BY ELIZABETH KIESZKOWSKI / ekieszkowski@staradvertiser.com
Wow, I’m suddenly getting flooded with Hawaii connections, as Burning Man approaches. And there’s need for a survival-checklist update, too. There’s a lot going on!
DJ Miki Mayhem came to the Fire Jam on Thursday, Aug. 16, to dance with flaming fans. She's been to Burning Man several times, and leaves for the playa next week to help set up Tetreon camp. (Star-Advertiser photo by George F. Lee)
Just got home from checking out the Fire Jam at Kakaako Waterfront Park. It takes place most Thursdays after the sun goes down, in a free-form style that’s partially inspired by Burning Man.
There were dozens of fire-twirlers flaming out under the stars during Fire Jam.
One of the most impressive things I saw was a man breathing fire. Others were twirling lighted batons, and others were simply dancing. There was even a young boy practicing with fire.
This night, there was a portable shelter set up for a DJ station at the entrance to the waterfront park, and a line-up of DJs was blasting out electro, dubstep and more.
Among them: Tetreon camp’s Sean Tildawn, a DJ, music and fire-safety supervisor and member of the camp building crew at Burning Man.
Tildawn (that’s his DJ name) told me that he’s just finalized a lineup for the DJs who will be playing high up in the Tetreon camp’s massive, glowing and interactive installation — all 150 of them.
It’s starting to hit home that with 60,000 people expected at Burning Man, many of them artists, musicians, builders and performers, the sheer mass and volume of the playa productivity is going to be amazing.
Tetreon, a camp named for Tetris, the computer game that launched Hawaii’s Henk Rogers into the heights of the game business, is hosted by Rogers, who lives on Oahu and is the founder of the Blue Planet Foundation, dedicated to ending the use of carbon-based energy (oil, gas, coal) in Hawaii. Rogers takes part in designing and fabricating Tetreon’s installation, with parts assembled in Hawaii, then shipped via container to the mainland. It’s a huge endeavor on two islands, Oahu and Hawaii island.
I spoke to Rogers on Wednesday, Aug. 15, and he had some thoughtful things to say about participating in Burning Man, and his role. Interested? Check back with my blog next week and in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Sunday, Aug. 26. That will be the day I arrive in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, where Burning Man takes place!
Carl Haines, breathing fire at a Fire Jam in Kakaako. (Star-Advertiser photo by George F. Lee)
At the Fire Jam, I met DJ Miki Mayhem, pictued above, a Fire Jam regular who dances with fire fans. Miss Mayhem’s been to Burning Man five times over six years, and says that the year she missed it, “Every cell of my being was crying for not being there. … I promised myself I would never miss another Burning Man!”
I’ll bring you more from Mayhem next week, too.
I also have a story to tell you about Hawaii’s part in the desert art array that springs up at Black Rock. Stick with me as I blog my way through all this.
ART IS the major reason for my attraction to Burning Man. It was the incentive for going that was dangled in front of me when I agreed to enter the lottery for tickets this year. And I’m burning with desire to see some of the spectacular, meaningful, blazing, entertaining and plain goofy things that will be created for this temporary experience.
I’m told that people who’ve attended Burning Man come back changed — and fired up to be creative throughout the year. It does seem that people who participate in Burning Man come back to the “real world” wanting to continue that spark and stay part of a communal, creative effort.
At the Fire Jam, past Burner Clem Chang shared an event that’s happening this weekend, with participation from several more Burners: a sixth annual Nefertiti’s Night On The Nile Benefit. It takes place from 7 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, at a new, indoor-outdoor event space called Tunnels in Kailua, 221 Iliaina St. Kailua. Tickets are $35 at the door, and all proceeds will benefit the Hawaiian Animal Sanctuary. There will be bellydancing, percussion, body-painted fire dancers, Middle Eastern food (BYOB), henna, massage, dancing with DJ Victor E, and costumes in the Burning Man tradition. Call 255-9839 or the Hawaii Animal Sanctuary, 395-0023, for advance tickets ($30) or more information.
Burning Man 2012» Where: Black Rock Desert, Nevada |
SANCTUARY? Desert references? That leads me to the survival-checklist update.
Mayhem shared news from the Nevada high desert, or playa, where Burning Man volunteers hustle to construct a temporary Black Rock City that will contain all 60,000 ticket-buying campers this year, and it isn’t so great: High winds blowing across the playa are wreaking havoc on tents and construction at the site.
Time to batten down the hatches, mates.
Not only are the winds a mighty force in their own right, but because there was little rainfall on the playa over the winter, loose dust and dirt is ready to fly.
Some organizers, early volunteers and gleeful bystanders are warning that this year, Burning Man is going to be a “DUSTOCALYPSE.”
An email about conditions at Burning Man was passed to me by a contact in California’s Bay Area. Labeled “1ST HAND WEATHER REPORTS FROM THE PLAYA,” it says, “At 7-8pm for the last 3 nights we have had 60+ mph winds with dust whiteout. The playa is getting scrubbed by these high winds. We lost 2 roofs so far from the Temple camp kitchen/camp area. We are running out of 40×50′ tarps !!!!! Be prepared — all the town locals & old burners say this is one of the highest wind years. We expect continued storms for the next 2 nights. We had a 20′ tall 50×50′ structure demolished last night & it was just substructure of 2×8″ wood — ripped off the foundation. Not enough cross bracing yet — uugh.”
Um, “uugh”?
So there’s that!
I think I will invest in a more sturdy dust and debris mask (at Fire Jam, a Burning Man veteran recommended I check at wood-crafting stores), and may need to rethink my desert wardrobe to include some camo pants.
My radical self-reliance is about to be put to the test.
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Elizabeth Kieszkowski is editor of TGIF, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s weekly arts and entertainment section. Reach her via email at ekieszkowski@staradvertiser.com or follow her on Twitter.