Another distraction: Burn art

Because I have plans beyond SIT/THINK

In working to improve my TASK AVOIDANCE skills — which I must admit are already pretty majestic — I have latched onto a project which should keep me from composing “Ten Little Waltzes” for the rest of the summer.

Part of the fun of regional burns, e.g. Euphoria and Alchemy, is the art that the hippies bring. At Burning Man, of course, the art is huge, overwhelming, and impressive. Locally we do what we can, and it’s still fun.

Four years ago, a friend whom we shall call “Ben,” because that’s his name, proposed an art project called “SIT & THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE.” It was essentially a corner with a chair and a mirror, with the slogan painted across the top. I was bringing the platform and the paint, someone else was bringing the walls, and Ben was bringing the mirror and the chair.

As turned out, Alchemy 2015 was the burn now known as “Alchemuddy”: we were trapped in hurricane-fueled rain for three out of the four days of the burn. We didn’t get SIT/THINK assembled before the rains began, and then we were all too busy surviving to bother. SIT/THINK remained an idea.

Until now.

Every summer we hold a fundraiser for the hippie artists to do their thing. Anyone can submit ideas, and then one Saturday in July all the hippies bring their displays to the fundraiser. Imagine a really weird middle school science fair. You buy your ticket, you maybe increase your donation by a couple of tens, and you’re given a ballot with a number votes equal to the dollars you handed over. You wander the hippie art fair, you decide whom you want to support, you divvy up your votes, you turn in your ballot, and all the votes are tabulated in real time.

Artists are awarded funding based on some arcane formula, and most projects are funded. My camp, 3 Old Men, got funding to create the fabric walls for the labyrinth, and then another grant to light it up. That was a couple of years ago, so this year I’m going for an actual artwork: SIT/THINK.

I’ve gone and made it complicated, of course. Now, when the hippie sits in the chair, a sensor triggers a timer. After 90 seconds, a calm voice will say, “It’s time…” and a light will fade up on a door labeled EXIT HERE. If the hippie opens the door, a bright, white light will flood through the opening. Spectators will see the hippie “go toward the light.”

In other words, a perfect hippie trap.

Turn, turn, kick turn, yes it will work!