Details:

- Wear your wildest and craziest costume to get in for $10. Face Painting booth will be available to help you get “accesorized”. Faux Fur and face paint is highly recommended!
Admission is $12 if your not in “burner wear” or “costume”. Strictly enforced.

- Fire&Steel is a “Family Friendly” Event. Kids welcome but remember, this IS a “Burner” event and things can get a bit crazier during the later evening (after 8PM adult reccomended).

- Beer, Wine and Margarita Parlor! Enjoy the night! Drink responsibly. 21 and over. Hosted by the Colfax Kiwanis Club.

- Bring your Playa Bike! We’ll have the “Bicycle Transformation Station!” Get it decorated and “blinged out” then ride it in the playa bike PARADE thru Historic Colfax! Trophies for the most decorated bikes!

- Stick around after Fire&Steel for the “After Parties”. Five bars and clubs in Colfax will be hosting LIVE BANDS and drum circles till 2AM! BURNER STYLE FUN! (shuttle van available)

- For local lodging call the Colfax Motor Lodge at (530) 346-8382
Tell them Fire&Steel sent ya!

- Nearby camping at the Bear River Campground. (530) 886-4901

Don’t forget to RSVP ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE AT

www.tinyurl.com/fbfire

Directions to Event:

From Sacramento CA – Go East on Interstate 80 toward Reno Nevada. One hour to the Colfax / Highway 174 exit. Circle back over freeway. Turn right and follow South Auburn into Old Town Colfax.

From Reno NV – Travel West on Interstate 80 one hour to the Colfax / Highway 174 Exit. Turn right. Follow South Auburn Street to Old Town Colfax.

Volunteer for this event:

We’re looking for reliable volunteers for…

- Security

- Hospitality

- Front Gate

- Fire Events

- Art Coordinator

For info, Call or email – Jimbowers@burningtribe.com (916) 521-4489

Project Overview and Timeline

Nov 2011: Feasibility and discovery phase. Identify Opportunities and Challenges. Resolve issues.

Dec 2011: Initial plan and mission outlined – Course of Action implemented. Project leads assigned. Responsibilities outlined.

Jan 2012 : Create sketch graphics, budget and time line – Submit Grant Proposal.

Feb – Mar : Hype Project Phase – Bring in project team members/volunteers/supporters, and specialized expertise. Finalize graphics / blue print structure. 3D modeling. Brainstorm project additions and improvements. Initiate social network fund raising campaign. Plan for “Fire&Steel” Festival – Colfax CA.  Set up and resource Kickstarter/FB/Twitter/Email Campaign).  Line up materials suppliers and sources. Pick up necessary first phase materials.

Apr – Jul: Build Phase – Construct ENTIRE project (pre-fab) off playa in modular sections.  16 Work-party weekends. Project Fundraisers. (Fire&Steel Festival). Line up transport trucks for project. (Sunbelt – Mike Thomas)

August: Wrap up Phase – Complete any final construction before Aug 15th.  Prepare “ready yard” for transport. Communicate with all project “leads”, complete/resolve any unfinished tasks. 

Pre-Event: Transport Phase –  Transport to playa from Sacramento (area) five days prior to event. 6 hour drive. All early arrivals (12), set-up camp and re-assemble structure and associated art.  Complete and ready to go 1 day prior to event opening (Sunday).

EVENT: “Be Brilliant Phase” –  (Monday) Launch project with “execution crew”. Staff the project from 10AM – 2AM daily. Births, Funerals, Weddings, Wakes, Briss, New baby spank, Confessional, Live music, open bar – EXCITEMENT

FINALE: – Burn Phase – The ENTIRE structure is ceremoniously rolled over logs out onto the open playa from its esplanade location via ropes and volunteers. Set on a 80′ diameter DG burn platform. Ceremonial Burning with music, performance art and professional pyrotechnics. (Safety light burn pile overnight)

Sun – Mon: De-Moop Phase – Reburn burn pile burnables. Magnet Rake Burn pile. remove all metal and non-burnables from ash pile. steel rake and “condense ash pile”

Mon – Tues: Teardown Phase – Tribe Camp breakdown and project final clean-up. Load and departure.

Tue – Wed: – “Last Man Standing” Phase: One or more people Walks the camp and project area for ANY last minute missed debris. Get area inspected by BM staff including burn pile. Photograph both areas and depart. Pick up balance check at Artery…  Put clothes back on…  ;-)   Depart playa.

Our 2012 Art Project for Burning Man Fertility 2.0. Jim Bowers is the the lead artist on the project. Arlen Bodily will be the Project Manager. “Church Of Regeneration & Decay” ties directly into this years “fertility” theme and is HIGHLY interactive.
Together with a team of volunteer crew members we plan to construct …

3D View with "Birth" entrance

- a “quaint country “church/chapel/temple” with a twist. (dimensions outlined) entitled “Church of Regeneration & Decay”
- it will be designed and adorned in true BM fashion with additional “recycled” art inside and out…
- it will hold approx 25 people on wooden “pews”
- Participants can experience their own birth and be “reborn” right out of a giant ornate and velvety vagina…and then their own death by lieing in a coffin while their friends conduct a complete funeral service…. complete with pall bearers and eulogy
- participants will get a headstone to display in the graveyard outside.-

- participants would get a “Birth/Death” certificate…

- My plan is to ask for Esplanade frontage this year (around 5:30 – 6:30 street)
- The church would be constructed IN-CAMP on our road frontage to the Esplanade
- Tribe & Volunteer Crew members may participate in ceremonies / costuming / wakes / marriages / funeral processions / eulogies / Baptismals……. etc.
- On Saturday night… we would put “logs/pipe” under it, and with the help of 100 volunteers, roll/drag the entire structure out onto the open playa to a designated burn platform.
- After a correographed fire-arts performance, “last rites” and ALOT more pyrotechnics…. WE BURN IT TO THE GROUND.

Interested in participating? – We would love to have you onboard – questions, comment, and IDEAS are especially welcomed and ALWAYS encouraged!

I will be setting up a Facebook Page for volunteer team members… in the mean time, you can email me at jimbowers@foothill.net

Committees Lead: jimbowers@burningtribe.com

Meals Schedule: (create meal plan / fill as many slots as possible / dinner/breakfast/lunch)
Lead: Lisa Evil
- Ruvi (will assist with web stuff)
- need volunteers

Camp Layout and TriBe member Placement: (layout camp “map” – place tribe members effectively as they arrive in order to maintain orderly and efficient infrastructure.
Lead: Andrew
- Jim

TriBe Member Necklace Construction: (Prior to Burn: Create and construct 75-100 official TriBe members necklaces for all members to wear on-playa
Lead: Maiia De’La Playa
- need volunteers

Entertainment & Activities: (Aquire and Coordinate Music, bands, drums, and entertainment, Coordinate Shade Structure Accesories ie; Pillow Pit, Furnishings & Accessories)
Lead: Lisa Evil
- Lisa Ford

Reno Storage – Delivery & Return
Lead: Jeannie (TriBe Queen)
- Lisa Ford
- need volunteers

Shade Structure: (coordinate set-up / electrical / set-up bar / floor cover / tear down
Lead: need team leader
- Jim
- Enrico
- need volunteers

Camp Frontage: (“Laser Lounge Theme” assist with planning / construction / Maintain / Tear Down / Dispose or Store
Lead: Brad Lindsey
- need volunteers

Recycle Station: (Set -Up / Maintain / Enforce Recycling / Tear Down
Lead: David Wiles
-Maia DeLaPlaya
- need volunteers

Kitchen: (set-up / stock utensils / tear down / schedule & enforce clean-up during the week)
Lead: need team leader
- need volunteers

Power and Utilities: (coordinate / provide adequate Solar and Genny power to vital areas of camp, delegate & acquire adequate fuel)
Lead: Dan Pritchett AKA “RadDan”
- need volunteers

Porta-Potty: (coordinate potty rental / placement / decor / Delegate maintenance / schedule pumping / pick-up
Lead: need leader
- need volunteers

Scaffold / Hormone Dome: (unload and erect scaffold / decorate / tear down)
Lead: Brad AKA B-Rad
- need volunteers
- Enrico
- need volunteers

Bar: ( set-up / collect and stock with adequate alcohols, juices, soda, / maintain / organize / staff / clean / tear down
Lead:  Jeannie
- Ruvi (bartender/waiter shift)
- need volunteers

ICE: (Collect Ice money / maintain dedicated Ice coolers / recruit volunteers to fetch ice)
Lead: need team leader
- Ruvi (ice runner)
- Enrico
- need volunteers (ice runners)

Shade Structure Decor: (collaborate on theme decor / delegate whos bringing what / install decor & lighting/ maintain / tear down
Lead: need team leader
-  Mike P.

MOOP Patrol: (arrange for trash trailer, monitor any Matter Out Of Place / delegate-schedule morning shade structure and camp clean-up /
Lead: need team leader
- Jim
- need volunteers

“Tiki Torches” (delegate people to bring 15-20 tikis and 10-12 gallons of tiki fuel / install / refill and light tikis at dusk / extinguish tikis at 3am”ish” / remove / empty / dispose or store
Lead: need team leader (aka tiki bitch)
- backup tiki bitch

“Schneider Schpa” and Sweat Lodge: (build and maintain sauna / tear down)
Lead: Matt
- need volunteers
- need volunteers

Camp Security: (Monitor Camp for potential Theft Items & “out of place” Valuables / Remain in Camp during the Burn to secure area from potential Coyotes (thieves)
Lead: Eric Cassell
- need volunteer/s

Last Man Standing: (insure coordinated clean-up / remain in camp until everyone has gone home / perform final sweep / Remove any MOOP (Tuesday or Wednesday)
Lead: Jim
- need volunteers
- need volunteers

Webmaster AKA “Web Lackey” (Maintain / Assist & Monitor TriBe Website)
Lead: Ruvi
- anyone wanting to maintain their own project pages please contact Ruvi

Satelite image courtesy ~ GeoEye Satelite Imagery.

In 2011 The TriBe made history at Burning Man when the annual GeoEye Satelite made its regular flyby over Black Rock City near Gerlach Nevada. Utilizing three water tanker trucks, we spelled out the word “Tribe” (backward “e”) using water to darken the playa and define the lines over 1700′ across Black Rock City. Our art was over 700′ tall! In the final satelite picture, the word “TriBe” is clearly visible from SPACEnv over 4.5 miles above the earth.
We also invited participants to join us in the creation and execution of this HUGE project. After completing our mission, we all gathered together to create the “dot” over the “i” using humans, vehicles and water trucks as our color palette. Our art is now the single largest “VISIBLE” creation of art in Burning Mans history, which celebrates it’s 25th Anniversary in 2011. We’d like to thank the following people for making this massive art project possible.

Meco Water: Bill McKinnies and Crew

“Coyote”: at Burning Man. Thanks for allowing us to create our art!

Beth “Bettie June”: at Burning Man. Thanks for ALL your faith and support!

The Creators, Artists and Support on “The Water Project” were:

- Jim Bowers: Project Concept & Organizer
- Matt S: Artist & Lead Surveyor
- Bare and Charlie : Project Managers and Layout Team
- Ron at Meco Water: Contributing Artist. (“squiggly line”)
- (The Tanker Drivers): Meco Water
- Contributing Support: ElaineK, CharlesS, WayneD, DwayneB, ChrisF, GerryG, Doc, JerryH, PeterL, CarolinaP, WalkerB, RafaelS, ClaudioV, ThomA, SergioM, NiklassW, and The Tribe!

More Photos at http://www.burningtribe.com/gallery/waterproject

Notes:

Bare said: “We didn’t do it alone that’s for sure. Charly’s handmade homemade plow made it easy to follow the path form survey mark to mark and several people helped Elaine and Charly and Charles Swenson and Wayne Domoe. There were about 8 of us that got it done, so thanks go to them as well and without Meeco onboard with the water, it wouldn’t be nearly as impressive even the one water truck driver Rod I think his name was, he suggested the “squiggly line” over the top that made the word pop. He was so excited when Jim told him to do it, he said to me it was the first time he got to create art on the playa. LOL it was cool and awesome how they helped make it happen, SO thanks to all, that was a fun project…. Wish we would have had time for one more pass over the “i” but the water guys were callin my water truck back so didn’t get to water it.. I KNEW it was gonna dry quick but we finished with 9mins left before the SAT took the shot….. Good Times….“

(Notice our crew with the three water trucks parked in the dot of the “i”)

- Bare

Below is the original plan “sketch” (yes, the version below is the initial “sketch” PLAN photoshopped onto the 2010 Satelite photo) and it looks pretty darn close to the real (and final) layout :

Jim Bowers:

“Congratulations and Thanks to all those that participated on this monumental project. The TriBe has truly “left its mark” in Burning Man history. Special thanks goes out to Matt Schneider and Barbara McClean for the efforts all year long in helping to make this happen. Also gotta thank Bill McKinnies, owner of Meco Water for his trust and support on the project.

This is the first “artwork” in the 25 year history of Burning Man that a piece of artwork is CLEARLY visible from space (without zooming in on the satelite picture).

That’s when I discovered Burning Man. “It’s an annual art festival of radical self expression man! That was all I had to hear…although the part about naked chicks everywhere didn’t hurt either.
I asked my boss for the rest of the week off whereas I got a resounding “NO”! Just short of quitting and throwing on my own hippified shirt , I reluctantly waited out the week and come SUNDAY at 5PM, my best friend Randy, Sheril Barker, Myself and one six pack of warm beer headed for Black Rock City.

Once we passed Reno, we headed out across the open desert where we didn’t see another car for thirty miles in both directions along the long, two lane country road. When we finally did have a car catch up from a light year behind us, he flipped on his pretty red lights and pulled me over. “You’re wandering all over the road” he said.

“Well there’s nothing out here to hit officer, so I just figured I would see how many bumps I could weave in and out of.”  ”Have you been drinking?” the officer asked as he leaned toward me to get a whiff in the truck. ” No, sir” I said. The state trooper shined his flashlight in my face while he glanced around the truck for open containers and the smell of wacky tabackee. ”You folks drive safe and try to stay to the RIGHT of the bumps.”

An hour later we rounded the bend into Gerlach Nevada. Off in the distance, out across the desert,  was a bright glow in the middle of a dry, white lakebed. Plumes of smoke and tall flames looked like an entire city was on fire.

"Their Burning The Man!"

“Oh shit! They’re burning it!” I shouted as I pounded the pedal to the metal. We raced up the narrow highway out of Gerlach and turned off the road at a cardboard sign directing us off into the desert. Bouncing along the makeshift road, we choked as fine white dust poured into the truck from every open window, vent and cigarette lighter!

Two miles down the “road”, we approached a ticket booth in the middle of our path. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Apparently when they got ready to burn the Man, everyone said screw it and bailed! Woo-Hoo! We just saved $45!

We hopped back in the truck and drove on toward the raging fires in the distance. The closer we got the more apparent it became that this was not going to be your average art festival. The roads were loosely roughed out of the dry cracked lake bed to form this “city” of 12,000 revelers, all scattered about in tents, campers and psychedelic painted motor homes, decorated to look like rolling art. The streets were pretty deserted but I could see hundreds, if not thousands of people off in the distance running back and forth across the open desert. A giant mobile space ship hurried passed us with a dozen naked people hanging off all sides of it whooping and shouting, “The Man is dead! The Man is dead!”

“Follow those aliens!” shouted Sheril. I pulled in behind the space ship, tailgating the non-humans into the semi-circle city center where all the commotion was taking place. It was around 10:30PM by the time we had finally “Landed on Mars”.  I looked around me in awe as I reached behind the seat of the truck to move Sherils empty beer bottles out of the way so I could get at my camera and half dozen rolls of film. Dozens of raging fires burned all over the city, including the camping areas.  Sparks and smoke billowed high into the night sky. I could hear people way off in the distance howling like coyotes at the moon.

Right in the very center of the festival was where the 50′ wooden man once stood atop hundreds of hay bails. But now it was gone and they were all dancing around the raging fire that brought him down. It was as close to complete anarchy as I’d ever experienced. It was exciting and exhilarating. I wanted to get right into the very center of it all!

Sheril grabbed the last hot beer in the truck and said she was headed out to find a friend. A huge fireball lit up the entire festival as it exploded in the night sky. “This is SO fuckin’ cool!”, I shouted to Randy as we headed into the crowd of mayhem and madness.

I had surely died and gone to ”photographers heaven”. Everywhere I looked there were the most incredibly amazing images to be captured on film. Although I had five rolls of film with me, I knew I’d be out in an hour if I didn’t pace myself.

Shooting at night presented it’s problems in that I would need a flash. But, the fires were so bright, it made for much more dramatic images to shoot without the flash and capture these shadowy figures lit by the raging flames of fifty foot bonfires. How often do you get to take a picture of a viking setting fire to a 25′ wooden duck?

An eight foot praying mantis ran past behind me. Two naked hippies were “doing it” on a chaise lounge. Some guy shouted “The Man Is Fucking Dead!”, hurling a flaming 2×4 into a bon-fire.

Suddenly I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a lone character standing silhouetted against the raging fire. As I walked across the desert around him, I was in awe of this perfect image. I could barely make out his long brown hair and his dusty white flowing robe. He stood alone on the vast playa with his head up. His arms outstretched toward the millions of bright stars in the unobstructed night sky. From horizon to horizon there was nothing but fire in the way of my camera. I broke out into a full sprint to put this Messiah into perfect position against the fiery backdrop. About twenty yards away from him I squatted to steady the camera on my knee. I needed to hurry before his arms came down and this perfect moment in time was lost forever.

I focused. I adjusted the aperture wide open. I held my breath, squeezed the shutter button and…

FLASH!

Son of a Bitch! The damn flash went off and I’ve blinded the poor guy. Before I could even re-cock the camera to shoot again, He lowered his arms, and the moment was gone. I had missed the perfect shot. At best, I would have a washed out portrait of a stoned hippy, freakin’ out on peyote.

I got up to move on but noticed that “Jesus Christ” was now walking straight toward me. I stood there tinkering with my camera as if to be doing something important while he took his sweet time getting to me.

“Hey there! Hows yer’ Dad doing? I joked as he walked up. “Sorry about that flash thing. I was trying to shoot without it.”

"The Man Crumbles"

He just looked at me calmly, then looked down at the camera around my neck.” ”You’ve captured my eternal soul in your camera.”, he said in a soft voice.
“I hope so!” I replied. “Can I mail you a copy?”

He reached out and gently grabbed hold of the camera hanging around my neck. “Uhhhh, what’s up?” I said backing away, not quite sure what he was after.

“My soul is in your camera and I need it back” he muttered. “What…. are you kidding me? I said. All I did was take your picture buddy, I didn’t take your soul.”

“My religion believes that if you capture ones image, you’ve captured their eternal soul.”

He just stood there… staring at me with his hand out as if I was really going to hand him my camera. “Well” I said, “I have the right to take your picture, and you’re NOT going to get my film. I’m really sorry if I’ve condemned you to hell, but I have dozens of photos on this roll and I’m not giving them up to save your eternal soul.” And with that… I turned and walked off.

But, It didn’t matter how fast I walked. If I turned around, there he was slowly walking behind me with his long lanky arms outstretched. If I stopped to take a picture, he would catch up to me and reach over my shoulder for the camera. Never angry or violent. He never raised his voice. He was like a damn pet monkey!  He just followed along behind me…like he was my pet MONKEY fer’ “Christs” sake.  His long arms pawed at me. He was truely convinced that his soul had to be hangin’ out in my Pentax AE1. It’s not like the guy was a priest or an indian or somethin. He looked like an irish kid from Brooklyn…But with long hair…and MONKEY arms!!

So, my lankey monkey was starting to piss me off after over an hour. No matter what I did just short of kickin’ him in his monkey nuts was going to keep him from his mission of rescuing his eternal soul. Finally, I decided it was time to track down a cop, or this guy Larry that i’d heard was in charge of this shin-dig. Eventually I’m directed to these guys they call Black Rock Rangers. They kinda looked like Eagle Scouts without all the “stinking badges”. “Have you guys got a taser?!” I shouted as they walked up.

The three listen to my story and then take my monkey off to get his version of the apocalypse. Ten minutes later, one of the rent-a-weblos walks back over to me and says, “Well sir, that man truly does believe that you have captured his eternal soul in that camera. Now, we do realize that you have the legal right to take his picture. However,… he has made it very clear that he’s not going to stop following you until you give up the ghost”.
” SO!” he says calmly, “My partners and I have decided that in order to peacefully resolve this matter, I will give you FIVE new rolls of film if you will give him that ONE “roll with the soul.” The ranger just stared at me with a whimsical smirk…

At first I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. They all knew that my little monkey was a complete whack job, but they didn’t want to haul his monkey robed ass to the burning man pokey. I pondered the offer…These guys were ACTUALLY willing to give up their own personal film just to resolve this predicament.

“Hmmmm, What to do?” Put up with my adopted monkey all night, or go out and shoot five times as many pictures all over again?”

“All right, Fuck it!”…I said, “Cheetah can have the damn film!”

With a reluctant “CLICK!” , I popped the back lid, exposing ALL of the fifteen or twenty frames of film.  I “r-r-r-r-ripped” the film out of the camera tossing it into the night breeze, and in an overly dramatic gesture, I released his “spirit!!”.. “YOUR FREE!, YOUR FREE! I shouted as the film rolled, spiraling through the dust.

Monkey boy just stood there. He didn’t smile, or make a move to catch up with the film as it rolled away. He just stood there, and stared, with his beading fuckin’ monkey eyes… straight at me!

“Well, there we go!” said the manscout with pride, “We solved yet another incident without the help of Johnny Law.”  Then he reached into his hip pack and dolled out five black canisters of Kodak Film.
We all just stood there… waiting for the Jesus monkey to say something!  “Thanks” maybe… “God Speed?”… “I forgive you my son”  ”Got a banana?” Something fer’ Christs sake!

Suddenly he walked over, looked down and again and reached out for my camera. “My soul is still INSIDE the CAMERA…!”

Randy and I just stood there and stared back and forth at each other as the Rangers picked up the monkey by his outstretched monkey arms and carried him slowly off into the darkness.  I could only stand there, staring…. at my five rolls of brand spankin’ new film.

“Wow” I said to Randy… “If THIS  is the kind of shit that happens at Burning Man, I am SO coming back next Year!”

[While this story is based on real events, conversations have been embellished and probably down right fabricated for your entertainment pleasure]

Jim Bowers

Each assemblage will consist of 4 to 8 illuminated shapes.   Only one of the shapes will be mounted on the playa.   This base unit will contain a small Tesla coil.   Power for this coil will be provide by BRC.   The remaining shapes will only contain a fluorescent tube.  A translucent skin will encase each tube.  Images and text will be adhered to this skin.

The Tesla coil will cause the fluorescent tubes to glow by induction.  The small Tesla coil will have a range of 3 meters.   These shapes could be spread around or moved away from the base and yet would still illuminate.    No electrical wire will be visible and all but the shape containing the tesla coil will be completely free of electrical wiring.    A thin safety cable will tether the shapes to the base shape.  This will keep the playa winds from blowing them too far away and prevent participates from intermingling the concept shapes.

A Non-illuminated examples of the Asseblages are shown below.

Individual Rites of Passage

Birth [ Tori Gate ] One’s entry in to life.  The entry of friends and loved ones.

Discovery ascertaining something previously unknown or unrecognized

Love

Death,

Learning,

Growth,

Achievement

Participation

If you would like to help with this project you can donate below or email me for volunteering options, glla at juno dot com

In 2010,the City Lights project brought illuminated art to the dark, back streets of Burning Man.   Now I want to return those lights to the city and enroll more people into the creative side of the project.   An expansion for the project will be an On-Playa studio for people to create illuminated sculptures for themselves or to create flags or banners to mark their camps

BRC installs utilitarian sign posts throughout the city.  These are useful in navigating the city by day.  At night, these sign posts are a hazard for being unlit.    By installing unique solar-powered light sculptures on the sign posts, City Lights will make them distinctive artistic landmarks and will illuminate them during the night. The result will offer an enriched experience for citizens of Black Rock City and provide night time wayfaring on the playa.

This will also allow people who cannot attend this year to participate.  Former burners and armchair burners can now be a part of the burn without going to the desert.

On-playa we will open a Light, Banner & Flag workshop.   BRC Citizens’ can come by to create a City Light for their camp or for installation in the city.   Or they can make flags and banners for marking their camps.    All basic materials will be provided for the citizens work.   Artistic assistance and supervision will be available.

Examples of 2010 Light Sculptures can be found at

2010 Installed City Lights