This is an exploration of Lego® elements and creativity... I performed an informal experiment at the 1996 BURNING MAN FESTIVAL in the Black Rock Desert that I would like to share.
Every year on Labor Day weekend...1000s of people ( mostly from the Bay area ) congregate in the Black Rock Desert to participate in the BURNING MAN FESTIVAL.Almost every element of society is represented in the created village...and a good time is had by all. Since a great number of painters, poets, musicians, sculpters, blacksmiths and "performance artists" attend the celebration, I thought it would be interesting to see what sort of things these incredibly creative folk would build! One day,
my friend Scottie and I showed up with a toolbox of Lego® bricks at the JAVA COW...the coffee shop located in the center of everything. ( The only drinks one could purchase on the playa were hot coffee and hot tea )
The JAVA COW is hidden under the artificial shade of great billious parachutes. As the temperatures soared above 100 degrees, people sought out this welcome oasis. People played saxophones...Gwendolyn from Art City hosted a running poetry show...and in general everyone hung out waiting for the day to cool off.
I ceremoniously dumped the bricks onto a table and without word started building. Individuals would come up and say "Wow...Legos® dude...I haven't seen these since I was a kid." Inevitably, they asked if they could build and I encouraged them.
It was nice that many females jumped in! It has been my experience that most women ( with significant exceptions ) shy away from Lego® elements! This was never an issue on the playa!
In my fears of melting parts and pieces, I decided only to bring bricks. In retrospect, that was unfortunate because some interesting things would have been constructed. As it was, I was very impressed with the things passerbys would build...some people would only spend a few minutes while others lasted the afternoon.
THE FOLLOWING ARE PICS OF PROJECTS BUILT AT BURNING MAN 1996
POSTSCRIPT: The unofficial Burning Man publication "The Black Rock Gazette," made it clear that "education" was not a topic appropriate for the playa. Sheesh,
some people just don't know how to have fun! SO WEBLANDERS, I CHALLENGE YOU TO BUILD IN INTERESTING AND CREATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES!
POST POSTSCRIPT: Okay I did not go to the Burning Man 1997, being too occupied with an archaeological expedition! But others took Legos and I can only send kind thoughts their
way. See a picture by them! CLICK HERE! YEAH!
POST POST POST SCRIPT
I *DID* attend the Burning Man 1998! I brought most of my school's staff. With Kevin from San Francisco and Jeff from ACME.COM
( love that guy! ),we created LEGO CAMP, probably the most popular camp that year! I brought about 200 pounds of Lego elements while Kevin
arranged for 300+ more! It was an incredible event. ( Expect Much Much More soon! )
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