We got back from Burning Man over a week ago now and are still trying to get the last vestiges of Playa dust out of everything. It’s been a week of playing catch up, general fire fighting and fixing PCs.
We arrived at Black Rock City, as the site’s called, with the advance party after numerous delays in leaving Reno due to last minute errands for essential building supplies like re-bar and sheeting. Getting there on Saturday was supposed to mean a relatively speedy entry to the site but a dust storm put a stop everything for several hours, so it was time to hunker down, be philosophical and make the best of it. On arrival at our allocated pitch, we were confronted with a bare patch of desert floor which was to become our home for the next 10 days or so . However, it could only be called ‘home’ after a couple days hard graft assembling shelters, cooking facilities, solar showers, the dome needed for classes and, of course, our tents. A certain amount of ingenuity and bodging was required and my Leatherman multi-tool was worth its weight in gold. The only mishap was when Nina got a massive ‘re-bar bite’ to the bone on her shin. Luckily, we had a nurse amongst our number and BRC’s medical facilities were exceptional.
By Monday, the number of Camp Cyberia inmates had swollen from a handful to nearly 70, representing every corner of the globe and all walks of life: Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, Russia, Spaain, Romania, UK and US, as you’d expect, to mention but a few.
I’ve been to my share of festivals over the years, starting with the first Glastonbury, but nothing prepared me for Burning Man. No mud for starters! Dust I can live with and you certainly need to learn that fast as there’s no escaping. You just have to accept it as a challenging novelty and don your goggles and filtration when it kicks up…and kick up it did with visibility suddenly reduced to a few metres. You could spot Burners all the way to London from their dusty clothes and luggage. Another difference was the absence of trash due to the strict ‘leave no trace’ policy. It really works, making me ashamed of the crap other festival goers leave behind. The art pieces and the Playa, especially at night when it became a magical world of lights and fire , were stunning.
Due to not getting the dome up in time after the delay on site entry, we had to forgo the Monday class and start our rope classes on Tuesday. After an initial slow start, I think due to being billed a little later in the guide, our first class soon filled up with enthusiastic students. Due to only having one hour slots and quite possibly dealing with limited attention spans due to extenuating circumstances, we had to think of things to convey fast and that would turn on light-bulbs in people’s heads. Unsurprisingly, we made sure there was a ‘tying people, not parcels’ flavour as this is what sets shibari apart for me from western styles. In order to touch on what we regard as fundamental, the classes were very much ingredients based using the ‘Tying techniques and rope handling‘ series from ShibariClasses.com as a basis. The response was fantastic with many coming back for later classes. Our big regret was that our camp had no suspension points as I know a good show or demo would capture their imagination. If we go next year, it has been assured this will be remedied.
In fact, for future events, Nina is dreaming of an art car featuring a suspension point and themed after an old-style Japanese house. All we need now is a wealthy sponsor or a successful Indiegogo campaign. It does happen as The Captain, a Londoner I met at LA airport, told me. He had been sponsored to build an art car in Reno comprising a massive Illuminati pyramid with a double bed on top!
Thanks to the lovely people of Camp Cyberia for inviting us thus making this possible with all their kindness and help.
