Laughing Squid: Burning Man 2008 Art Theme: American Dream |
Laughing Squid
tObi
· 2 years ago
OOOOWWWWWW!!!! It hurts, make it stop, please.....
Tim Case
· 2 years ago
Can we just burn the 2008 man now and get it over with? Green man is lame and American dream is even worse, in my heart of hearts I hope this is just a big joke and they are intentionally making it suck in which case that would be fun, but the BMers need help if they are serious about this. Somebody get Paul Addis back into his makeup...
MARK CRAIG
· 2 years ago
well... I know my art project...
Anyone know where I can get a scale model of a 767?
Chris L
· 2 years ago
Real US Patriotism and the American Dream have become specters of the past. A glorious, triumphant era, that may or may not have even happened. But one thing I know for certain:
The American Dream died of cancer.
Its not Burning Man's place to bring it back from the dead, even if I think it could. At best, it can only parody the arrogance and individualism of the sixties without even a real target to direct itself toward.
The American Dream won't come back on the Playa. It won't arise out of incantations of vague rhetoric and art projects. Its nice to have a dream, but in the end, its only that, if you never actually do anything except have a party in the desert. I think Burning Man needs tangible goals. Something specific. Chicken John has had some excellent, doable ideas that Burning Man could strive toward.
I don't have a problem with Art for Art's Sake, or partying, or even Patriotism. But goddammit, we're living in an age of unprecedented collaboration thanks to the internet and modern technology. Surely, the minds and people who are the lifeblood of Burning Man, can come up with a real step towards the betterment of mankind, instead of being nothing more than an annual tourist trap.
Peter
· 2 years ago
i'll save my outrage until i find out for sure that this is not a prank.
i've already heard so many good stories from this burning man that i'm sure to attend 2008 - or, i _was_ sure to attend. there is _no_ room for nation-state worship at burning man.
Cardhouse Ro-Bot
· 2 years ago
Someone passed me the master sheet for future Burning Man Art Themes:
2009: The Fabulous '50s! 2010: Back to School ("School Daze") 2011: Those Crazy Cults! 2012: Tater Tots 2013: A Playa Tribute To Broadway 2014: Dude, I Drank A Six-Pack 2015: Burning Man Salutes Walt Disney 2016: Insanely Large Headgear 2017: Forced Marches
See you in 2012 ...
Cat Laine
· 2 years ago
Honestly, I think it's a great idea. Let's face it: there is a lot of beauty and wonder to this country of ours. Unfortunately, with the repugnant behavior of our current administration, it's easy to lose sight of that. Also with the 2008 election promising to be as dodgy/skeezy as always, it would be nice to have the Burning Man community's crerative voice as a counterpoint.
The American dream is: a big fat gay wedding, freedom of expression, a fresh start, protected national parks, knowing how good you have it, etc.
HariSeldon
· 2 years ago
Lee Greenwood will be this years honorary Burningman marshall.
The Amerikan dream is going to burningman in an RV.
Mark if you use a gsp unit to control your model 767 it can crash into the man without you even having to go to Burningman in 2008.
The unoffical 2008 theme is "THE MAN BURNS EVERYDAY !"
erin
· 2 years ago
When I first saw this I laughed so hard I nearly cried. Seems to me that they've run out of ideas and are grasping at straws. Or they fancy themselves some kind of new big ideological movement or force of change.
The event can be fun. The landscape is stunning. But it is hardly a new world order and this, along with Green Man, makes me think that they imagine themselves much bigger and more politically important than they really are. At the end of the day, it is still just a week-long party in the desert.
I think the yearly theme is just silly anyway. Why, if it is meant to be about radical self-expression, is there some effort to steer that expression towards a common theme?
Jeffrey
· 2 years ago
I heard that the 2009 theme is going to be "Enchantment Under the Sea."
LarZ
· 2 years ago
Rather than burning the man, he should just be drowned in a tank of kool-aid.
Marshall
· 2 years ago
What on earth is wrong with people who think that all dissent is aimed only at the current presidential administration? What on earth is wrong with them?
As for this idea for BM theme, unbelievable. Except it's actually pretty typical, what crap.
Jake
· 2 years ago
This is a far, far better theme than "vault of heaven." Yes, Burningman does think it's got enough of a finger on the counterculture pulse to do some acupressure intervention. Yes, it's tough to get your head around. But if I may quote Utah Phillips quoting Amond Hanesy quoting Mark Twain, "loyalty to the country always; loyalty to the government when it deserves it." This is an essential principle which many counterculture types lack.
What better time than an election year to encourage art and radical self expression specifically designed to intersect with politics?
phoenix
· 2 years ago
Next year's BM theme is ambiguous & sucks! I'll write more elsewhere, but how thefuckdoes
"What has America achieved that you admire or feel proud of?"
relate to French or Russian or Belgian or Japanese Burners? Is there room for "their" patriotism? Patriotism devoid of politics? How real is that when patriotism is defined by politics!?? We can re-define, re-illuminate, and claim it as "ours" but not one based upon Nationalism.
And this Nam Era Vet will create U.S. flags to burn with napalm! You may burn too if you try to stop my flag burning art installation. I may even blow up a statue of liberty! Or two. Got an extra airplane?
What may be more appropriate for an international community of artists is what has The American Dream meant for the rest of the world? Or left for them? From my very limited perspective, The American Dream means eat shit till you're fat, blame others, then shit on them while praying for one's salvation and/or redemption while playing sex beneath bathroom stalls.
oxoxo Phoenix
John
· 2 years ago
Best theme ever. I'm serious. It's challenging to say the least.
First of all, as a Canadian, I can tell you right now, Burning Man would never have happened anywhere else on earth. Period. Only the wacked out empire that is the United States could have birthed something like this, so keep that in mind before writing it off.
Think of it this way... that it upsets you is what makes it potentially interesting. If you think the American Dream is "eat shit till you’re fat, blame others, then shit on them while praying for one’s salvation and/or redemption while playing sex beneath bathroom stalls", then go with it.
Tasha
· 2 years ago
Are the board of directors for burning man really this out of touch with the people who attend?! This makes me want to barf! Who are they trying to please with this one?
Jonathan
· 2 years ago
""Think of it this way… that it upsets you is what makes it potentially interesting. If you think the American Dream is “eat shit till you’re fat, blame others, then shit on them while praying for one’s salvation and/or redemption while playing sex beneath bathroom stallsâ€, then go with it.""
I aggree with John..At first i laughed and felt the same way alot of others feel, but thinking about the theme I see alot of potential. It makes you question, "What the American Dream IS???? " What is YOUR dream as an American? What can we do as Americans to come together and achieve this dream we have set for oursleves.. As much as we think the event is just out on the playa, it follows us home..and we should be using things learned to better ourselves and our community..I feel the theme makes you think about your country and analyze its pros and cons on a deeper level than just saying "Politicians are corrupt and its a war for Oil..." Sh!t, it probably IS a war for oil and yeah, most politicians are corrupt. They're business men with agenda's..Its not news.. Show us how youe feel about the U.S.. Show us your dismay, Fly the flag upside down, show the distress, Express it....Its gonna be a good year. Im excited to see what everyone brings to the playa.. my .02
Radcliffe
· 2 years ago
The world doesn't turn on rusted hinges. It turns on dime store cowboys, like Addis that have worn thin with cynisism Now comes another false profit draped in bunting no less, from the house promo piece ideologue. See their brown net shirted docents serving crap to the empty vessels that gather for this vanity?
Run, very fast, another way
John
· 2 years ago
Chris,
If anybody symbolizes America these days, it's Paul Addis. He unilaterally "attacked" the man because he imagined he knew what Burning Man was all about, even though the douche hadn't been in nearly a decade, and couldn't possibly have made an informed choice.
If you don't like what Burning Man has become, then why not start another event? I don't say this to be confrontational. I honestly do not understand why people like Paul don't just invite a pile of people to meet up and do something interesting on their own terms in the spirit of the early days of Burning Man. There are thousands of people probably just waiting for something else to come along, and yet... none of them bother to do anything. I expect, because deep down, their logic circuits tell them that in no time they will become what they imagine they despise.
American Dream is the most compelling theme yet. Finally, after years of hippie bullshit, along comes a theme that I personally find a little creepy and weird, and yet somehow fascinating.
The American Dream is something that every person on the planet copes with in some shape or form every single day of their lives.
Radcliffe
· 2 years ago
I think that co opting the central HST theme in the face of what was a simple act of culture jamming is just as lame as having a "green" burning man because an obscure reporter claimed that burning man wasn't environmentally sensitive. How many of you need your hands held by this Uber-Nanny organization? I don't need forty thousand other people to reinforce my sense of identity or validate my personal ethic. I act upon my own sense of what is right and gather what support I've needed from those that trust my judgment. To all those that have shared the burden that I shouldered, I applaud you. And to those that feel that the shelter of crowds protect you I would remind you that wolfs do feed upon flocks of sheep. But seldom kill the iconoclast ram far from the well trod path. Long Live Howard Rourke.
Manda Clair Jost
· 2 years ago
Embrace this "American Dream":
1.) Outside of the U.S., people consider ALL of the New World to be America: Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America... All of it. So let "The American Dream" burn of 2008 be overrun with culture, art, and the ideologies of the Inuit, the Quebecois, the Algonquian, the Hopi, the Aztecs, the Mayans, the Huaorani, the Yanomami, and the Incas. Let the shallow and materialistic culture of the United States be drowned by the ancient traditions of Nunavut, Mexico, and the Amazon. Reject the stars and stripes and embrace the Medicine Wheel. Let images of New York and Chicago pale in comparison to those of Chichen Itza and Machu Picchu.
2.) With regards to the United States, what is the "American Dream" of the U.S. burn culture? A United States free of corporate government, biased media, inane celebrity culture, ignorant patriotism, and colonialist foreign policy? Let us create THAT American Dream (once again) at Black Rock City.
The American Dream will be what we decide it to be.
Mike Tattoo
· 2 years ago
Any other Ron Paul fans out there?
To me, Ron Paul sums up everything that is great and absurd about being an American these days. He’s a conservative Republican from Texas who wants to pull out of Iraq immediately, abolish the IRS and federal income tax, and has been dominating that polls even though there’s a massive media black out on the guy. Check out his confrontation with Giuliani. Yes, your highness, we know that you are still the King of 9/11. We got the memo.
And anyone else notice the weird serendipity between Burning Man and national tragedies (both real and artificial) You have -
Princess Diana. That would fall under the artificial mass media category but like the death of Ronald Regan, it was one of those bullshit media events that completely eclipsed everything else that happened on planet earth for at least a month.
Katrina.
9/11
And a lot of odd financial transactions went down leading up to 9/11. The most underreported is that Donald Rumsfield had a press conference that day before 9/11 where he announced that the Pentagon had "lost" 2.3 trillion dollars. You had the massive insider trading on American and United airlines that were traced back to a bank with CIA connections. And now in 2007 we have a similar 1 billion dollar bet that the stock market is going to crash within the next 3 weeks.
"1.) Outside of the U.S., people consider ALL of the New World to be America: Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America… All of it. So let “The American Dream†burn of 2008 be overrun with culture, art, and the ideologies of the Inuit, the Quebecois, the Algonquian, the Hopi, the Aztecs, the Mayans, the Huaorani, the Yanomami, and the Incas. Let the shallow and materialistic culture of the United States be drowned by the ancient traditions of Nunavut, Mexico, and the Amazon. Reject the stars and stripes and embrace the Medicine Wheel. Let images of New York and Chicago pale in comparison to those of Chichen Itza and Machu Picchu."
That's all well and good and even has some truth to it, however if the theme announcement is accompanied by a graphic that has red & white stripes that elude to the US flag, well dagnabbit if those big worldviews you done laid out ain't gettin all covered up.
It would be great if everyone that saw this decided to do something that brought Tlinglit, Hopi, Aztec, etc culture to 40,000+ people, but I highly doubt that will happen when the image accompanying the announcement is planting the seed that this does me the U.S.
Pete Goldie
· 2 years ago
borg9 ANNOUNCES 2008 THEME
Following on the unrivaled successes of:
- 2005 - "I'm Gonna Smash You Punks!" - 2006:- "Does My Ass Look Fat To You?" - 2007 - "What? You're Still Here??!?"
Dear Leader, Source of Sunshine, Happiness and Strength Through Bacon, The One True One, borg9, was, on this day, heard to utter....
"NOT GUILTY!"
Yes, minions, recognizing that while everyone is innocent until tried, the best you hope for from a jury pool of retired Chinese ladies, McDonalds employees, and postal workers is the moral ambiguity of "Not Guilty!". So don't click on that porn site, stop writing in your blog, and you dare don't get involved, because ALL OF THIS WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU!
well....I am very happy with the support of America. I am not sure why, but this year I saw two things out on the playa that were wrong. I saw an RV that had Cruise America changed to crush America with the American flag obscured. I saw an upside American flag that I took down. If you do not like America, then you do not belong on the playa of our great country. No other country has Burningman, cant we give our country its dues???
Jason
· 2 years ago
One word. Barf. As for the notion that us old grouchy artists should have an event of our own and quit whining, what do you think we've been doing all this time? We just didn't invite the ravers.
John Parulis
· 2 years ago
"..not that kind which freights the nation state with the collective weight of ego, but a patriotism that is based upon a love of country and culture. Leave ideology at home; forget the blue states and the red; let parties, factions and the so-called issues that divide us fall away." -BMORG
"A time comes when silence is betrayal" - Martin Luther King Jr.
When the populace lacks an understanding or a commitment to righting the wrongs of a financially misdirected, military bloated country led by the few, unaccountable to no one, eager to promote warfare as standard diplomacy and ready to use acts of murder and violence on its own populations...is it a time to ask what we have 'achieved' or rather what we can 'heal'? The 2008 theme is utterly out of sync with the dangers of and numb to the horror that the US has become.
plunkatone
· 2 years ago
"...just as lame as having a “green†burning man because an obscure reporter claimed that burning man wasn’t environmentally sensitive."
Radcliffe, do you have any proof that this was the reason for the green theme? None of the contributors or participants had expressed any interest? The alternative energy zone has just been an ongoing fluke?
Shut the fuck up already if you have nothing to offer you can substantiate.
Lori Glauser
· 2 years ago
My initial reaction to this was are you f'n kidding me? Then it answered my question - how in the world can they keep growing like this? this theme should keep em away. But then I realized it might also attract a whole new crowd. I'm very disappointed.
After reading about the theme, I was like ok, we can work with this theme of globalization and celebration of nations. But the theme can't be about America itself, but her fundamental, original, screw the Brits values - values like LIBERTY, and FREEDOM. Burning man can't be a celebration of our f'd up nation.
When I go to the playa, I like to forget that I am in the US, and instead am joining a global community of burners who found a patch of our own land, nestled among tribal land, no less.
For me, the American Dream has been no less than a nightmare for me since around 2000.
It makes me sad. I was so excited to go next year, but I just don't know now.
Dale Leisenring
· 2 years ago
I would like to say that there is quite a bit of confusion going on about the Burning Man 2006 Theme. "The American Dream" does not necessarily have anything to do with "Patriotism" I, like 80% of the BM respondents believe "The American Dream" theme is "LAME"!! - Genuinely, JediDale Of Reno, Nevada
erin
· 2 years ago
Reply to Tom:
With regard to "I saw an upside American flag that I took down." That is such an asshole thing to do, pardon my language, but really it is. Just because you don't like what someone is saying doesn't give you the right or the authority to silence them. If you are such a big fan of America then you should be into freedom of speech, bucko.
With regard to "If you do not like America, then you do not belong on the playa of our great country." Listen, mate, I think you ought to go re-familiarize yourself with the 10 Principles of Burning Man - here's a link to make it easy for you http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/abou... - pay particular attention to that first one, Radical Inclusion.
And while we are on the whole you don't belong if you don't like America kind of stuff that gets pulled out all the time... that is just completely ridiculous because it isn't about all or nothing, it ain't that black and white. Those kinds of statements really yank my chain because they usually come from people who haven't bothered to explore the world outside of America themselves, but rather are blindly accepting the rhetoric that it is the best place to live. There is a whole big amazing it'll knock your socks off world out there full of beauty and wonder. You ought to check it out sometime... it might even cost less than going to your party in the desert every summer.
lotu5
· 2 years ago
now this is just disgusting. here i was reading about paul addis and thinking i should finally go to burning man since i've never been and how long could it last, but after seeing this disgusting theme, there's no way in hel that i'm going.
Alice
· 2 years ago
theme is lame & off putting. If the intent is to decrease attendance, this just might work. Are we really this ethnocentric? If we are shooting for celebrating "a patriotism that is based upon a love of country and culture", why are we focusing on just ours?
c'mon, how hard is it to come up with a better title for the described intent - Global Citizen? Countrification? Heart of the World?
here's hoping it's a prank.
Nicholas Powers
· 2 years ago
It's our time, this year is our theme.
My first burn was 2002, the year after 9/11. I came to the desert wearing such armor. It had been a year of jumping at noises, heart clenching at jets echoing overhead. Terror had seeped into muscle and nerve, tightening my body into an alarm clock that rang at the slightest touch. When I arrived in the desert, the laughter and joy took days to seep into me.
I didn't believe love could overpower pain. On the third night, I wore all black clothes and a bright white noose around my neck but my friends, my tribe blessed me. They sang and danced, put tabs on my toungue and were honest, each warm word massaged feeling back into me. On the night of the burn, I was circling the inferno warily, scared and suspicous when someone brought an American flag out and lit it.
The whole 9/11 year, I'd seen flags in the city, like bangages on a wound we all shared but soon it became a gag to create a silence we obeyed. When the flag lit at the burn, I began dancing and yelling. It freed me from our fear and it gave the Man its meaning. It is a symbol of authority and order and control.
It's our time, this year is our theme.
New York Burners and New Orleans Burners share a responsibility to this year's theme. We live with the consquences of the American Dream. Not in the same way as Iraqis or Afghans, as American poor or working poor but we who have the money and privelege to come, and come from New York and NOLA are witnesses. We felt the shock wave of terror and flood. We witnessed the dark side of the American Dream, in NYC we got the religious fundamentalist reaction to our economic fundamentalism, in NOLA we survived the racist indifference to black life.
This year's theme is ripe for us. We are the ones who can create not art but life. We have inside us ground zero and for NOLA the ground below zero, its our time to make them count.
Nick
kim four
· 2 years ago
crappy theme.
aikanae
· 2 years ago
Eat. Sleep. Drive. Shop. Sit. Eat. Sleep. Drive. Shop. Sit. Eat. Sleep. Drive. Shop. Sit.
Maybe you should avoid the cliche of 'American Dream' and create a theme, even so much as "Dreams of America" or "Dreaming American".
Afterall, the U.S. is
Carla
· 2 years ago
Try and look at this 2008 theme from a broad perspective. It can be taken many ways and it'll probably vary from Burner to Burner.
Here's my take: This will be an election year and it's the dream of many Americans to defeat the Republicans and this might motivate more Burners to vote. Another dream would be to restore checks and balances and to start respecting the U.S. Constitution.
On another note, achieving the "American Dream," which many define as owning a home and keeping it, has become more and more difficult since the Bush Administration took over. Foreclosures are up and the middle class population is shrinking.
Mark Smith
· 2 years ago
American Dream is a politically charged theme, and a very poor choice. It is going to degenerate into an anti-war rally, with a thousand people chanting, "F**K BUSH!" and I doubt the event organizers are going to be able to handle it. Incendiary politics and Burning Man do not mix!
Robtastic
· 2 years ago
Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad theme. Jesus. My jaw dropped.
The day that this country allows me to marry the man I have been with for 6 years, is the day I will be proud of it. Until then, no pride in the good Ole' US of A marching across this playafied face.
I wanted to go to South America anyway. Here's my chance. Party in Buenos Aires anyone?
Amsterdizam
· 2 years ago
The day that this country allows me to marry the man I have been with for 6 years, is the day I will be proud of it. Until then, no pride in the good Ole’ US of A marching across this playafied face.
How can you say with an ouce of intelligence, that since the US wont let you marry your boyfriend your not proud of it. C'mon. Thats a pretty self centered view..I mean we have built this county from nothing to become a super power..Obviously youve never served in our military. I wish pot was legal, but you dont see me bashing the country for bad policy. It sucks...But thats one of MANY issues..you should be happy you live in a country that allows you to be a gay. Who cares about marriage...most end in divorce anyway..Youve got it good twinkle toes.
aikanae
· 2 years ago
The handwriting is on the wall. Eight years without having a meaningful voice or expression of viewpoints has left most people feeling more like corked volcanos than any 'dreamer'. Even on this board skeptical comments are spun into good/bad, right/wrong. I'm not sure the organizers are ready for this time of explosion.
Cduke
· 2 years ago
I feel that a cold shoulder has been placed on all our foreign friends that attend this wonderful event....
This year i met over twenty different 1rst years many from outside the states....
Have you ever asked a German what his amerikan dream is?
How single minded of us to insue our nations problems and issues on a single weekly event, ment for togetherness and community. Talk about a wedge......and insiting distane out on the playa this year...
jimmy loyd
· 2 years ago
I actually thought Green Man was pretty cool... a lot of interesting ideas for themes......BUT....AMERICAN DREAM? Are we supposed to be subjected to "leave it to beaver, " Elvis' comeback special and Italian and irish immigrant themes? Not to mention flag waving rednecks eating corn somewhere in Nebraka themes? Or maybe better yet the "Two cars in every garage farce?..How about riding harleys down route 66? I'm an american and also part native american Indian...I've got it! A re-creation of the massacre at wounded knee!.....Woudn't that make for a sad sight...Now even I have forgotten what "dream" I really wanted.....think I'll smoke another joint.....
Ian Carcosa
· 2 years ago
I think it is an open invitation to Jihadists everywhere!
aikanae
· 1 year ago
The variations in what is American or what are the "dreams" are interesting. Just even the concept of "building this country to be a super power" - is that anymore enviable than unbridled greed that's made Trump an idol? Cheney and Bush's have more money than they can spend for generations - yet, they are still obsessed with amassing more. People who can't afford life saving medical care or food buy lottery tickets in the hopes of joining the same ranks.
Everyone wants to come to america to have their shot at grabbing the brass ring of wealth. I think that's the dream. The american elite.
prefabrik
· 1 year ago
american dream was an era that passed long time ago. It could only be a nostalgia.
prefabrike
· 1 year ago
I know what some of you are thinking, this has to be a prank. Well if so, then the pranksters have access to the Burning Man website and have done a thorough job updating the art theme.
this nice word.. thanx soo much
getnutri
· 1 year ago
Oh, and trustafarians? Hahahahano. That's like saying only spoiled kids of rich parents go to MIT (which has a healthy representation at Burning Man every year).
Some people going to Burning Man do have money they don't know what to do with. Others pool resources with striking ingenuity. Still others go into major debt (not that I'd know anything about that, oh no) in order to participate.
Not as much of the art at Burning Man gets destroyed as you seem to think.
I'll stop here.
estetik
· 1 year ago
The American Dream won’t come back on the Playa. Its nice to have a dream but I think Burning Man needs tangible and realistic goals.
emdub
· 1 year ago
Our camp's going to have BRC's first "general store" and sell all kinds of stuff--water, ice, coffee, tshirts, beer, sunscreen, earplugs, and anything else we think might sell out there. But you'd better bring cash, because we don't take stupid tchotchkes and we don't take American Express! It's cash only, baby--the American Dream is alive and well and this year we're bringing CAMP CAPITALISM to the playa!
Geoffrey O.
· 1 year ago
I will admit it's not the best theme, but it's better than what one guy said it should be... he said the 2008 theme should have been "Down on the Farm"-wtf?... also what do you think future themes will be?
Sanchia
· 1 year ago
Hey Guys I have been reading your blog.
I am coming all the way from England to attend BM (I can not wait)
Stuck on ideas for costumes for the American dream theme.
Any Ideas?
Thank you for your help
Sanch
sp dub
· 1 year ago
well I sure hope all the people involved in organizing the event read this page. Not too many stoked people out there. Most of the comments were very accurate, and this might be the very end of burning man keeping it at least a little bit real. I loved the idea of opening stores and selling everything for cash. Thats the real american dream. Selling out, and stepping on anyone to get to the top, without thinking about anyone but yourself. A very disappointing theme. Can't wait to see to interpretations.
Thomas Terashima
· 1 year ago
Speaking as a member of the Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksman, co-founder of the Fort Kanuckistan theme camp this year, "We are here to reboot America!"
My only real concern now is what the Burning Man organization will do for an encore theme in 2009.
-=TT=-
Jorad
· 1 year ago
I've heard that the 2009 BM might be cancelled because this is the last year they can use the land that they do. If they can't find another space for it they would just wait it out until 2010. Does anybody know if there is any truth to that?
All Comments
Anyone know where I can get a scale model of a 767?
The American Dream died of cancer.
Its not Burning Man's place to bring it back from the dead, even if I think it could. At best, it can only parody the arrogance and individualism of the sixties without even a real target to direct itself toward.
The American Dream won't come back on the Playa. It won't arise out of incantations of vague rhetoric and art projects. Its nice to have a dream, but in the end, its only that, if you never actually do anything except have a party in the desert. I think Burning Man needs tangible goals. Something specific. Chicken John has had some excellent, doable ideas that Burning Man could strive toward.
I don't have a problem with Art for Art's Sake, or partying, or even Patriotism. But goddammit, we're living in an age of unprecedented collaboration thanks to the internet and modern technology. Surely, the minds and people who are the lifeblood of Burning Man, can come up with a real step towards the betterment of mankind, instead of being nothing more than an annual tourist trap.
i've already heard so many good stories from this burning man that i'm sure to attend 2008 - or, i _was_ sure to attend. there is _no_ room for nation-state worship at burning man.
2009: The Fabulous '50s!
2010: Back to School ("School Daze")
2011: Those Crazy Cults!
2012: Tater Tots
2013: A Playa Tribute To Broadway
2014: Dude, I Drank A Six-Pack
2015: Burning Man Salutes Walt Disney
2016: Insanely Large Headgear
2017: Forced Marches
See you in 2012 ...
The American dream is: a big fat gay wedding, freedom of expression, a fresh start, protected national parks, knowing how good you have it, etc.
The Amerikan dream is going to burningman in an RV.
Mark if you use a gsp unit to control your model 767 it can crash into the man without you even having to go to Burningman in 2008.
The unoffical 2008 theme is "THE MAN BURNS EVERYDAY !"
The event can be fun. The landscape is stunning. But it is hardly a new world order and this, along with Green Man, makes me think that they imagine themselves much bigger and more politically important than they really are. At the end of the day, it is still just a week-long party in the desert.
I think the yearly theme is just silly anyway. Why, if it is meant to be about radical self-expression, is there some effort to steer that expression towards a common theme?
As for this idea for BM theme, unbelievable. Except it's actually pretty typical, what crap.
What better time than an election year to encourage art and radical self expression specifically designed to intersect with politics?
"What has America achieved that you admire or feel proud of?"
relate to French or Russian or Belgian or Japanese Burners? Is there room for "their" patriotism? Patriotism devoid of politics? How real is that when patriotism is defined by politics!?? We can re-define, re-illuminate, and claim it as "ours" but not one based upon Nationalism.
And this Nam Era Vet will create U.S. flags to burn with napalm! You may burn too if you try to stop my flag burning art installation. I may even blow up a statue of liberty! Or two. Got an extra airplane?
What may be more appropriate for an international community of artists is what has The American Dream meant for the rest of the world? Or left for them? From my very limited perspective, The American Dream means eat shit till you're fat, blame others, then shit on them while praying for one's salvation and/or redemption while playing sex beneath bathroom stalls.
oxoxo Phoenix
First of all, as a Canadian, I can tell you right now, Burning Man would never have happened anywhere else on earth. Period. Only the wacked out empire that is the United States could have birthed something like this, so keep that in mind before writing it off.
Think of it this way... that it upsets you is what makes it potentially interesting. If you think the American Dream is "eat shit till you’re fat, blame others, then shit on them while praying for one’s salvation and/or redemption while playing sex beneath bathroom stalls", then go with it.
This makes me want to barf!
Who are they trying to please with this one?
I aggree with John..At first i laughed and felt the same way alot of others feel, but thinking about the theme I see alot of potential. It makes you question, "What the American Dream IS???? " What is YOUR dream as an American? What can we do as Americans to come together and achieve this dream we have set for oursleves.. As much as we think the event is just out on the playa, it follows us home..and we should be using things learned to better ourselves and our community..I feel the theme makes you think about your country and analyze its pros and cons on a deeper level than just saying "Politicians are corrupt and its a war for Oil..." Sh!t, it probably IS a war for oil and yeah, most politicians are corrupt. They're business men with agenda's..Its not news.. Show us how youe feel about the U.S.. Show us your dismay, Fly the flag upside down, show the distress, Express it....Its gonna be a good year. Im excited to see what everyone brings to the playa.. my .02
It turns on dime store cowboys, like Addis
that have worn thin with cynisism
Now comes another false profit
draped in bunting no less,
from the house promo piece ideologue.
See their brown net shirted docents serving crap to
the empty vessels that gather for this vanity?
Run, very fast, another way
If anybody symbolizes America these days, it's Paul Addis. He unilaterally "attacked" the man because he imagined he knew what Burning Man was all about, even though the douche hadn't been in nearly a decade, and couldn't possibly have made an informed choice.
If you don't like what Burning Man has become, then why not start another event? I don't say this to be confrontational. I honestly do not understand why people like Paul don't just invite a pile of people to meet up and do something interesting on their own terms in the spirit of the early days of Burning Man. There are thousands of people probably just waiting for something else to come along, and yet... none of them bother to do anything. I expect, because deep down, their logic circuits tell them that in no time they will become what they imagine they despise.
American Dream is the most compelling theme yet. Finally, after years of hippie bullshit, along comes a theme that I personally find a little creepy and weird, and yet somehow fascinating.
The American Dream is something that every person on the planet copes with in some shape or form every single day of their lives.
1.) Outside of the U.S., people consider ALL of the New World to be America: Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America... All of it. So let "The American Dream" burn of 2008 be overrun with culture, art, and the ideologies of the Inuit, the Quebecois, the Algonquian, the Hopi, the Aztecs, the Mayans, the Huaorani, the Yanomami, and the Incas. Let the shallow and materialistic culture of the United States be drowned by the ancient traditions of Nunavut, Mexico, and the Amazon. Reject the stars and stripes and embrace the Medicine Wheel. Let images of New York and Chicago pale in comparison to those of Chichen Itza and Machu Picchu.
2.) With regards to the United States, what is the "American Dream" of the U.S. burn culture? A United States free of corporate government, biased media, inane celebrity culture, ignorant patriotism, and colonialist foreign policy? Let us create THAT American Dream (once again) at Black Rock City.
The American Dream will be what we decide it to be.
To me, Ron Paul sums up everything that is great and absurd about being an American these days. He’s a conservative Republican from Texas who wants to pull out of Iraq immediately, abolish the IRS and federal income tax, and has been dominating that polls even though there’s a massive media black out on the guy. Check out his confrontation with Giuliani. Yes, your highness, we know that you are still the King of 9/11. We got the memo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD7dnFDdwu0
And anyone else notice the weird serendipity between Burning Man and national tragedies (both real and artificial) You have -
Princess Diana. That would fall under the artificial mass media category but like the death of Ronald Regan, it was one of those bullshit media events that completely eclipsed everything else that happened on planet earth for at least a month.
Katrina.
9/11
And a lot of odd financial transactions went down leading up to 9/11. The most underreported is that Donald Rumsfield had a press conference that day before 9/11 where he announced that the Pentagon had "lost" 2.3 trillion dollars. You had the massive insider trading on American and United airlines that were traced back to a bank with CIA connections. And now in 2007 we have a similar 1 billion dollar bet that the stock market is going to crash within the next 3 weeks.
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/august2007/270...
It’s a very weird time to be alive.
That's all well and good and even has some truth to it, however if the theme announcement is accompanied by a graphic that has red & white stripes that elude to the US flag, well dagnabbit if those big worldviews you done laid out ain't gettin all covered up.
It would be great if everyone that saw this decided to do something that brought Tlinglit, Hopi, Aztec, etc culture to 40,000+ people, but I highly doubt that will happen when the image accompanying the announcement is planting the seed that this does me the U.S.
Following on the unrivaled successes of:
- 2005 - "I'm Gonna Smash You Punks!"
- 2006:- "Does My Ass Look Fat To You?"
- 2007 - "What? You're Still Here??!?"
Dear Leader, Source of Sunshine, Happiness and Strength Through Bacon, The One True One, borg9, was, on this day, heard to utter....
"NOT GUILTY!"
Yes, minions, recognizing that while everyone is innocent until tried, the best you hope for from a jury pool of retired Chinese ladies, McDonalds employees, and postal workers is the moral ambiguity of "Not Guilty!". So don't click on that porn site, stop writing in your blog, and you dare don't get involved, because ALL OF THIS WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU!
http://www.borg9.tribe.net
Barf.
As for the notion that us old grouchy artists should have an event of our own and quit whining, what do you think we've been doing all this time? We just didn't invite the ravers.
-BMORG
"A time comes when silence is betrayal"
- Martin Luther King Jr.
When the populace lacks an understanding or a commitment to righting the wrongs of a financially misdirected, military bloated country led by the few, unaccountable to no one, eager to promote warfare as standard diplomacy and ready to use acts of murder and violence on its own populations...is it a time to ask what we have 'achieved' or rather what we can 'heal'?
The 2008 theme is utterly out of sync with the dangers of and numb to the horror that the US has become.
Radcliffe, do you have any proof that this was the reason for the green theme? None of the contributors or participants had expressed any interest? The alternative energy zone has just been an ongoing fluke?
Shut the fuck up already if you have nothing to offer you can substantiate.
After reading about the theme, I was like ok, we can work with this theme of globalization and celebration of nations. But the theme can't be about America itself, but her fundamental, original, screw the Brits values - values like LIBERTY, and FREEDOM. Burning man can't be a celebration of our f'd up nation.
When I go to the playa, I like to forget that I am in the US, and instead am joining a global community of burners who found a patch of our own land, nestled among tribal land, no less.
For me, the American Dream has been no less than a nightmare for me since around 2000.
It makes me sad. I was so excited to go next year, but I just don't know now.
With regard to "I saw an upside American flag that I took down." That is such an asshole thing to do, pardon my language, but really it is. Just because you don't like what someone is saying doesn't give you the right or the authority to silence them. If you are such a big fan of America then you should be into freedom of speech, bucko.
With regard to "If you do not like America, then you do not belong on the playa of our great country." Listen, mate, I think you ought to go re-familiarize yourself with the 10 Principles of Burning Man - here's a link to make it easy for you http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/abou... - pay particular attention to that first one, Radical Inclusion.
And while we are on the whole you don't belong if you don't like America kind of stuff that gets pulled out all the time... that is just completely ridiculous because it isn't about all or nothing, it ain't that black and white. Those kinds of statements really yank my chain because they usually come from people who haven't bothered to explore the world outside of America themselves, but rather are blindly accepting the rhetoric that it is the best place to live. There is a whole big amazing it'll knock your socks off world out there full of beauty and wonder. You ought to check it out sometime... it might even cost less than going to your party in the desert every summer.
c'mon, how hard is it to come up with a better title for the described intent - Global Citizen? Countrification? Heart of the World?
here's hoping it's a prank.
My first burn was 2002, the year after 9/11. I came to the desert wearing such armor. It had been a year of jumping at noises, heart clenching at jets echoing overhead. Terror had seeped into muscle and nerve, tightening my body into an alarm clock that rang at the slightest touch. When I arrived in the desert, the laughter and joy took days to seep into me.
I didn't believe love could overpower pain. On the third night, I wore all black clothes and a bright white noose around my neck but my friends, my tribe blessed me. They sang and danced, put tabs on my toungue and were honest, each warm word massaged feeling back into me. On the night of the burn, I was circling the inferno warily, scared and suspicous when someone brought an American flag out and lit it.
The whole 9/11 year, I'd seen flags in the city, like bangages on a wound we all shared but soon it became a gag to create a silence we obeyed. When the flag lit at the burn, I began dancing and yelling. It freed me from our fear and it gave the Man its meaning. It is a symbol of authority and order and control.
It's our time, this year is our theme.
New York Burners and New Orleans Burners share a responsibility to this year's theme. We live with the consquences of the American Dream. Not in the same way as Iraqis or Afghans, as American poor or working poor but we who have the money and privelege to come, and come from New York and NOLA are witnesses. We felt the shock wave of terror and flood. We witnessed the dark side of the American Dream, in NYC we got the religious fundamentalist reaction to our economic fundamentalism, in NOLA we survived the racist indifference to black life.
This year's theme is ripe for us. We are the ones who can create not art but life. We have inside us ground zero and for NOLA the ground below zero, its our time to make them count.
Nick
Maybe you should avoid the cliche of 'American Dream' and create a theme, even so much as "Dreams of America" or "Dreaming American".
Afterall, the U.S. is
Here's my take: This will be an election year and it's the dream of many Americans to defeat the Republicans and this might motivate more Burners to vote. Another dream would be to restore checks and balances and to start respecting the U.S. Constitution.
On another note, achieving the "American Dream," which many define as owning a home and keeping it, has become more and more difficult since the Bush Administration took over. Foreclosures are up and the middle class population is shrinking.
The day that this country allows me to marry the man I have been with for 6 years, is the day I will be proud of it. Until then, no pride in the good Ole' US of A marching across this playafied face.
I wanted to go to South America anyway. Here's my chance. Party in Buenos Aires anyone?
How can you say with an ouce of intelligence, that since the US wont let you marry your boyfriend your not proud of it. C'mon. Thats a pretty self centered view..I mean we have built this county from nothing to become a super power..Obviously youve never served in our military. I wish pot was legal, but you dont see me bashing the country for bad policy. It sucks...But thats one of MANY issues..you should be happy you live in a country that allows you to be a gay. Who cares about marriage...most end in divorce anyway..Youve got it good twinkle toes.
This year i met over twenty different 1rst years many from outside the states....
Have you ever asked a German what his amerikan dream is?
How single minded of us to insue our nations problems and issues on a single weekly event, ment for togetherness and community. Talk about a wedge......and insiting distane out on the playa this year...
Everyone wants to come to america to have their shot at grabbing the brass ring of wealth. I think that's the dream. The american elite.
this nice word.. thanx soo much
Some people going to Burning Man do have money they don't know what to do with. Others pool resources with striking ingenuity. Still others go into major debt (not that I'd know anything about that, oh no) in order to participate.
Not as much of the art at Burning Man gets destroyed as you seem to think.
I'll stop here.
I am coming all the way from England to attend BM (I can not wait)
Stuck on ideas for costumes for the American dream theme.
Any Ideas?
Thank you for your help
Sanch
My only real concern now is what the Burning Man organization will do for an encore theme in 2009.
-=TT=-