Oakland | The Outer Sunset

Grand Opening of The Big Art Studios at American Steel

13 07 2009

It was raining on my way from SF to Oakland for the big Sand by the Ton Burning Man Art Carnival, which was kind of odd because I pay attention to the weather reports and I hadn’t heard anyone predict showers for the weekend. At first I thought it might just be one of those flash monsoons, but it lasted for the entire ride and by the time I was over the Bay Bridge I saw this amazing double rainbow over the American Steel building.

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I haven’t Burned in over 7 years now but I remember seeing pictures and hearing stories of this amazing double rainbow at a recent Burning Man, so it felt like one of those moments where God was letting you in on in an inside joke.

Or like one of those coincidences in LOST. Take your pick.

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The American Steel building is HUGE. It’s got it’s own block. Hell, it has its own zip code.

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It also has some neat graffiti nearby.

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The Tesla Coil was back and was rocking out right behind the Gravity Point camp.

There was also some loud constant banging, like someone was dropping a cargo tank from the roof. It was loud enough to obliterate the noise made by several raves. It was like trying to dance during the firecracker scene in Boogie Nights.

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Fire and lasers and beats and Mayhem. Oh my!

This space reminded me a lot of the old Gathering parties at Home Base.

Paging Martin O’Brien – if you’re reading this you really want to talk to the Big Art Studio people. The American Steel place would be an amazing location for a Gathering. No. Wait. I take that back. Not a Gathering, not a Freedom or even a Come-Unity, but still taking something from those inspirations and putting it together to make something new.

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I see you, you see me
Watch you blowin’ the lines when you’re making a scene
Oh girl, you’ve got to know
What my head overlooks
The senses will show to my heart
When it’s watching for lies
You cant escape my

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Private eyes
They’re watching you
They see your every move
Private eyes
They’re watching you watching you watching you watching you

***

Burning Man in Oakland Next Week.

3 07 2009

Michael Christian’s Bone Arch at Burning Man 1997.

I remember this year. 1997 was the first, and God-willing, only time that Burning Man was moved to the Hualapai Playa. The local sheriff’s department pulled an Enron. They put armed cops in the ticket booth and collected 100% of all the ticket money as it came in. This is a shake-down, suckers! Burning Man almost went bankrupt that year.

This was a piece that Michael Christian had put together from local horse and cow skeletons. Talk about using all the parts of the buffalo. I remember all that dead grass on the playa and everyone was riding around with cow skulls that year.

I had a lot of fun in 1997, but I never want to see the Hualapai Playa ever again.

Amazing Burning Man Art Carnival in the post 9/11 / Oscar Grant / Lovelle Mixon Oakland next week.

With Michael Christian art.