Beth's Story: “ It was my first Burn, but I had been familiar with Burning Man since 2000 when I lived in San Francisco and would see Burners heading over the Bay Bridge, their cars and pickup trucks piled high with yurts, sculptures, and other survival goods. These memories stayed with me, and in 2017, I developed a museum exhibition about Burning Man Jewelry at Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA, the institution where I'm a curator. It's called Playa Made: Burning Man Jewelry. Based on connections I met during that process, I was offered a ticket to Burning Man and a spot in the Iron Monkeys camp, an art camp that created the birdcage sculpture "Over / Grown." The experience of my first Burn is hard to capture in words. I arrived in a dust storm, feeling scared and nervous, and not entirely sure how to make it to my camp in whiteout conditions. I finally found it, and settled in, but it was a shock to arrive in this unknown land where everything seemed different. Perhaps akin to how Dorothy felt upon landing in Oz. The rest of the week was like a return to childhood: I rode my bike everywhere. I didn't look at my phone. I got to play dress up, yet I didn't care what I looked like and what others thoughts. I made friends everywhere I went. I got to climb on things. I danced when I wanted, ate when and what I wanted, and just got to be free. To be able to unplug from the default world and to be surrounded by others who are tapping into the joy and freedom not experienced since childhood is a rare and beautiful thing. As an art museum curator, the level of unfettered creativity was astounding. The Playa is like a laboratory where creatives from all over the world are given permission to believe that anything is possible. And after my first Burn, I feel like anything is. “
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Beth

Photo by: Juan P. Zapata

Year: 2018

Image Caption: 

Beth's Story: “ It was my first Burn, but I had been familiar with Burning Man since 2000 when I lived in San Francisco and would see Burners heading over the Bay Bridge, their cars and pickup trucks piled high with yurts, sculptures, and other survival goods. These memories stayed with me, and in 2017, I developed a museum exhibition about Burning Man Jewelry at Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA, the institution where I'm a curator. It's called Playa Made: Burning Man Jewelry. Based on connections I met during that process, I was offered a ticket to Burning Man and a spot in the Iron Monkeys camp, an art camp that created the birdcage sculpture "Over / Grown." The experience of my first Burn is hard to capture in words. I arrived in a dust storm, feeling scared and nervous, and not entirely sure how to make it to my camp in whiteout conditions. I finally found it, and settled in, but it was a shock to arrive in this unknown land where everything seemed different. Perhaps akin to how Dorothy felt upon landing in Oz. The rest of the week was like a return to childhood: I rode my bike everywhere. I didn't look at my phone. I got to play dress up, yet I didn't care what I looked like and what others thoughts. I made friends everywhere I went. I got to climb on things. I danced when I wanted, ate when and what I wanted, and just got to be free. To be able to unplug from the default world and to be surrounded by others who are tapping into the joy and freedom not experienced since childhood is a rare and beautiful thing. As an art museum curator, the level of unfettered creativity was astounding. The Playa is like a laboratory where creatives from all over the world are given permission to believe that anything is possible. And after my first Burn, I feel like anything is. “

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