
:
burning man film festival
Saturday,
Sept. 28, Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz, 2-8 p.m.
Ask the 29,000 participants of Burning Man 2002 what it means to
them and you're likely to get 29,000 different answers. It's a celebration
of art. A gift economy. A manifestation of cyberspace. A temporary
autonomous zone. A big party. Great ideas executed poorly.
Paraphrasing a former member of the Weather Underground: "It
doesn't show people how to live outside the box, it shows there
is a box."
The films and shorts included in this festival span eight years
of the event, starting in 1994 when the population was 2,000, through
2002, having grown to 29,600 - the seventh largest city in the state
of Nevada (for one week).
In order of appearance, what follows is a schedule and brief descriptions
of each piece:
Schedule
2 p.m.- EGG
2:13 - Nosolomusica
2:52 - Untitled, The Seven Ages of Man
3:21 - The Pyromid
3:38 - One Minute to Burn
3:47 - Burning Man 1994
5:16 - Obtainium.net presentation
5:25 - Spinnin'
5:39 - Performance by Colt Briner and Nocturnal Sunshine
5:51 - Drama in the Desert
6:20 - Aqua Burn
6:46 - Larry Harvey remarks
7:03 - Gifting It
EGG,
the arts show,
WNET New York
BM2000, nine minutes, by Amy Teuteberg
Each year, artists, teachers, mechanics, farmers, grandparents,
and grandkids come together in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, one of
the harshest environments on earth, for Burning Man. Braving extreme
temperatures and weather conditions, this community convenes to
build a city dedicated to radical self-expression. The only rule
is that you can't just stand on the sidelines and watch -- you have
to participate. From monumental sculpture to art cars, Burning Man
proves to be an oasis of creativity.
Nosolomusica
- Burning Man
BM2001, 33 minutes, by Carlota Nelson
The very first Spanish-language documentary
on Burning Man, produced by a crew from Madrid for the Telecinco
network show "Nosolomusica".
Nelson and her crew travel the world and report on unique festivals
and celebrations. This will be the first and only time this piece
will be shown in the U.S. It includes interviews with artists,
performers
and Larry Harvey. In Spanish.
"Untitled
(Burning Man 2001: The 7 Ages of Man)"
BM2001, 17 minutes, by Steven Piasecki
This as yet untitled piece captures the aesthetic essence of Burning
Man. Shot during Burning Man 2001 and mirroring the festival's theme
of The 7 Ages of Man, the film is a flowing collage of image and
music, celebrating that which makes the event so special and unique
- the extraordinary art works which are peculiar to the playa.
The
Pyromid
BM2001, 18 minutes, by Brian Scully
The Pyromid chronicles how a simple theme camp by day can transform
into the most chaotic and dangerous burn on the playa. Dick Dale
and William S. Burroughs narrate.
One
Minute to Burn
BM2001, five minutes, by Paul
Andresen and
Mo Stoebe
It all began when micro-tycoons saw infinite
bags of gold in binary codes of zeros and ones. Then the gold rush
was over and from the
ashes of the dot-com bust a film arose. And we call that film "One
Minute to Burn". So now, with open arms, we give it to you
for your enjoyment. In the words of the immortal Woody Guthrie,
"This film is your film, this film is my film, from California
to the New York Islands..."
Burning
Man 1994
BM1994, 74 minutes, by Chuck Cirino
One of the first full-length documentaries of the event, Cirino
captures Burning Man when the population was 2,000, you could still
get a lift across the city by a truck towing a toilet, and the Drive
By Shooting Range was, for some, the highlight of the event.
Spinnin'
2001, seven minutes, by Splinter
A short film on New York City's fire spinning community, set to
Eric B and Rakim.
Drama
in the Desert
BM1997-2001, 17 minutes, by Holly Kreuter
Our first project is Drama in the Desert, a full-color, 10-inch-by-10-inch
art book that includes a multimedia DVD. It's a compilation of images
and sounds collected over five years at Burning Man. It's a fully
sensory, audio-visual experience capturing what it feels like to
be at the event. It includes images, poetry, essays and a digital
soundscape CD recording to illustrate how Burning Man is a place
and state of mind of your choosing; a city of freedom and friendship.
Freedom to express and live out dreams or fantasies; when people
live that richly, they're open to friendship and community in its
purest sense. Through snapshots and snippets of sound, this book
documents experiences and archives moments from this tremendous
humanity festival.
Aqua
Burn 
BM2002, 24 minutes, by Bill Breithaupt
Aqua Burn is an interpretive look at BM
2002 that documents the water theme, the spirituality, the creativity,
and the fun! It showcases the
participants' imagination, effort, and time that went into the
art projects, camps, and activities to make them so engaging.
Aqua Burn
includes enlightening interviews with participating Burners, from
first timers to veterans. Breithaupt has given out hundreds of
his
energetic annual films that
capture the experience of BM: "The Burning Man Project"
(1999), "Got Fire?" (2000), and "Are You Lost?" (2001).
Aqua Burn is a change of pace from Bill's prior films, but arguably
more compelling. He has really burned the midnight oil
to get this 2002 film ready in less than 30 days.
Gifting
It
BM2000-2001, 74 minutes, by Renea Roberts
GIFTING IT is a meditative piece that seeks
to explore one aspect of the Burning Man festival that truly makes
it different. An aspect
that provides the foundation for a host of social elements to recreate
themselves beyond the boundaries set in a world increasingly turning
commodified. Here, things are different. You can make your own
unique
mold and be different too. And if you decide you'd like to take
it with you, well there's no charge.
In addition to the films and shorts,
the festival will also include the following:
Talk
by Larry Harvey, executive director, Burning Man
Born in 1948, Larry Harvey grew up on a
small farm on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. In the late 1970's
he moved to San Francisco,
and soon discovered the city's thriving underground art scene.
In
1986 he founded Burning Man at a local beach, and has guided its
progress ever since. Larry likes the word "prodigious."
"Primal" would run a close second. "Looming"
and "vast" would doubtless place. He has, by his own admission,
a grandiose imagination. This is tempered by a love of people and
a keen appreciation of their characters, capacities and creative
ideas. In his role as spokesperson for the Project, he is known
for his hat. The famous Stetson, a pearl gray 7 3/8" Open
Road, seldom leaves his head. It is worn, he tells us, in remembrance
of his father, who wore the original.
Larry is executive director of the Burning Man Project. He serves
as chairman of Burning Man's senior staff and Black Rock City LLC,
its executive committee. He also co-chairs the organization's Art
Department, scripts and co-curates Burning Man's annual art theme,
and collaborates with artists in creating aspects of the art theme
and the design of Black Rock City. He produces Burning Man's annual
newsletter and writes articles and essays for the Project's website.
As spokesperson for Burning Man, he is frequently interviewed by
reporters, and he has lectured on subjects as diverse as art, religion,
civic planning and the rise of cyber-culture in the era of the Internet.
Larry is also a political planner. He supervises the organization's
lobbying efforts and frequently attends meetings with state, county
and federal agencies.
Digital Fire
Performance by Colt Briner of Coltronix and members of Nocturnal
Sunshine
Spinning fire in
a crowded theatre just wasn't in the cards, according to the city
powers-that-be. First-time
burner Colt Briner and members
of the Santa Cruz fire performance troupe Nocturnal Sunshine will
give a digital fire spinning performance using a product Briner
developed called "Street Lights."
Phusion light dancing is an adaptation
of the ancient art of Polynesian fire dancing that incorporates
both ancient and modern influences
from many other cultures including our own United States. Depending
on the pace of the music, Phusion dancing reveals different hints
of its cultural influences. With slower music, Phusion dancing
bares
a resemblance to the Chinese art of Tai-Chi. With faster music,
hints of a Japanese Karate Kata come to mind. The tracer effects
of the lights also deliver distinct visual impressions. People
viewing
photos of Phusion performers recall images of Native American dancers
wearing feathered headdresses, or dancing angels because the spoking
effect of the lights can make them resemble wings. Phusion
dancing has something in it that appeals to people of all ages and
cultures. It can be performed with any kind of music and suits
almost any occasion. It is the art form for those who need
to boldly glow.
"Obtainium
Dot Net" presentation by project director Felix Baum
"Obtainium" describes useful
materials and supplies found or obtained for free. Obtainium.NET
is an online community of constructively creative folks who think
that a crappy economy shouldn't be an impediment to the fulfillment
of creative visions. Felix will give an overview of Obtainium dot
net and how you can use it to both find the gear and the help you
need to bring your creative visions to life, and to get rid of stuff
you no longer find interesting.
Audio
interludes from the CDs 'Playaphone I' and 'Burning Man '99'
PLAYAPHONE I, by Ray Link and Alice
DuChamp is an experiment in communication, the Playaphone is a
closed circuit multi-phone
system that has been a toll-free utility at Burning Man since1998.
From Frostalicous at the bar to calls from the 6th dimension,
conversations
are defined by the lowered inhibitions, instant intimacy and playful
creativity found in the Burning Man community. The Playaphone
I
CD documents the random connections recorded from the anonymous
Black Rock callers set to an original soundtrack. Burning Man
'99
was recorded live at Burning Man 1999 on Aug. 31 and Sept. 3-4
by Michael Zelner.
Copies of Chuck Cirino's "Burning
Man 1994" and "Burning Man 1997", Holly Kreuter's
"Drama in the Desert", Renea Roberts' "Gifting
It", and the Playaphone I CD will be available for sale during
the festival. Proceeds from the sales go back to the artists.
If you appreciate what they've done, please support them.
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