The Black Rock Desert is colder than you might expect this time of year. A lot colder. Overnight temperatures in Nevada’s high mountain desert have hit record lows. But now, after dumping a load of fresh snow, the clouds are gone. The moon reflects brightly off the smooth, frigid, white desert. The sky is awash with stars.
It’s been a long, lonely drive from Reno. Up ahead, a brilliant light glows. You rub your eyes, puzzled by the anomaly. Nothing lives out here. What could it be? You stop your pickup and step out to get a better view, standing on your running boards. All of a sudden, something seems to be pulling you…teleporting you…to ICE PLANET on the playa!
So reads the opening of the Press Release for the BURN2 seasonal event, Santalarity, which this year has the theme of Ice Planet: The Turning of Time, and kicks-off at 10:00 on Saturday 14th December at 10:00 SLT, running through until 22:00.
Santalarity sees the playa transformed into an ice planet where aliens have come to “help restore peace and hope and celebrate a renewed planet”. The event will feature art, music, dancing, skating, fire and fun, and will include content contributions from:
UltraViolet Alter
Leroy Horten
Barbs Kurka
Bryn Oh (with permissions)
TheDove Rhode
Eifachfilm Vacirca
Zorch Voom
Ub Yifu
Jedda Zenovka
Nathan Zetkin
“and more”.
The scheduled events will kick-off at 10:00 SLT with a procession by the Lamplighters, and the music entertainment will start at 12:00 noon with Ultraviolet Alter, with DJs changing on the hour through until 21:00, when DJ Astro-X will present the final set of the evening.
BURN2 opens for 2013 on Saturday October 19th and will run through until Sunday October 27th.
This year, the festival is again spread across six regions, all in the familiar desert theme, surrounded by sandy hills that add to the atmosphere and give more of a feel that the event is connected with the real life Burning Man festival.
A press preview day was held on Thursday October 17th, and I was one of those invited to attend. Circumstances meant I missed the initial meet and greet, and as the rest of the press had zoomed off to explore with their guides courtesy of the DMV (Department of Mutant Vehicles!), I opted for a more relaxed wander.
In keeping with the 2013 Burning Man event, this year’s theme is Cargo Cult, and while there was no absolute on builders having to create something in accordance with the theme, many have chosen to, and have thus offered-up many different interpretations of the cult, some familiar and some not-so-familiar. So when you visit you’ll find a wide and intriguing variety of flying saucers, aircraft and more!
One of the more interesting aspects of the festival is that while the events of World War Two are often referred to as the start of the Cargo Cult, like many such global “movements”, there are many and varied instances of its alleged first occurrence, and this is reflected in many of the builds presented at BURN2. As such, it’s really worthwhile taking time out to read-up on the Juried Art entries, all of which offer a comprehensive description to the pieces, and which point to the wide range of inspiration for the builds.
Pelucida Lusch, Pat Perth and ZigsZags, for example, have collaborated together to create Notre Dame des Beaux Paquets, about which they note:
Cargo cults are far from being an obscure, colonial, Melanesian belief system. ‘Notre Dame des Beaux Paquets’ is, in essence, an allegory about our fragile notion of ‘beauty’, our obsessive pursuit of consumerist redemption as well as the limited imagination and the unsustainable economic structure which supports it … both in this world and another.
It’s a compact, but impressive build, a tomb with an inscription from Shelley’s Ozymandias, from which rises a striking figure.
As well as the Cargo Cult themed builds, there are influences from across the world to be found. European, American, South American, Oriental …. they are all here, demonstrating the rich melting pot of culture BURN2 represents.
In keeping with the overall theme, The Man this year sits atop a flying saucer, with burns scheduled for Saturday October 26th. The Temple also keeps with the theme, but in a very different way, and will burn on Sunday October 27th.
The Temple has always been one of the major attractions for me at BURN2 events, and this one – which I understand underwent something of a revamp during the build process – is no exception; my images here don’t really convey its beauty, it really should be seen.
It is in some ways unfair to single-out particular builds at an event like this, where everyone has worked hard to present something everybody can enjoy during the festival, but I have to confess there were a number I was instinctively drawn to, and I am going to mention two here.
As a long-time admirer of Ultraviolet Alter, her installation was a must see for me. It’s an evocative piece, richly layered in both imagery and meaning. As ever, the fusion of visuals and audio has to be experienced to be appreciated.
I’d actually missed this hitting my inbox yesterday, but Ronon Carver posted an update on the BURN2 website announcing the winners of the 2013 Juried Art and Theme Camp plots, and the Plottery winners.
The ten selected winners of the Juried Art and Theme plots represent both seasoned BURN2 artists and face new to the event. Each winner receives either 2048 sq m plot or a 1024 sq m plot as detailed below.
2048 sq m plots:
Giovanna Cerise – The Magic of Objects
Loki Eliot – The Sand Fairy
Alesha Hax – CultUre Queen
Morlita Quan – Sokofa
1024 sq m plots:
Juliana Burns – Camp Marshmallow
Sarrah Docherty – Cargo Train
Caro Fayray – Anomaly
Ginger Lorakeet – Inside Art
Marianne McCann – Inner Child Camp
Catboy Qunhua – Catboy’s Camp of Cuisine, Culture, and Comedy
The list of Plottery winners, each of who received a 512 sq m plot on the BURN2 regions, can be found in the BURN2 blog post.
There are still plots available at BURN2. If you would still like to be a part of the event, plot sizes and prices for the week are as follows:
512 sq m (117 prims): L$3000
1024 sq m (234 prims): L$6000
2048 sq m (468 prims): L$12000
4096 sq m (936 prims): L$24000
If you are interested in participating in this year’s BURN2, which runs from October 19th through to the 27th inclusive, and would like a plot, you can purchase one via the vendor system located in-world at the Burning Man Deep Hole region. Sales will be closing soon.
You can purchase a BURN2 plot directly from the in-world vendor, which also gives the number of available plots of each size
The theme for this year’s event is Cargo Cult, in keeping with the theme of Burning Man itself.
About BURN2
BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man regional event, and the only virtual world event out of more than 100 real world Regional groups and the only regional event allowed to burn the man.
The BURN2 Team operates events year around, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall – a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.
Gemma Cleanslate of the BURN2 team has issued a reminder that there are still plots available for purchase at the upcoming BURN2 2013 event in October.
Available plot, sizes and prices for the week are as follows:
512 sq m (117 prims): L$3000
1024 sq m (234 prims): L$6000
2048 sq m (468 prims): L$12000
4096 sq m (936 prims): L$24000
If you are interested in participating in this year’s BURN2, which runs from October 19th through to the 27th inclusive, and would like a plot, you can purchase one via the vendor system located in-world at the Burning Man Deep Hole region.
Please note that Juried Camp applications have closed, and successful applicants will be announced on September 1st via the BURN2 website.
You can purchase a BURN2 plot directly from the in-world vendor, which also gives the number of available plots of each size
The theme for this year’s event is Cargo Cult, in keeping with the theme of Burning Man itself.
The Black Rock Desert is colder than you might expect this time of year. A lot colder. Overnight temperatures in Nevada’s high mountain desert have hit record lows. But now, after dumping a load of fresh snow, the clouds are gone. The moon reflects brightly off the smooth, frigid, white desert. The sky is awash with stars.
