By Klaus Bereznyak
Saturday at 10AM,
the five sims of radical self expression that makes up this years main
Burn2 festival opened to the public with the usual ceremony. As darkness
fell on the baking dust of the playa, the lamplighters emerged like the
sun at midnight to lead the procession.
The
event was hearteningly well attended, to the point where the Deep Hole
sim was full at times. The lamplighters rode a truck, haltingly
navigated iSkye Silverweb, passing significant landmarks, and followed
by an array of burners on bicycles, on foot and in other random
vehicles. The pomp and high jinx culminated in the 'blessing' of the
Temple with lamplighter fire at 10:30am.
In the pervading atmosphere of anarchic fun, avs scooted around, test
driving freebie vehicles, greeting strangers and exploring the builds
from magnificent to homely. Burn2 fosters a "gift economy" so any
visitors would be well advised to take along a big sack in which to
stuff freebies.
It felt like everyone was letting their hair down a bit after the huge
amount of planning and building in recent weeks. When the lag got too
much, I retired to Sojourner's Outpost, the camp I co-built with a
friend, where we chilled, drank moonshine and entertained a couple of
guests and some wandering visitors.
Being a participant this year has given me an insight into the
back-story of Burn2 festivals, which begins for builders with the
pre-sale of plots back in July. Particular attention is given to
ensuring that builds minimize lag in order to give a range of visitors
the best experience possible. For instance, most of the textures used
are limited to 512x512 pixels, particles are kept down and prim building
is favored over mesh. Once building starts, creators move in on the
playa and many put up tents and make sure their basic needs are supplied
while building goes on. This is an enjoyable time, when it's possible
to get something of the authentic feeling of participating in a Burning
Man festival. Of course, some builds go up very quickly at the last
minute, and even during the opening there were a few random things the
organizers had to see to, such as porta potties popping up in the middle
of a roadway.
This year's theme of "Radical Ritual" has inspired a range of
interpretations and exploded in a wealth of 'temples' reflecting
dimensions of spirituality and the mundane, and constructed with spades
of the humor and creativity that tends to characterize Burn2. In kinship
with the real-life Burn this year, builders were invited to consider
"reinventing ritual in our post post-modern world - disregarding
assertions of belief and focus on the immediate experience of play. Play
can free us to envision truths of which we have no proof or warrant,
and breaks down the distinction that divides belief from make-believe.
Whole-hearted, creative play induces self-surrender to experience that
is beyond the scope of reasoned thought.”
This year's festival is spread across five sims and will probably take more
than a single visit to explore fully. On the fourth sim, Alkali,
building rules have been more relaxed and creators have had the
opportunity to take their 'radical expression' a little further while
ensuring that their fun doesn't interfere with anyone else's. In
addition to the main stage, there's a second big stage for live events
on this sim.
Kicking off events at the main stage following the opening procession
was the one-man-band Al Hofmann with his Burning Guitar, playing his
laid-back style of jazz fusion. The Alkali stage was baptized at noon
with the explosive beauty of Yman Juran and the ChangHigh Sisters'
fireshow of light, life and love. Both sets of performers can be seen
again during the week as part of the stuffed program of events running
until Sunday 29 October and ending with the final Temple Burn at 5pm.
It's going to be a blast. See you there!
Main Entrance SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/
Events Program: http://www.burn2.org/calendar
Flickr Group: https://www.flickr.com/groups/
Klaus Bereznyak
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