Burning Man 2004
whats the playa info on
Chasm
by Logan and jD., with the Projekteers Group.
Basic info including a map of where folks are at this
year.
Go back to the progress page.
For Mud info and the Chasm backstory, scroll on down.
Contact us on the playa:
Radio channel 8-31
Between 3:30-4:00, and between the two big planets Jupiter & Saturn
Check the Artery, we'll post a sign for Elsewhere Camp and for Chasm location
Keep a lookout for the Elsewhere 2004 Mission Patch, (that image you
just scrolled past), our camp icon.
Dates on the playa:
Wed Aug 25 - jD & Logan get playaside and build paraboloids for a couple
days.
Sat Aug 28 - Sunset all-hands at Chasm for Mud #1
Sun Aug 29 - 9am at Chasm for Mud #2 & complete installation by Monday
... enjoy the freaking week! ...
Sun Sept 5 - Sunset all-hands at Chasm for breakdown & burn
Mon Sept 6 - jD & Logan leave the playa, with a sleepover in Reno at the
Truckee River Lodge, arrive home on Tuesday.
The Deal with The Mud
So let's talk MUD.
We will be collecting playa soil from the open playa during the day (morning,
we're thinking) on Sat Aug 28th. Let me know if you'll be on the playa that
early and you can join us for a ride around the open playa! Just a little
shoveling included.
So ... what exactly ARE we doing when Logan keeps saying, "Let's mud
those paraboloids?"
Well, ain't nothing to it. We'll have collected many 5 gallon buckets of playa
soil. We will also have large containers of water. We'll combine the soil and water till we get a nice pasty mix and with
rubber gloves on smear a thin wet layer (aka Mud #1) onto both sides of all
paraboloids (about 10 of them of different sizes). This will most
likely be done Saturday night.
On Sunday morning, we will do the same thing again, but with a slightly heavier
layer (aka Mud #2). After this dries completely, some folks will be painting
petroglyphs onto the interior side of some paraboloids on Sunday night, Monday day.
And that's basically it. Take-down consists of taking up the rebar, knocking
off the dried mud from the paraboloids, and moving the paraboloids (which
are made of wood) to a nearby burn pit to watch it all burn. General clean-up
of the area.
/ =- Some QnA -= \
Q: How in the Vault of Heaven do we find where Chasm is?
A: It should be on
the map that BMan gives you at the entrance. If all else fails, the Artery in Center Camp can tell you the way.
Q: So Mud #2 will be during the day. Won't it be hot?
A: Shit yeah. That's why we're starting early. We'll also have a SMALL tensegrity
shade structure set-up out at Chasm to offer some respite. We'll have some
water and snacks. But bring your water too, and hat, and sunblock. We'll
likely take a break during the really hot part for a siesta.
Q: Okay, so we get full of mud and playa and it's great. But I sure wouldn't
mind a shower after that ...
A: We are bringing out a shower
again this year. It's a wonderful parachuted private womb room. All you need
to bring is your own water to use in the shower.
Q: What's the deal with the petroglyphs anyway?
A: So there's a whole backstory to Chasm. Scroll on down to read all about it.
Chasm: a quick backstory.
There are four time periods for Chasm:
- Geological Age - When the Chasm actually was formed.
- Prehistoric Age - The first peoples to be around the Chasm (may have been
simultaneous with the Geological Age). These are the folks responsible for
all the petroglyphs painted on the paraboloids.
- Technology Age - Long after the Prehistoric peoples were gone, an
exploring people came upon the Chasm and stuck all sorts of metal instruments
into it,
leaving
a metal book in a cryptic language. They seem to have disappeared quickly,
as all their archeological gear is still stuck into the Chasm, and most of
it
is still
working, so you can view the other side through the periscopes.
- Present Age- Burning Man 2004, people discover Chasm as it was left
by the previous Ages, and draw their own conclusions. There will be a notebook
left out for them
to leave their ideas for us to read.
The Petroglyphs tell the story of how the Chasm was formed, as it was told by the Prehistoric peoples to one another. Here's that story in good old English, and it'll be posted at the Artery in some special "Artist Statement" area they got going on this year.
I.
Once a long, long time ago,
There lived a playa people.
Their ground was smooth and had no cracks,
Their sky an empty hole.
There was no moon or sun or stars,
No day or night or Spring.
The sky stared wholly vacant
And the people knew nothing.
II.
One person stretched up to the sky,
Nothing had it to say.
She reached far down into the ground,
And nothing came away.
She tried to look beyond them both
And threw her fist up high,
And when she struck the playa
It cracked in reply.
III.
The entire playa cracked at once
And a Chasm rift displayed
That underside was a marvelous Space
Of galaxies and novae.
There were planets, born and dying,
And river-streams of stars.
Cosmos spewed out of Chasm
And filled their sky up large.
IV.
The people of the playa
Wondered at it all
Feelings worked inside them
And moved them beyond recall
Minds filled with curiousities
Awe made their hearts elate
Desire warmed their bellies
And drove them to Create.
V.
The sky now huge, was overful
And crashed things all around,
Suns careened and planets hit
Crushing people down.
There was no place left to create
In chaos beyond elation.
She knew rightly what must be done
And set to banish the situation.
VI.
She drew her love, the Cosmos,
Deep down within herself,
And wrestled it until she fit
The Chasm back in itself.
A Sun, a Moon, and Many Stars
Wanted to remain
They’d fallen in love with people’s eyes,
So a deal she made them claim:
VII.
“
The Moon may stay till light of day
Takes its turn upon the sky,
And the stars may sing far up above
To bring our minds on high.
As for the rest all must be gone
For beyond the inspiration,
Lies the fiercer desires of
Our own cremation.”
VIII.
With that she stictched the Chasm up
And sealed away forever
The cosmos of that dark desire
But star stuff remained inside her.
Her legs inflated, her belly extended,
Her arms grew strong and wide,
Stars filled her head till she birthed forth
Our people of playaside.