parentheticals.com - Report, Reflections and Robots (Burning Man 2018 ): Part 3—Sunrise, Handpan Jam, Art Adventures, Microdosing 101, Burning Survivors Walk, Temple, Playa Date, Frontage, Late Night on Headspace in a Duststorm

Wednesday morning I was scheduled to play handpan at Center Camp at 8:30am, but I had to get there at 8. So I got up early enough and got myself ready so that I could go sit for a little while and watch the sunrise from the patio. It was really pretty from there. Then I biked over to Center Camp and checked in backstage. They said that their 8am person hadn’t shown up, would I like to play for that slot too? I said ok sure, and did. I think it went pretty well, since most everyone there at Center Camp at that time of day was pretty mellow and I was too. I wasn’t even really that nervous since I’d done this before, and people seemed to really appreciate and enjoy the music. After it was over I had to zoom back to camp for a group photo that a photographer friend was taking of all of us (plus some individual portraits after). Then Anji asked me if I wanted to go on a little art viewing adventure, and of course I did, so off we went. We visited a bunch of things around the inner playa, mostly just bopping from “what’s that?” to “what’s that?” There were some really cool large sculptures that impressed the heck out of me...anything from a giant and very detailed metal skeleton samurai warrior to Baba Yaga’s hut to an enormous reflective silver orb made out of mylar to a “shish-car-bob” of junker cars impaled on a huge metal stake to what was probably my favorite piece, the skeletons of a T-rex and another dinosaur that looked like they were emerging from a time portal to chase each other, and were covered in intricate colorful patterns made from tiny tiny beads that were put there by a team of indigenous women artists from Mexico. (It’s really hard to describe the art, which is why I try to remember to take pics.)

We also visited Anji’s friends over at the Monaco’s camp, and got to climb up their cool art installation which was a giant 2 story kaleidoscope with a spiral staircase on the inside, and a viewing platform at the top. I love the views that you get of the city when you are up above it some—it makes climbing worthwhile. I was having a hard time climbing things this year because of a hurt knee that I’d yoinked during all the frantic painting of the Pink Heart Patio in the previous weeks. Steps were ok but clambering up on things just wasn’t happening. I tried to climb on the “Haha...” letter art, and only banged myself up and got bruises for my trouble. So I mostly watched Anj climb things. The kaleidoscope was doable though, and we had fun swinging on a swingset we found too.

The detail on this piece was incredible.

We made it back to camp sometime in the midafternoon and hung around a bit in frontage. I listened to a really interesting talk by Mitchell Gomez of Dancesafe (a cool nonprofit advocating harm reduction around psychedelic use) about Microdosing 101. After that I was supposed to have a water bar shift with Vid at 4 but I asked Josh if he would be willing to take it over for me, because I wanted to go on a Survivor’s Walk from the Man to the Temple at 5. He did and I cycled out to the Man by myself to find the other survivors. When I got to the meeting place it was obvious who was gathering for that walk, so I just hung around and waited for it to start. There wound up being probably 50 or so people who walked together from the Man to the Temple, both survivors and those who wanted to honor or support survivors. We gathered for pictures outside the Temple, and spent some time talking with each other—I met a couple other really wonderful people, a woman who was just finished with her own breast cancer treatments, and a young man whose parents both were dealing with cancer treatments for different kinds of cancer. Then we broke up and went to spend time in the Temple and/or go our separate ways. The Temple had actually just opened (while we were walking there we were trying to figure out if it was even going to be open yet) so it was still relatively empty and pristine. I admired the design and the shape of the building itself for a bit and then found myself a comfy corner where I could be by myself and feel some feels and cry and write some things. (This is why I always bring a sharpie with me.)

Group shot of Burning Survivors in front of the Temple

First I wrote my own thing: “Dear (?) Cancer: even though I didn’t want to change, I did. I know I’m different now. I’m still grateful. I am learning to embrace my new normal...which is still a bright, powerful, radiant Supernova. (So fuck you.)” Then I wrote a prayer for my friends Lionessa and Alex, who have been trying so hard to have a baby. (Lionessa requested I write something for them.) This is what I wrote: “Please you, O Playa Gods and all the forces of good and kindness, give Vanessa and Alex a healthy new human to evolve with. Bless their love and determination, and help their dream come true.” Then it was time for a farewell message to my father-in-law Jeff, who died this past December. I wrote “Goodbye Jeff. You will be remembered, and you will be missed.” After that I sat for a bit longer, and eventually noticed a little offering someone had left on the other side of the beam where I was writing: little bottles with “Burning Man 2018 – I, Robot” stickers on them and instructions to use them to gather playa dust, ashes, tears, whatever. So I took a bottle and filled it mostly full of playa dust from that spot at the Temple. Then I walked back down the main 12 o’clock avenue to the Man, retrieved my tricycle, and went back to Pink Heart.

I put my trike away and checked in with Josh and then went and sat for a while by myself on the Pink Heart patio and watched the sunset, which was glorious. Then I’m pretty sure there was dinner (though I don’t remember what it was...spaghetti from Sup maybe?). After that I changed clothes (we thought we were going to go to the White Party but never did) and went out on a pre-arranged playa date with my friend and campmate Cookie, who wanted to show me some really cool light up art. We biked out to go see it and then laid under one of the art pieces (I don’t know the name but it was a big disc held up in the air by a crane with super cool programmed light patterns set to music) for a bit—they call these kind of music + light shows “hippy traps” for a reason. After that I fooled around in frontage for a bit longer I think, because Josh and I were supposed to have a midnight shift on Headspace, our camp’s artcar. At some point Gene came by again, and we had some more nice hangout time.

Riding on Headspace is always fun, but I was pretty worn out from a long day already, so after the first hour or so of our shift, I was falling asleep. It was also getting increasingly windy and dusty out on playa, so it was hard to see things or to want to jump out and dance when we stopped. I feel a little guilty about this, but I spent the last hour or so of our shift mostly huddled up against Josh on the comfy purple fur cushions of the bottom floor, drowsing. When we got back to camp again around 3:30am, I promptly went back to the yurt and passed out.

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