2004 Theme

[Flux]

(I can't vouch for the veracity of this, as it came from a mailing list (albeit a pretty well-regarded one) and not straight from the Burning Man organization. However, if you're just chomping at the bit to get started dreaming up your theme-related projects, here you go! -- Flux)

Vault of Heaven

In the time it takes to read this sentence, the sun will travel 1,500 miles in its orbit round the center of our local galaxy, the Milky Way. Our theme this year will contemplate the cosmos -- real science and its surreal realms of possibility; time and space will warp and dimple, quasars pulse, supernovas might blaze in the night. The laws of Nature as you know them could abruptly change. Close yours eyes and hold your breath. Prepare to fall into the sky.

[madmatt]

Ok, so it's vault of heaven. Cool, outer space, cosmos, whatever. Maybe people will finally transform those oceanically based art cars for into spaceships!!

Best part is, I'm sure a very large portion of burners are secret (or open) alien lovers. Ha.

[Imagigrl]

So, "Pigs in Space" is acceptable then???

Admittably Alien,
Imagigrl

[OregonRed]

So, "Pigs in Space" is acceptable then??? ;)

Admittably Alien,
Imagigrl

"Pigs in "Space is always acceptable!

[Patience]

At the Matt Gonzalez party, Larry said it was "Another World."

???

[technopatra]

At the Matt Gonzalez party, Larry said it was "Another World."

???

I believe he meant "an otherworld" tho that's not the actual name.

[Flux]

At the Matt Gonzalez party, Larry said it was "Another World."

???

I believe he meant "an otherworld" tho that's not the actual name.

Good. "Another World" sounds like a soap opera.

[SED]

An Other World?

Another World?

Why not Desert Art/Pyro/NakedDrunkLunacy Party?

We won't know till it's anounced, but if that's the best LH can come up with, maybe there should be some kind of BRC citizen input, like maybe a an all-call for themes and a vote of some kind.

Just a thought.

[Hepcat]

Or perhaps, just a different world. No theme needed, its the truth

[stuart]

SED,
if you do a little digging you will find that the 'theme by comittee' topic was discussed quite heavily on this board in september.

[Imagigrl]

What now??? I'm so confused!!! My butt is itchin' to get motorin' on my camp so spring the theme on me Man! How doth The Man wish for us to adorn his garden this year?

I would call it something more like "Vault of the Universe." Heaven denotes Christian afterlife beliefs.

Nebulous = down to/of the earth space/life... our emergence and getting comfortable in our earthly plane

the wheel = the first spark of complex human thought/beyond animal instinct

the body = well, now... we all know what that was about

7 ages = human development/getting to know our own minds
Keyhole
I Cradle
II Playground
III Chapel
IV Coliseum
V Temple of Wisdom
VI Maze
VII Mausoleum
All Ages
Tour of the Seven Ages

the floating world = liquid and air space/life... planetary frontier exploration

Beyond Belief = spiritual realms and dilemmas/the human soul

.... Where no man has gone before! To infinity and beyond!!! Piiiigs Iiiiiin Spaaaaaaace!!!!!

[Badger]

Heaven denotes Christian afterlife beliefs.

Not to all folks.

Just because the word 'heaven' harks to your ideas about the afterlife and Chirsitian-based belief structures doesn't for a minute mean that's what the theme is anchored in.

You might go and do some searching on the web to see that for ages hhe term 'heaven' usually means nothing more that the sky and all that it contains.

It's a big enough pallet for eveyone to work with I think.

[BlueBirdPoof]

I'm waiting to see what can be done on the "Vault of Al Capone's Heaven" with a shame faced (if only it were possible!) Geraldo Riviera riff.

[Bob]

New horizons for art cars, at least.



(Apologies to Miss Piggy.)

[Imagigrl]

yeah, maybe I spent too much time in Utah.
i dunno, most people don't think of heaven in a literal meaning of the root of the word. most people think at least afterlife. so i take it back re: the Christian part as other religions also use the word "heaven" to equate with "afterlife." to me, it just sounds too clublike (i.e., how many clubs or club nights were coined "Heaven" in the 90s and beyond??? Heaven in London... is a famous one.) that's just my opinion and by golly i'm gonna say it AND i am barely going to use capital letters too! passive agressive??? maybe...

rabbits eat their young, you know?!

PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGS IIIIIIIIIIIIIN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!
(did'na know farts could jetison pigs so far into the outersphere.... er whatever.)

hey, maybe 2004 can be called "Outersphere" is that too dorky?

[vulgaris]

Maybe I take things a little too literally but when I think of Burning Man, I think of it AS the [a] vault of heaven because heaven to me is the uninhibited soul acting as it wishes to but through a body on the physical plane... Which is what Burning Man is to me, peoples collective feelings being displayed, items of joy and sorrow and intimacy out on an open field for people to experience over and over again. It's release on many levels.

The stars reflect that feeling. As small as a dot but so important... You can get lost in the crowd or become a part of a bigger thing that shapes your life and gives you feelings just like the constellations tell stories you can watch or become a part of it and share the feeling.

hmm. i should really just take a shower and get on with my day, huh.

[slinted]

I think there's much to be gained from this years theme in its literal sense (vault of heaven as the sphere of stars in the sky) and I am very anxious to share in this, and other interps, with others on the playa.

I see this sphere as our oldest 'big picture' understanding of where we are in this universe. It was an understanding of the sphere of stars that showed our ancestors that something was different in those points which moved across the sphere, the planets, giving us a greater understanding of cyclic time.

We are now before another threshold, one we'll likely live in for quite some time. We have started to explore outside our world, to other planets in our near vicinity. But from Mars, Venus, or other nearby planets, the night sky...this vault, would appear much the same. This is our next threshold.

To take our moving point, this small dot where we see and experience the world, and know that it is within the greater place, one which appears so static, which would be recognizable to a person ten thousand years ago and ten thousand of years from now...to me that is awe inspiring. Not only in its scope and breadth, but as a place where we are....that we are a part of. When looking at the stars, its easy to see ourselves as separate from their majesty, whereas we're as much a part of it as anything else we see.

It brings to mind Buckminster Fuller's concept of "Spaceship Earth", that we're all sharing a ride through the universe on this wet rock with its tenuous vaporous shell, but also that we're a part of it, we're a player in the grand scheme of stars. We're a point in that vault from any number of different viewpoints out in the cosmos.