The Pier

[RedHeaven]

OH HAPPY JOY!!!!

Hippy Bait
Raver Bait
Burner Bait
Hipster Bait
DJ Bait
SQUIRREL BAIT

[Tin Halo]

Tin-Halo: I understand. The real world can be a real kick in the pants sometimes.

If it had been just that, that would have been something overcome-able. It was a repeated kick in the balls. Then later, knives twisted deeply, and repeatedly.

Whoever was the sound guy, I'd like to get dialogue with him/her. Wanna be up to speed and wanna learn how you pulled it off.

[moonrise]

OH HAPPY JOY!!!!

Hippy Bait
Raver Bait
Burner Bait
Hipster Bait
DJ Bait
SQUIRREL BAIT

You forgot one!

Eplayan Bait (lmao)

[fbcota]

Here is what I have put on my personal blog regarding Pier 2. Hope you enjoy.



During the tear down of The Pier we were ready to watch it disappear into nothing. But we were approached to bring it back the next year, and after a series of fortunate events I really couldn't say no.

I have been fairly vocal about my opinions of bringing art back to Burning Man. And I felt like I was going to be eating crow for awhile if we brought The Pier back unchanged. Yes, The Pier was loved,... but how could we make a statement about returning art while still retaining what people loved about The Pier.

I kept thinking about breaking The Pier, maybe a snarky attack on our own art project. Don't get me wrong, it was an absolute honor to be asked to bring it back. We were beaming from ear to ear. But there was some serious pressure there. At Burning Man 2011 it was original and unique, at Burning Man 2012 well it will be old hat.

Then it came to us: Lets ram a ship into The Pier! Lets ram La Contessa into The Pier!!! (Well we didn't exactly say that, but it is so much more romantic that way)

La Contessa was a ship I never saw. It was before my time at Burning Man. However, its legend was not lost on me. La Contessa was, by all accounts, the alpha and omega of art cars. It was detailed to its core, it was dangerous, and magical. It moved fast, broke the rules and wowed all that saw it. And then it was burnt to the ground,...

We had it, we were going to ram a Galleon into the middle of The Pier. It would destroy 100ft in the center of The Pier, leaving a field of wreckage in its wake along with the shattered hull of a great ship half sunken in the playa.

Imagine, its Sunday night, Burning Man 2012. You come through the gate, the excitement overwhelms you. When you hit the Esplinade, a vaguely familiar site. The Pier? Wait? Why is it still here?

A memory takes over, the feeling of sitting at the end dangling your feet watching a whale fly by, hoping your pabst would catch a wandering Grizzle Bellied DPW. You run to The Pier, the lights swaying side to side. But wait, what is that in the middle?

Holy Shit? The nose of a massive galleon juts out from the playa. What happened. The Pier,... its,... destroyed! Wait no, someone placed some gangplanks over the ship reaching the other half of The Pier.

You'll just walk over the makeshift bridge to the end of The Pier,... but there is a light coming out of the massive hole in the side of the ship. Are those people visible in through the portholes? Do you relive your memories from the past year, or explore a 60ft wreck,...

So, here is the quick rundown. The Beginning and the End of The Pier are unchanged. The middle is demolished. Replaced by a 9 room 3 story dive-able ship wreck. To get to the end of The Pier, you can climb up the wreck, walk the make shift gang plank, climb some rubble or make your way up the slightly more climbable end.

The ship is a piece of art separate in itself. A relic of an unknown time, recovered, resold, crashed, stolen and repaired again and again. Inside, it tells the story of its existence, its crew and its death. A dead hermit sits in the back of the brig. The tight crew rooms offer a glimpse into another's life. The captains chamber is perfect, save the remnants of the captain lording over the map of Black Rock City trying to figure out how he made such a catastrophic mistake,...

There is more, but that, well is our little secret

http://photoscribbles.tumblr.com/

[fbcota]

Tin Halo: ehcsztein did the sound. Shoot him a message

[graidawg]

oh my! this is very cool indeed the pier was such a magnificent thing at BM'11 and to have it back bigger and broken would be just amazing!

[mars]

Awesome!

[thisisthatwhichis]

*****sproiing******

FBcota, you've done some amazing things over the years!!!..... This is tops!

I'm in Reno, let me know if I can lend a hand here or there...........

[fbcota]

Email me. mrschultz at gmail dot com

Everyone: Last project there were a number of volunteers that slipped through the cracks. That was my bad, I was simply overwhelmed by the scope of The Pier. Well, now we are going bigger. I am going to try my best to track down a volunteer coordinator. If you want to help, please still email me. Because I would love to have some new faces on this project, Also, everyone who was here at the Beginning last year. Please email as I would still love to work with you guys.

.

[theCryptofishist]

This reminded me of the pier. The bait shop, mostly.

[Bay Bridge Sue]

I have... officially... fallen out of my chair at the announcement.

Like you, I have certain feelings about returning art on the playa. Not necessarily camps, per se (hell, our camp has been here 8 years now), but the art... yeah, if it's the same, it's so last year. I was almost dreading that the pier, as awesome as it was (and IMO it was prolly the most awesome piece of interactive art out there), would return...

My dread has vanished. Thank you!!!

THIS sounds like an amazing addition to a great project, and I can just about envision what you are going to do... maybe. Still, my toes are tingling, and I can't wait!

[googbox2]

Eric- I loved meeting you in the bait shop and giving you a big ol' hug. You're just as handsome in person (I know, wrong orientation but a compliment is a compliment

Fbcota-- crap.... I think I'm about to tell you I'll volunteer to be a volunteer coordinator. My favorite part of Pier V1 was meeting and talking to so many people... thinking... possibly... unless you have somebody else in mind.

[fbcota]

Goog: You forgot your password didn't you?

[googbox2]

Oh geeze, yeah, I created a new account... long story. Are you asking b/c I changed my name or took down the "hey matt it's me" icon?

[deutlich]

http://photoscribbles.tumblr.com/

Your blog is SO going in my google reader.

Any way us east-coasters can help?

[fbcota]

Yay, I love it when people read (mostly look at the pictures) on my blog. Should have Pier updates.

On the help side, yes we could use some remote help. There is a TON of stuff to make and acquire for the ship. Everything from lockets, to parchment, to large round tables. We are going to do our best to deck the ship out. Detail, detail, detail is what is going to make this really special.

One idea we had was to create a loose timeline, then have people write journals from different ship members perspectives and integrate the events into the timeline into their Journals. If we can get a couple passive volunteers to do that then it will give the ship that bit of extra life that 5% of the populace will go nuts for.

[deutlich]

Sweet! And this is perfect timing because one of the local burners is hosting a town hall meeting this Saturday in an attempt to start planning the artsy stuff dc burners can do in prep for 2012. Not sure what they already have lined up, if they're hoping for suggestions or if it's a free-for-all think tank type of thing. We'll see if something comes of it!

[soupnugget]

One of the top moments of my burn this year was Wednesday at sunset at The Pier. Boyfriend and I wandered out to roam the playa, and instead were stopped in our tracks in awe. The usually subdued pier had turned into a VORTEX. People were streaming up and down the pier like ants. Others were riding their bikes toward it from far away, seeing that something was going on. Every other person walking around the base of the pier was taking photos like mad. Various boats were docked at the pier. The big yacht-looking one was docked at the end, and was packed with party people drinking and being outlandish. A smaller boat was docked on the side of the pier, and a group of women dressed in 80's sailor costumes were dancing to the sounds of Toto's "Rosanna" around the boat. Behind this swirling chaotic scene was a fenced off area, where people in yellow rubber overalls were helping "contain" the giant 3-D kites of sea creatures. My mind was blown. Boyfriend's mind was blown. The old man standing next to us in a work jump-suit's mind was evidently blown as he stood there with mouth, literally, agape. We fumbled for the camera to document this anomaly of a moment ("Is this really happening?"), and turned to go back to camp as the storm blew in and the sky filled white, blotting out the sun.

[junglesmacks]

That's some Reader's Digest type shit right there.

[ehcsztein]

One of the top moments of my burn this year was Wednesday at sunset at The Pier. Boyfriend and I wandered out to roam the playa, and instead were stopped in our tracks in awe. The usually subdued pier had turned into a VORTEX. People were streaming up and down the pier like ants. Others were riding their bikes toward it from far away, seeing that something was going on. Every other person walking around the base of the pier was taking photos like mad. Various boats were docked at the pier. The big yacht-looking one was docked at the end, and was packed with party people drinking and being outlandish. A smaller boat was docked on the side of the pier, and a group of women dressed in 80's sailor costumes were dancing to the sounds of Toto's "Rosanna" around the boat. Behind this swirling chaotic scene was a fenced off area, where people in yellow rubber overalls were helping "contain" the giant 3-D kites of sea creatures. My mind was blown. Boyfriend's mind was blown. The old man standing next to us in a work jump-suit's mind was evidently blown as he stood there with mouth, literally, agape. We fumbled for the camera to document this anomaly of a moment ("Is this really happening?"), and turned to go back to camp as the storm blew in and the sky filled white, blotting out the sun.

This story makes me really happy. That night was also one of my favorite moments from this year (if not all years.) The Regatta was a magical experience.

So glad you were there!

[Simon of the Playa]

any assistance or consultation with upholsterizing or sewing, feel free to ask, it will be remote (east coast) but with all the electronic thingamajiggies im sure we could easily coordinate and handle the logistics of transfer of said objects. I also always travel with my (staple) Gun and if supplied with an air compressor can make furniture and re-upholster shit like the Devil on Meth...

oh wait, scratch that analogy...

anyway...the pier was truly impressive and at one point, i think it was dusk, my GF and i looked out from about 3:00 towards center camp and the colors and the light were perfect, for a brief shining moment, BRC was a lake, with very strange cottages lined around it, and there was this beautiful sillouette of the pier cutting across the "water"...

awesome sauce.

[Savannah]

I'm loving all the descriptions of the ways people interacted with it (and the momentary illusion of the lake). Wish I had a picture of the latter, but I can imagine it well.

[fbcota]

soupnugget: That was the first night I actually felt like I was able to start burning. The stress of working on The Temple for 12 days then hoping over to The Pier and working on that for 7 had broken this old boy (its was damned worth it, not complaining). But when I wandered out to The Pier that evening wondering if the Regatta had rolled in yet? My jaw dropped to the ground, eyes transfixed on our little Pier looking more like a busy Thai port then the little Pier it was the night before. I don't think I have had a bigger smile in my life, and even though I drank far too much to remember much after the regatta (huge party at your art kinda means your forced to drink as there is a toast or a new shot in every turn) I will not forget a moment of my time on The Pier that day (recollection starts to fade when I got off The Pier ). So hearing your story brings back that smile .

Simon: I'm glad someone saw that vision . That was one of the original intentions of The Pier, kinda its macro-art, or something like that. And yes, we would love your help. The ship is going to need a TON of props. The Captains chamber in particular is planned to have a number of wood chairs with nice red velvet type cushions, we want the chairs to be aged, like you would find them in a wreck, but retain an err of class and wealth (kinda the mo for that room). Having someone who can rock the upholstery would help make the furniture so much cooler and hopefully keep the massive budget down. Be fun to bring as many Eplaya people on as possible.

[fbcota]

Ohh, and how in gods name did we stay on topic for 19 pages of this?

[theCryptofishist]

It's a good topic.


It caught a lot of our imaginations, even pre-playa.

[moonrise]

Snarks and thread drift seem to stay away from a great work of art!!

[fbcota]

http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?f=282&t=51422

come to 2012,....

[Psycho]

I remember reading this thread when it was just one post... It's been a really cool experience to see something evolve from 'Hey, I have an idea', to actually seeing it on the Playa... I think it was the first thing that I actually acknowledged when I drove in- 'Holy shit, the pier! He really built it!' Even though I had nothing to do with it, it was still cool...

I love the idea for bringing it back... You should just spread stories about how you felt it would just be esaier to leave it on the Playa, all set up, ready for next year (trust me, someone will believe it), and you are pissed that someone drove an art car through it.

I mean, seriously, if Daft Punk is playing live, then why the hell can't you leave your art on the Playa?

Congrats on the success of the project, looking forward to the new incarnation.

[OatmealMama]

I have some really great pics of The Pier...do you want me to email them to you? I can't figure out how to post them. I can put them on FB, though.

Marlena Balvin

[OatmealMama]

I was the *ahem* 17th responder to the original post....