The Detroit Dream Project Dedication

IMG_9165, originally uploaded by taymar_burning_Man.

It was quite an event when the Temple of the American Dream was dedicated.

There was a beautiful wedding earlier in the day with live music, and then in the evening when they lit the Temple there was fire spinning and other community events.

What a fabulous event, the culmination of collaboration between Charles “Chazz” Miller, David Best, SPARC, the Motor City Blight Busters, the Black Rock Arts Foundation, and the local community.

The Temple is a welcoming shelter for community gatherings, children’s arts camp, outdoor music and poetry readings, and neighborhood BBQ’s sheltered by more than 40 trees.

We congratulate all of the participants for manifesting their vision.

-affinity

photo: Taymar

Come Make Art With Us!

Come make Flags for the Playa!

This year the Black Rock Arts Foundation's ScrapEden playa-garden draws on the likeness of a working-class American backyard. We'll create a casual, welcoming environment strewn with clotheslines of colorful, flowing panels of fabric.

Each panel of fabric, about 1 x 1 to 2 x 2 feet in size, will have a single word on it.

On the playa, participants will be able to rearrange the words to create sentences, create and leave a new word or take a word that speaks to them as a gift. The visual effect will be a poetic combination of clotheslines, prayer flags and quilts, with a dash of magnetic poetry.

We will be crafting together this Monday!

Come join us, bring some fabric and ideas or just bring yourself and we will put you to creating with our supplies!

• Monday June 23rd, 2008
• 6:00-10:00pm
• 1900 3rd Street
• San Francisco, Ca 94158
  
  

-affinity

photos: pokiedot

The Detroit Dream Project - The Temple is up!

The Black Rock Arts Foundation, along with SPARC and Motor City Blight Busters, is helping to make the Detroit Dream Project a reality. The structural work for the Temple is complete but there’s decorative work and some landscaping that will be completed this coming weekend.

The Detroit Dream Project is a collaborative effort to build a community art space in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood. The central structure will be a sculptural pavilion known as the Temple of the American Dream, designed by David Best, Chazz Miller and the community.
The Temple is designed to be a welcoming shelter for community gatherings, children’s arts camp, outdoor music and poetry readings, and neighborhood BBQ’s sheltered by brand new trees. The Detroit Dream Project intends to jumpstart the revitalization of this historic section of the city through interactive art. A driving goal is to involve the community and local artists spreading the message that all people can participate and create together.

The photo includes David Best working with several volunteers.

To see additional photos of the project: Detroit Dream Project flickr Group

-affinity

Sketch: David Best
photo: Fuzzytek

photos: Lea

AIR!! Elemental Interactions

We started and ended our evening of the art and physics of AIR with Wizzard demonstrating how air changes with different stimuli.

This was the second event in our new lecture series, Elemental Interactions. In appreciation of our members and donors, we've designed these informal evenings to explore topics of art, science and civic participation.

Our host, a Board member of both the Black Rock Arts Foundation and Burning Man, Will Roger Peterson told us about how he perceives "air" and introduced our guests.

Lissa Shoun aka Tiger Tiger opened her talk by showing us the locations of the Black Rock City Airport posting in the Nevade State Airport Directory. She provided us with history, statistics and great stories of what it is like to be the Manager of the BRC Airport.

Landing at Black Rock City: video: Rreet


David Boyer told us about his kinetic art, how he became a full time sculptor and how he sometimes uses used or recycled materials.


Here is a little video of David wind testing one of his sculptures:



And to close the evening Ned Kahn talking about the use of both wind and water to create sculptures that are sometimes 9 stories high.

David Boyer, Ned Kahn, Lissa Shoun and Will Roger Peterson

It was an evening full of wonder and creativity and we thank everyone who participated.

-affinity

Okay this is the last Homouroboros post!

I promise, this is the last Homouroboros post, but I just had to show you this fabulous video of the monkeys at night!!!





video: LizChavarin

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THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT THE MONKEYS!!!!

There is news about 01SJ and Homouroboros everywhere, but these are my favorites:

Videos:





KTVU about 01SJ: http://www.ktvu.com/video/16516326/

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San Jose LOVES the Monkeys

Photo: Cherri Lakey

photo: Melissa Alexander
The South Bay Burners have been supporting Homouroboros coming to San Jose. The "wrenches" are on call for small repairs and maintenance, and the "docents" have been the hosts of Homouroboros, with one of them there anytime that the piece is up and running. It has been an experiment in the community running an interactive art piece and it has been a fabulous success!

http://www.southbayburners.org/

Elecktra, one of the docents for Homouroboros tells us:

"So during my 2 shifts as a docent today, Sunday, I met a couple who were staying at the Marriot which is 2 buildings PAST the convention center, they were on the 26th floor on the observation deck and heard monkey screaming!! so they went for a walk to see where they were...... and found the art !! I thought it was too cool!!

I also met a long time burner from the comic convention who hasnt been since `99 and lives in Mendocino... came back later with more buddys.

Also met a couple who had built the first Burning Man Greeters Stations.... and their daughter who went to her first burn at 8 months old... She is now 2 1/2... They had been wanting to get involved with the south bay burners but wasnt sure how... .. we met and she was thrilled!! "

Neon tells us:

"I had sooooo much fun on my shift last night! The tourists and people of San Jose are really appreciating the monkeys being in town. One woman, visiting her son in San Jose, said in a long Southern drawl, after he told her the monkeys had been at Burning Man, "Well I've never even heard of Burning Man before, but now I want to go!" Then she turned to me a minute later and said, "Are we allowed to make noise on those drums?" And when I said yes, she ran toward them squealing like a child. Maybe you had to be there to see how cute this was, but, I tell you, it was a beautiful moment.

An earlier moment had a group of about 5 young kids, around 5-8 years old, all running around and around the drums, hitting each one as they went by.

We had a few cars pull over...one was a group of people who had just been tattooed, they were in that semi-altered post-tattoo state and they stopped because they thought the monkeys were actual people swinging from pole to pole...

We also had a few people from a comic book convention who were really appreciative of the work. ...

Then there was one woman who was asking me a lot of questions and it took me a minute to figure out where she was coming from...see, she thought that the monkeys were actually swinging from branch to branch, so she was asking me if it was the speed or the centrifugal force that would make them start swinging. I could see that she didn't understand any of my explanations. Then when I finally said, "Do you see how each monkey is in a slightly different position?" and then when she saw that, I said, "They are stationary in that position, they don't move at all, they just look like they move." Then, she was so surprised, she screamed! It was so funny....her mind was so blown, and she screamed and I laughed and we high fived and then the monkeys started up again...

And I look forward to my next docent shift! "

Originally posted May 19, 2008

- affinity

Homouroboros - The Monkeys are Coming!!

Please join burners, press and public for the Black Rock Arts Foundation ribbon-cutting ceremony for Peter Hudson's Homouroboros installation! This will be the official kick-off for the 01SJ festival, and the beginning of an entire month of monkey business in downtown San Jose.

The dedication will take place at 6pm on Saturday May 17th at the Children's Discovery Museum - Discovery Meadow.

Once the ribbon is cut by Melissa Alexander, Executive Director of BRAF, and Peter Hudson, the artist and creator of Homouroboros, the drums will start to pound and the zeotrope will start to spin. Get ready for what Wired Magazine called the winner of the "WOW, did you see that?" survey at Burning Man 2007.

Reception follows the ceremony, and the end of civil twilight is at 8:39pm. Be sure to see this incredible zeotrope at its best ... in full dark ... to appreciate the effects under the strobe lights of what scientists call "the persistence of vision".

And don't forget, this piece will be in Discovery Meadow from May 15th - June 15th. Come by during the day, too (we'll have special daytime viewers available). Bring friends, family, kids, neighbors and co-workers! It's free to the public and a perfect fulfillment of BRAF's mission to place experimental, highly interactive art in public settings.
http://www.blackrockarts.org/projects/homouroboros
http://www.flickr.com/groups/homouroborossanjose/
http://01sj.org/?p=498

Want to learn more about how Homouroboros works:



affinity

Postcard Photo: Tristian Savatier
Postcard design: Golddust

Elemental Interactions - Fire

The Black Rock Arts Foundation's first evening of their lecture series, Elemental Interactions - FIRE - was an exploration of the physics of fire and its and history as a performative medium.

The event featured these exciting guests:
Hosted by Crimson Rose, Administrative Director and Pyrotechnic Performance Director for Burning Man and BRAF Board Member.

• Members of the Flaming Lotus Girls, 2007 BRAF grantees, told us about recent performances in Amsterdam and future plans.

• Special guest Dr. Paul Doherty, a physicist from the San Francisco Exploratorium explained and demonstrated aspects of the physics and chemistry of fire.

• Acclaimed performer Vatra Amadzich illuminated us on the history of fire dancing and performed for the audience.

It was a fabulous evening, smart, entertaining, educational and best of all, FUN! We had a lot of kids facinated, as we all were, by the combination of fire and art.

For more information see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24689486@N04/sets/72157604120185025/

http://www.blackrockarts.org/events/copy_of_elemental-interactions-fire

www.flaminglotus.com/

http://www.exo.net/~pauld/

http://vatra.org/

And LOVE the poster: www.natkantor.com/

To join our BRAF Group: www.flickr.com/groups/braf/

- affinity

photo: Nick Morgan

The Portal - Meet our Grantees - Finley Fryer

The Black Rock Arts Foundation had an opportunity to help support the installation of Finley Fryer's Portal in "Bringing Back the Fire" an exhibit at Santa Rosa Junior College in February and March 2008. The portal is constructed of recycled plastic pieces and is so gorgeous!

www.srjcburningmanshow.blogspot.com/
www.snowcrest.net/finleyfryer/

affinity

Photo: Lisa Beerntsen

Represent!! - Burning Man Open House 2008

Josie and I represented the Black Rock Arts Foundation at the Burning Man Open House this year. It was an opportunity to talk to folks about what BRAF does and how we do it, and we got to meet some of our favorite volunteers. A little chai, a little chat, it was great.

Thanks to all of you that came by to meet us and find out more about what BRAF does!

affinity

Hasta Luego "Passage"

"Passage", mother and child sculptures by artists Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito, have been gracing Pier 14 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco for 18 months. Passage created a lot of controversy. San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom once said “Short-term public art projects can invigorate our public spaces with artworks that may be bolder, provocative and more topical than the permanent projects and…will allow the public to see their city and their surroundings in a new way”.



So now it is time for the next temporary sculpture to inhabit this space.

affinity

photo by: Bill Silent Chan (the photo was taken by a tourist from Hong Kong who was kind enough to take a photo and send it to me. Thank you Mr. Chan)

The Dreamer by Pepe Ozan

The Dreamer came to San Francisco in the Spring and Summer of 2007. In the bottom photo, Bay to Breakers, a San Francisco foot race, rushes by 'The Dreamer' in Golden Gate Park.

The Black Rock Arts Foundation's Civic Arts Program organized this temporary exhibition and the project was supported by The James Irvine Foundation.

affinity

photo: Brad Immanuel 2007, all rights reserved

photo: Michael Todasco, all rights reserved

Park(ing) Day 2007

So my friend Janet and I went on a tour of San Francisco parks, Park(ing) Day parks that is. Parks filled with golfing, hair cutting, chill spots, interactive art projects, knitting...a plethora of amusements, parks that will soon be back to being parking spaces.

In the photo above, REBAR, an artist's collective and recipients of a grant through BRAF's Grants-to-Artists program, sit atop their pedal powered park, Parkcycle, created for Park(ing) Day 2007. Park(ing) Day, an event conceived of and organized by REBAR in 2005.

PedalPower Rules!


Park(ing) Day has since gathered thousands of participants around the globe to transform ordinary parking places into temporary public parks...at least until the meter runs out.

BRAF's Grants-to-Artists' program is supported in part through private donations, and by individuals who make online purchases of tickets to Burning Man and choose to make a gift of additional funds. The Grants-to-Artists' program also receives support from members of the Burning Man Regional Network.

Photo: Sasha Wizansky

Tres cool, check it out...
http://www.rebargroup.org/projects/parkingday/mission/index.html

www.parkingday.org/http://www.flickr.com/groups/parkingday/

Here are my photos of my friend Janet and I enjoying Parking Day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/affinity23/sets/72157602104931564/

originally posted: September 2007

affinity

Update: REBAR was one of BRAF's Honorees at the 2008 Flip You Lid Gala, more about that later.

Adventures at the Panhandle Bandshell

Last June, I called my friend Playa Jewel and said, “whatchadoin? Let's go on an art adventure." I had been putting together some photos for the Black Rock Arts Foundation so we started at the Panhandle Bandshell in San Francisco, and is it ever gorgeous?

http://www.panhandlebandshell.com/

The Panhandle Bandshell is a full-scale performance stage constructed almost entirely out of reclaimed and repurposed materials, including 65 automobile hoods, hundreds of computer circuit boards, 3,000 plastic water bottles, French doors, reclaimed wood, and recycled structural steel. As a fully modular structure, it can easily be dismantled, moved and re-assembled anywhere.ScrapEdenSF, artist's collectives, The Finch Mob and REBAR, partnered with Christopher Guillard of CMG Landscape Architecture to construct the bandshell entirely from reclaimed materials, ultimately diverting 18 tons of waste from landfills.

Perfomers were able to self-scheduled acoustic performances throughout the summer of 2007.

As you can see the sound baffling is made of reclaimed water bottles. ScrapEdenSF is a project of the Black Rock Arts Foundation, was supported by a Zero Waste Grant from the San Francisco Department of the Environment and by grants from The San Francisco Foundation, The Darby Foundation and The Mental Insight Foundation.

The Panhandle Bandshell was moved to Treasure Island in the spring of 2008.

affinity

photos: Melissa Alexander, Melissa Alexander, affinity

Stan, Submerging Man

Yes! Stan did come to VMD Park and was there from June 2006 until April 2007.

And to learn more about Finley Fryer:

http://www.snowcrest.net/finleyfryer/

affinity

photos: Chuck Revell

A New Park, A New Sculpture

Now that I"ve got your attention, the sculpture really isn't new. It was created by artist Finley Fryer in 1999 for the Burning Man Art Festival, where this 18 ft. tall bell diver covered in old 45 rpm records first made his appearance as 'Stan, Submerging Man.'

Recently created, Victoria Manaolo Draves Park, sits on Folsom between 6th & 7th streets. As the park came to fruitition Friends of VMD Park contacted the Black Rock Arts Foundation in search of a piece of public art to commemorate the opening of the new park. As conversations continued the normal course of action began to play itself out: Friends of VMD Park began working on a fundraising plan, the requisite permit applications were filed, and then something new happened -- as part of the fabrication of the park a permanent place for public art was created, complete with electricity for night time lighting. This new pocket park will, undoubtedly, serve the area businesses, residents, and families well.

Now, with all the permits completed and approved we are working in cooperation with Friends of VMD to raise the $10,000 required for this temporary exhibition of 'Stan, Submerfing Man.' Donations in support of this temporary exhibition can be made at http://www.donatetoblackrockarts.org/staninvmdpark.html

Let the ScrapEden Diaries Begin...

The Black Rock Arts Foundation installation at Burning Man 2006, ScrapEden BRC, was an incredible success. The Scrap Shack itself looked like it was pulled off the roadside in Anywhere, Montana. The whole exhibition space, scribed by a shallow split rail fence, filled up with works by 44 contributing artists who hauled their pieces into the expansive dust of Black Rock for exhibition during the week long Burning Man Festival. Each of the pieces was created using recycled, reclaimed, repurposed or otherwise salvaged materials. Flowers built of bicycle wheels graced the entrance, an old piano, just off to the right, provided both the resonating chamber for an instrument whose strings stretched 30' to the nearest windmill, and also kept a poorly tuned beat for impromptu performances by dancers and musicians alike. In the center stood a small tree -- its deciduously metal branches cradling a flaming bird's nest by night. Champagne cork spiders crawled though tin can flowers, starched garden gloves mimicked one bush's sprouting leaves, a giant onion proved a soft-safe-haven for the playa-weary.

The idea for ScrapEden came to us when the Foundation was approached by the San Francisco Department of the Environment to apply for a grant; the DOE was soliciting proposals for projects and initiatives that would substantially change the behavior of SF residents around curbside comporting and recycling. As an arts organization we were a bit befuddled about how we were going to divert significant numbers of tonnage from the waste stream, but we put our heads to the white board, and after much pounding, slowly, the ScrapEden concept was born. We decided to use art as the vehicle to talk about, and ascribe value to, what is otherwise considered trash. We decided to create a program designed around collaborative artworks created from reclaimed materials as a means of talking to people about what they're throwing into the rubbish bin, lanfill, bay, ocean, water table, etc.

We did it first in Black Rock City, stay tuned to find out what we're doing in San Francisco....

photos: sandwichgirl, Rubin 110, Lush.i.ous

Workshop Dates: Aug 6th & Aug 13th

As many of you already know, this year the Black Rock Arts Foundation is embarking on an exciting new on-playa project, ScrapEden BRC. We are inviting participants to contribute in a variety of different ways and scales. One of our goals is to arrive at a critical mass of many small sculptures, thereby giving the idea of ground cover, or a bed of flowers. In the interest of achieving out goal we will hold TWO PRODUCTION WORKSHOPS at the BRAF and Burning Man Offices!

On Sunday August 6th & August 13th BRAF will be hosting day-long workshops with the goals of creating several small artworks for the playa incarnation of ScrapEden. We've nearly perfected the tin can flower, with garden hose stem, and hope to arrive at a few more small-scale designs for production. Visit our website for details and DIY instructions: www.blackrockarts.org

If you'll be in the area, would like to participate in ScrapEden BRC, but just aren't sure you have the tools or the workspace, and would like to meet a few new faces, please join us, and bring a dish to share!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 6th & SUNDAY, AUGUST 13th
* 12:00 noon – 6:00 p.m.
* at the BRAF and Burning Man Offices
* 1900 Third Street – 1st FL (Cross Street: 16th Street)
* San Francisco CA 94158
*** We'll be meeting in the back near the roll top door –
*** Parking lot entrance is on 16th Street, just west of 3rd St.
*** Potluck = Please Bring a Dish to Share!

For more information or to RSVP, please contact us at: scrapedenbrc@blackrockarts.org

Pre-playa ScrapEden Workshop in SF

This year at Burning Man the Black Rock Arts Foundation is creating, ScrapEden BRC, a collaborative garden installation populated by garden-inspired sculptural elements created from re-claimed, re-purposed and re-cycled materials, and all citizens of BRC are invited to participate!

To date we've received word of 15 projects that will be coming to BRC for collective exhibition, but we want more! In the spirit of growing the garden Black Rock Art's Executive Director, Leslie Pritchett has rolled up her sleeves and created these lovely flowers from emptied soda cans mounted on short lengths of garden hose.

Like the idea? Want a little guidance on how you can make your own?
Join us on Sunday, August 6 from 12:00 noon - 6 p.m. at the BRAF & Burning Man Offices at 1900 Third Street, San Francisco CA 94158 (cross street is 16th) -- we'll have a few projects on hand for artists of any experience level.

Stay tuned for more details on this exciting workshop, and for DIY instructions coming soon on the website:
www.blackrockarts.org
For more information on ScrapEden BRC, or to volunteer to help with the project, write to: scrapedenbrc@blackrockarts.org

Major Set Back for 'Dreamer' in Golden Gate Park

This just in from BRAF's Executive Director: Leslie Pritchett.....

It is with real sadness that I report that the temporary exhibition of Pepe Ozan's 'Dreamer' in golden Gate Park must be postponed for the foreseeable future.

We've been working for more than a year to bring this installation to San Francisco. The piece was stored after it's initial exhibition at Burning Man 2005 outside of Reno.The piece was stored outside in its component pieces. Initial visual inspection lead all to believe that the piece was in fine shape for this installation, and that it would require only the expected amount of work to re-seam and paint it after it was assembled. It was only after the sculpture was trucked from Reno and unloaded at the installation site in Golden Gate Park that it became apparent that the integrity of the underlying material used to surface the wire-frame shell of the sculpture was markedly compromised. The piece will require extensive resurfacing and repair in order for it to be in an appropriate condition for exhibition.

The Black Rock Arts Foundation does not currently have funding resources that would allow us to support Pepe's repair efforts, and so must put the installation project on indefinite hold.

Thank you all for your continuing support for this and other BRAF projects.

*************************************************************************************

At present, there are no new updates on the future of this installation. The piece(s) will be removed from the installation site today :(

ScrapEden, Black Rock City -- a project of the Black Rock Arts Foundation

Scrap: n. Discarded waste material, often metal suitable for reprocessing.
Eden: n. A delightful place, a garden, a paradise.

Scrap Eden: n.
1. A delightful garden made of re-claimed discarded waste material, often metal suitable for reprocessing.
2. Black Rock City’s First Participant-Based Community Garden, created by the community for the community
3. A project of the Black Rock Arts Foundation

This year the Black Rock Arts Foundation is creating a collaborative garden installation populated by garden-inspired sculptural elements created from re-claimed, re-purposed and re-cycled materials, and all citizens of BRC are invited to participate! Yes! You are an artist!

The idea formed this year in San Francisco when the Foundation began looking at what it could do, using interactive art as the medium, to promote a culture of re-use and re-cycling. And while this installation will take place at Burning Man 2006 we hope it will serve as a pilot project for sprouting gardens first in BRC, then SF, and eventually, nationwide. Our hope is that this prototype garden at Burning Man 2006 will not only demonstrate to the citizens of BRC the kinds of projects we support in the default world, and prove a beautiful interactive collaborative art installation at this years event!
Help make it happen!

This year, the Black Rock Arts Foundation is inviting Burning Man citizens to create sculptures of garden-inspired flora and fauna from re-claimed, re-cycled and re-purposed INORGANIC materials for a collective installation on the open playa. We’ll provide a centrally located garden shed (built from re-claimed materials) as a focal point around which participants will be able to “plant”, or install, individual (or communal) creations for collective exhibition.

What you can do:
1) Contact scrapedenbrc@blackrockarts.org for starters. Let us know you want to participate! Tell us what you are planning to create for collective installation. We’ll get back in touch with you and send along some more of the pertinent details. A short questionnaire will help us capture a few things we need to know, such as: the approximate height and footprint of the piece, estimated arrival date, and a rough idea of the installation plan, Ex: rebar stakes!
2) Create an original flora or fauna garden-inspired sculpture, from sunflower to bean sprout, earthworm to caterpillar, garden gnome to toad, out of re-cycled, re-claimed, or re-purposed materials. These materials must be INORGANIC and their construction must be able to withstand desert conditions (extreme, heat, cold, and wind up to 50 mph) without becoming matter out of place.
3) Send us pictures of your work-in-progress, however great or small, and we’ll post ‘em on the web for the whole world to see!!
4) Questions about the above process can be sent to the same address: scrapedenbrc@blackrockarts.org

The garden shed will be open from 10 am – 6 pm daily and will have personnel and/or gnomes on hand to help with placement and installation of all Scrap Eden pieces.

Everyone who participates will receive an original design Scrap Eden t-shirt by Dicky of Burning Man 2005 Dicky Box Fame!

A 'Dreamer' in Golden Gate Park

Yes, a our purple friend is coming to roost. The above is a digital mock-up of Pepe Ozan's, 'Dreamer', in Golden Gate Park. The actual installation will be slightly closer to the road, the head a more face-forward orientation.

Pepe Ozan's, 'Dreamer', originally created for Burning Man 2005, will soon be installed for a 6 month temporary exhibition in Golden Gate Park. The 'Giant Purple Head', as it is known in several circles, made the long haul down from Reno, NV, just yesterday, will be refurbished over the course of this week, with installation expected to be complete before the weekend.

This is not Pepe's first installation in San Francisco. 'Invocation', a public sculpture by Pepe Ozan, assisted by Morgan Raimond, sits at the little park on Cesar Chavez St., between Vermont St. and the 101 North entry ramp. The piece is representative of an Eagle-Warrior. Aztec eagle warriors were, like the jaguar warriors, members of nobility. Their elaborate costumes were worn as a testament to the wearer's strength and importance in Aztec society.
Images of 'Invocation' can be viewed here: http://www.burningmanopera.org/SF_sculpture/SF_sculpture.html

Originally funded for Burning Man 2006, Pepe's, 'Monicacos de Esperanza', have recently been installed at India Basin Shoreline Park as a part of the new BlueGreenway Public Art Trail Pedestrian and Bicycle path that spans the 13 mile stretch between SBC and Candle Stick Parks. More information on the Public Art Trail available here: http://www.bluegreenway.org/ArtTrail.html

A long time contributor to the Burning Man event, Pepe was born in Argentina and came to San Francisco in 1975. More information on this subject is available at : http://artnetwork.com/GangaMa/pepebio.html

The 'Dreamer' will occupy a space across from the De Young, just west of the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park along JFK Drive between the 10th Avenue and Park Presidio entrances. An opening dedication for 'our purple friend' is in the works, with particulars coming your way soon.

Imagine the Way! There is Hope!

And this hope may be most effectively embodied in Pepe Ozan's 'Monicacos de Esperanza'. These ever-playful "Rag Puppets of Hope" have made their way down to San Francisco's India Basin Shoreline Park as a part of the new Blue Greenway -- a 13 mile greenway/waterway network along SF's southern waterfront between China Basin and Candlestick Park. Three pilot sites along the way incorporate temporary public art into this new pedestrian and bicycle path put forward by the Liveable City Initiative and the Neighborhood Parks Council.

In developing the new Blue Greenway the Neighborhood Parks Council put out a call for proposals for three sites along the route. The Black Rock Arts Foundation applied in support of three projects, one of which, the 'Monicacos de Esperanza', was chosen for temporary installation. These pieces were originally the recipient of an honorarium from the Burning Man Project, and will be exhibited on the playa at the 2006 event!

A celebration of the launch of the Blue Greenway Public Art Trail will take place this Saturday, June 24th from 11 am - 4 pm.

This free event features an (again, free) community BBQ sponsored by NorCal & the Bayview Rotary Club, music, dance, and circus performances by local artists, SFFD Fire Boat water display, free kayak and birding tours, as well as appearances by member of the SF 49ers & the Goldrush Cheerleaders!

For more information call 415.621.3260, or visit www.sfnpc.org

'Passage' Opening Dedication

June 16th marked the opening dedication of both Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito's sculpture, 'Passage', and the newly rennovated breakwater which is now a public access pier -- Pier 14 allows residents and visitors to San Francisco to walk some 637 feet out into the bay for 360 degrees of stunning views. Without the hard work, bood, sweat, and heart of everyone involved this installation could not have happened. Thanks to all! And congratulations to Dan and Karen, who celebrate both their first wedding anniversary and the first birthday of 'Passage' this weekend!


When 'Passage' was originally installed at Burning Man 2005, Event Founder, Larry Harvey, asked Artist, Dan Das Mann, why the mother and child sculptures were pointed toward the open playa and decidedly away from 'the Man', the effigy which is the namesake of the event. To which Dan replied that the sculptures were leaving Black Rock City, heading out to live their lives in the great big world beyond.


On June 16th the mother and child duo arrived, as if from the sea, on the San Francisco Waterfront!

To mark this momentous occasion, an SF fire boat, like a jubiliant whale, spouts water....


as residents and visitors to San Francisco take the first pubic walk on the newly dedicated Pier 14!

'Passage' Installation, Act Two

A crew of incredibly dedicated volunteers has been working (literally) day and night to complete the installation of 'Passage' on the SF Waterfront at Mission & Embarcadero. A huge thanks to the cast and crew who have made this feat possible!

Welders Phil and Steve, working on the base of the child figure.


Artist Karen Cusolito and key play Steve 23 consult over the mother's foot.


Rockstar Carpenters Monkey Boy and Brandon knock out the plinth base.


Work is still underway, but a familliar contour is starting to take shape.


The sculpture will open in conjunction with new public access pier (Pier 14) THIS FRIDAY, June 16th, on where Mission St. meets Embarcadero! An 11 a.m. Press Event (open to the public) will inaugurate the site and dedicate the new pier, a former breakwater. At 6 p.m. a Community Dedication with the artists will be followed by a No-Host Bar Reception at nearby Sinbad's. Pirate attire is, of course, optional!

YAAAR! See you there!

'Passage' Installation, Act One

The installation of 'Passage' has begun on the San Francisco Waterfront -- Embarcadero at Pier 14

Passage Site


Mother Figure


Artists Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito
gaining some perspective as one of the Mother's arms is attached.


Mother's arm deftly attached by core crew member Steve 23!

'Passage' prepares for Installation

That's right! Dan das Mann and Karen Cusolito's monolithic mother and child sculpture, originally created for last year's Burning Man event, 'Passage', has arrived in the East Bay where it is being re-furbished in preparation for temporary six month installation on the San Francisco Waterfront. The exhibition is part of a continuing model put forth by the Black Rock Arts Foundation to install temporary artworks throughout the city. The model hinged on the success of the the temple built last June in Hayes Green by David Best and the Temple Crew, and continued with an initative to bring five works of art originally created for, and debuted at, the Burning Man event between 2001 and 2005.

'Passage' will be installed on the Embarcadero (at Mission) during the second and third weeks of June. The piece will open in concert with the the opening of Pier 14, an old breakwater that has been transformed into a public access pier, on June 16th!

Join us at 6:00 p.m. for a public dedication before we walk over to Sinbad's for a no host reception from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm to celebrate!

Pictured here is the headless child being prepared by Goat Man Dan for installation.