Category Archives: Burning Man 2018

Photos, videos and thoughts from Burning Man 2018 – The Big WHY

It’s been four years since I first mutated XyloVan as “the Light Fandango” and cruised the playa dressed as a glowing ballroom ceiling.

This year’s journey to Burning Man proved just as magical as the 2014 outing, thanks to amazing new campmates at OKNOTOK who helped me build and light it, a couple of excellent percussion cruises, and an endless stream of beautiful people who came to play the instruments.

More thoughts – and a question for you – below the images and videos:


Random notes from the keyboards.


Brief clip of art cars in line for night inspection at the Black Rock City Department of Mutant Vehicles.


The gorgeous RadiaLumia.

People question Burning Man – as they should.

Why bring millions of dollars of art, energy and resources into a godforsaken desert, run around like maniacs, burn a lot of it to the ground and then go home?

Why not put all that power and cash into solving problems, feeding the hungry, educating the young, improving humanity?

What the hell is all this for?

I think that, at some deep, cellular level, humanity needs to Burn. The immediate purposes – entertainment, inspiration, provocation, cross-pollination – are obvious, but the Long-Tail benefits remain hidden.

As a species, burning is a collaborative effort to evolve in some way as a species.

Whether it’s through living Ten Principles culture of participation, inclusion and immediacy, or trying to survive the brutally Darwinian process of designing an art car that won’t be kicked to pieces by 60mph winds or drug-crazed revelers, we’re trying to Go Somewhere Different with all that we bring to Burning Man.

Is Black Rock City’s increasingly global culture spiritual exploration, artistic experimentation, radical interaction, human stress-testing or just blatant, party-brained fuckery?

The answer is yes – all that and something more.

The question remains – why?

Your thoughts on this are welcome. (Just register to comment).

Percussion cruise to Sonic Runway and beyond

A percussion cruise is a pretty simple pleasure: Invite people onto the roof to play the drums and gongs, and drive across the Black Rock Desert.

As I drive, happy sounds drift down – people lazily striking the gongs, and chatting passionately about their burns.

The first part of this clip is the sound of a cruise we did on Tuesday afternoon, and the latter part is part of XyloVan’s set at Sonic Runway – friends from Liminal Labs joined random Burners on the roof and around the xylophones to play.

Unfortunately, the mixer crapped out so the roof percussion drowned out the xylophones, but the sound was enough to trigger some beautiful patterns on the Runway.

Sweating the details – and XyloVan’s cruise schedule – for TTITD 2018

Preparing for Burning Man – the Thing in the Desert – consumes you. You sacrifice all your time to it, and much of your sanity. I’ve been too busy to even blog about this year’s preparations, which have included a slew of new instruments and a complete teardown/rebuild of the Arduino-controlled canopy-light system. As I’m probably overfond of saying, a mutant vehicle is a hole in the playa into which one pours money, blood and tears.

But it’s still a mutant vehicle. And I’ve got a schedule to keep.

So here, this’ll catch you up:


2018 Scheduled Cruises:

Flag me down if you see me and I’ll give you a ride if there’s room!

If I’m not cruising the playa, abandoning XyloVan briefly to volunteer on GATE, enjoying the insanely inventive events at home at OKNOTOK at 3:00/A, I’ll be doing one of these things.

  • Tuesday 8/28
    • 12 noon: BAIT route from 3:00/L to the Temple and back
    • 2:30 pm: XyloVan Robøtik Perkussion Jam Cruise departs from OKNOTOK (3:00/A)
    • 3 pm: BAIT route from 3:00/L to the Temple and back
  • Thursday
    • 12 noon: BAIT route from 3:00/L to the Temple and back
    • 2:30 pm: XyloVan Robøtik Perkussion Jam Cruise departs from OKNOTOK (3:00/A)
    • 3 pm: BAIT route from 3:00/L to the Temple and back
    • 10 pm: XyloVan plays the Sonic Runway in deep playa – Come bang on the van with us and make the Sonic Runway go wild!

XyloVan’s Light Fandango comes home to BRC in 2018

At the temple, 2014.

YES!

“The Light Fandango” will return to Black Rock City this August in full dress.

I just got my invitation from the Department of Mutant Vehicles. To say I’m excited is a bit of an understatement.

I learned a lot in 2014, the last time she flew.

The chief lesson was – assemble the chandeliers with lock washers instead of flat washers so they don’t keep unscrewing and sending the delicate handmade fixtures crashing to the playa while driving (thus requiring me over and over and over and over again to haul the 10-foot A-frame ladder down from the Cloud Deck, set it up, clamber to the top, screw everything back together, re-crimp all the destroyed electrical connections, clamber down, and put the ladder and tools away).

Oh, and Velcro wraps are no substitute for zip-ties.

A more valuable lesson was this: an on-playa build crew is worth more than water, gold or any precious commodity you can think of, and deserves a spot on XyloVan’s roof on burn night, along with all the just-thawed Gatorade I can give them.

I’m looking really looking forward to working with the good folks at OKNOTOK, the brilliant camp that has graciously agreed to host XyloVan this year.

Watch this space for updates on placement!