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The Artery Education Program
By Will Chase

Editor's Note: This was a series of 6 short articles that were published in Burning Man's Jack Rabbit Speaks email newsletter, in an effort to educate Burning Man participants about making art for the event.

So, You Want To Make Art for the Playa?
So you want to make art for the playa, do you? Right on, we want you to as well! Now, you may or may not know this, but you can't just build something really cool and plop it out on the playa, without letting us know first. Yeah, I know ... life's rough.

It's easy, though. All you've got to do is read our art installation guidelines (www.burningman.com/themeart) and fill out our on-line questionnaire (http://forms.burningman.com). We'll give you a call to talk about your piece, and make sure you've got everything you need before you get to the desert.

When you get to the playa, you'll need to check in with us at The Artery in Center Camp, and our faithful volunteers will get you all set up, and take you out to where your installation will be placed. It's fun, trust me.

We are really looking forward to everybody's creative contribution this year!

-Playaquest
Art Supplicant

Playa Art - The Immaculate Illumination
It has been said that "art is hard". And this is particularly true when one crashes a bicycle into it.

If you're creating art for the playa in 2004, it's your responsibility to light your installation so it can be seen at night by drivers, bikers and pedestrians who might otherwise smack right into it at speed. Nobody wants to see people get hurt (unless it's at the Temple of Atonement, but that's another story).

Blinky lights, LED's, light sticks, glow sticks, flood lights ... whatever you choose to use, it should be visible on all sides of your installation, and ideally should be secured in such a way that it cannot be nefariously removed (people on the playa seem to have a strange affinity for all things blinky ... go figure). And if you come up with a novel solution, please let us know! We'd love to hear about it so we can share it with other artists.

-Playaquest
Art Biatch

My Art Installation is ON FIRE!
If your playa art installation for 2004 will use fire, flame effects or other types of pyrotechnics, you'll need to pass through our little safety gauntlet first. Yes, yes I know ... more bureaucracy, but hell, we don't want to see our wonderful participants incinerated (we leave that to the Man) or have the playa damaged. So before you bring it out and light it up, read up on our fire guidelines and fill out the flame effects section of our art installation questionnaire.

Our Fire Safety team (Dave X is a hoot ... you'll love him) will get in touch with you to talk about your plans, your safety precautions and the like, and they'll make sure you've got everything in order before you get out to the desert.

Then when you get to the playa, check in at The Artery in Center Camp and let us know you're including fire as part of your art. We'll do a site safety inspection for you, and set you up with your propane needs.

-Playaquest
Art Slut

Burning Your Art
So you want to light your artwork on fire, do ya? Well, where else can you do that besides Burning Man? But if you want to light it up, you need to follow our fire safety and clean-up regulations (for lack of a better word). Basically, we're trying to ensure the safety of our participants, while protecting the playa. Handled properly, a fire will burn safe and strong and elicit from our participants "ooh's" and "ahh's" ... rather than the unfortunate "uh oh!". Handled improperly, a fire will leave burn scars, causing irreparable damage to the playa.

So please, before you load up your car full of extra gasoline (a no-no), please read about burn scars (http://www.burningman.com/themecamps_installations/installations/burn_scar_prevention.html) and creating dangerous art safely (http://www.burningman.com/themecamps_installations/installations/creating_dangerous_art.html).

-Playaquest
(eagerly donning fire-retardant underwear)

Artery Check-In
If you show up at BRC with artwork to put on the playa, please come to the Artery in Center Camp to register your piece before placing it out there. (Note: if you're creating art for your camp, or 50' from your camp on the Esplanade, you don't need to register with us.)

We don't want to have to hurt you. :-)

-Playaquest
Ho D'Art

Artwork Cleanup
The Man has burned, your every orifice now hosts at least a handful of playa dust, and you're being forced to point your car back to the default world. But before you do, if you've created artwork for the playa, please be sure to Leave No Trace, just like at your own camp.

It could save your life. :-)

-Playaquest
"Moopmaster X"

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Copyright Will Chase, 2004

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