burning Man would be nothing more than the Electric Daisy Carnival moved to the playa.

Whaaaa?? I don't get it. This is art, yet there's no flashing lights or dubstep or overt Meaning. I don't know how to think about it.

[lazerfox]

If it wasn't for artists like Mister Jellyfish, Burning Man would be nothing more than the Electric Daisy Carnival moved to the playa.

I have been to both EDC and Burning Man....I can assure you sir that the two are nowhere near the same. Not even in the same list of event types. I didn't get to see Georgie Boy like I had hoped to mostly because I expected to find it in deep playa and not in the middle of 3 when I went to the medic camp to treat my stupid and painful splinters & blisters. But even without having experienced it this in no way seemed even remotely familiar to EDC.

I will continue attending both but for very different reasons.

[illy dilly]

We walked by Georgie Boy on Monday or Tuesday night, they were still working out some of the kinks, but it still kicked ass!
Like most folks have already said.
Georgie Boy was freaking amazing! The time and money that goes into making an animatronic character only to be destroyed and beaten up the elements and then taken apart after a week is out of this world.
I didn't realize it at the time, as I was only there 10-15 minutes, but I can totally see how listening to Georgie Boy for 7 days could get really annoying.
The art was awesome, the placement was a bit off.
I think I spot just outside of Esplanade would be great. Maybe where Einhammer was last year? Shit, maybe we just give Mr. Jellyfish a 60 diameter circle and let him do what he wants with it every year?

Has anyone tried writing an email to the art placement folks just to let them know that the placement didn't work our real well? They may have simply spaced out the fact that the repetitive sound will get annoying.

Did anyone, consider waiting around for the guys that built it to come back and check on it, then when they're there, asking them to turn it down?
If they weren't camped in the 3 O'clock plaza, they may have no idea how annoying it got.

For a person to say that an amazing piece of art like that was terrible is jacked up.

[unjonharley]

\
Is our spineless fish going to out do himself again in 2012 ..

Mr Jellyfish take a bow.. Yours is the best moop on the playa

[robrob]

Did anyone, consider waiting around for the guys that built it to come back and check on it, then when they're there, asking them to turn it down?
If they weren't camped in the 3 O'clock plaza, they may have no idea how annoying it got.

here's an idea- if you want a solid 8 of peace and quiet, don't set up camp on one of the 2 major plazas? IMO there should be 24 hour interactivity in those spots. Ideally it will be festively bright and somewhat loud, and semi-heavily trafficked all the time.

And maybe he knew damn well how grating it could become and giggled with glee? if there was ever a venue for annoying art, it's burning man.

i can't wait to see what MrJF has in store for us next year.

[Bay Bridge Sue]

I heard he was gonna take the year off...

Oh wait, that was LAST year after Ein Hammer.

Never mind... --giggles--

[d6]

Georgie Boy had an overall crew of 30+, while Mjm camped w/"Robotronia" @ 3:15/A, directly next door to longtime adversaries, led by Kernul Killbuck and the Apokiliptikans. In the quieter moments, I could hear the grinding halt of the wheel, and the muffled wailing of intermittent "song", and heard occasional tales of complaints and sound level compromise, none of which i followed to closely, as my camp role consisted of baby sitting Hotshot the Robot, our night time only interactive screen and hosting the popcorn palace on thursday (year 12!).
Having added small roles to Zsu-Zsu and Ein Hammer, I sat this year out when it came to the Mjm project, and can only theorize that deeper placement may well have alleviated the sound complaints, however the trade-off being that the installation would no longer have been on the power grid, which seems like a reason it may have been placed in the plaza to begin with.
And for those of you who liked the piece, Bernie, Munz and the Pawn worked a ton (and to near breakdown) to help mjm realize his goal, and always deserve shout-outs, they are all uber-talents in their own right and i consider myself lucky to spend even a little bit of time w/ them in brc.

[theCryptofishist]

I don't know Munz or the Pawn, but yes, Bernie is a delight.

[sawdustbear]

I loved Georgie Boy and it was probably one of my fave installations of the year.

I met Mister Jellyfish on Sunday when apparently someone had broken the button(probably a disgruntled noise complainer). THAT was pretty lame(the art being fucked up, not Jellyfish, who is awesome).

[illy dilly]

Did anyone, consider waiting around for the guys that built it to come back and check on it, then when they're there, asking them to turn it down?
If they weren't camped in the 3 O'clock plaza, they may have no idea how annoying it got.

here's an idea- if you want a solid 8 of peace and quiet, don't set up camp on one of the 2 major plazas? IMO there should be 24 hour interactivity in those spots. Ideally it will be festively bright and somewhat loud, and semi-heavily trafficked all the time.

LOL, you're right that is an even better idea!

[aireekah]

I loved Georgie Boy and was super excited to randomly come across it and meet and drink brandy with Mister Jellyfish and other lovely people who helped make it happen. Zsu Zsu and Georgie Boy are two of my favorite pieces I've seen at the maning burn. Haters suck butt. What what?

[lecosmique]

Georgie Boys placement did suck ass. While I don't agree with the OP's sentiments about the art, I do agree with the subject, that the placement sucked ass.

The installation itself was great, and clearly loved by many. The effort that went into make it, and the attention to detail was fabulous. That said, it's placement in the 3 o'clock plaza sucked. This should have been placed in the playa. It would have been experienced by more people there, and less annoying to those camped in the plaza. -32dB earplugs were no match for the tock tock tock tock.. tock.. tock... tock... tock....... tock...... tock....... of the roulette wheel.