LA Burning Man Decompression 2013 Highlights + sTeVe TMSL Mutant Vehicle

sunset audience for sTeVe at LA Decom 2013

Rasika & G on sTeVe LA Decom

sTeVe’s live studio audience at LA Decom 2013

Rasika and Gwendolyn rap on live sTeVe at LA Decom 2013

Rasika Mathur in the sTeVe at LA Decom 2013

After Burning Man, many people experience difficulty adjusting back to the default world. Depression is common as are epiphanies, breakthroughs and major life changes. It can take from a few days to a few months to adjust as it is not unusual for the transformation that begins at Burning Man to continue when people get back home. For myself, I used to stay another day on the playa after the event then take my time driving home, camping at night at hot springs along the way. (That was how Burns 2-9 went; for my past 5 burns we’ve had to be at work on Tuesday–but we still made time to stop at hot springs on the way home!)

Because of these struggles, 14 years ago Decompression launched in San Francisco; I attended the second one in 2000 and it was absolutely the best party I’d ever attended outside of Black Rock City. I also attended SF Deco

checking out the sTeVe

m in 2009 and was amazed at how much it had grown, taking over several blocks as well as a park in the vicinity of Club Cocomo.

This year, SF Decompression is going on NOW and will continue with a slice of Burning Man heating the streets of SF with 8 stages. Outdoor sound ends at 10pm, except Mariposa stage which ends 11pm. SF Decom takes place on Indiana St between Mariposa and 22nd St in San Francisco, California with the Public Entrance at 19th St. & Minnesota and a second entrance at 20th St. & Minnesota from 2:00 – 7:00pm. Tickets are a $15 donation before 4:00pm; $20 after with free schwag while it lasts. This is an all ages  event with under 12 free); 21+ inside Cocomo. Food and beverages available with sales benefitting public art and culture programs. See full schedules and map go to  http://on.fb.me/1fFMSYJ (Facebook event)

Hot on its heels, about the

same time, Burners in LA like Ray Cerino started post Burning Man parties at places like a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. 11 years ago, LA began offering its own Decompression, and moved to the State Historic Park in downtown LA in 2008. We participated in theme camps and I spoke there and led workshops in 2009, 2011 and again this year, 2013 which was held last

weekend (and for the last time at the downtown State historic Park location).

This year, I was involved with 3 theme camps: Cardboard Challenge which provided cardboard and duct tape etc for kids to make cardboard arcade games, costumes, rockets, you name it (and where people helped themselves also to our knives, scissors, and costumes); the Dragon Dome Chess Camp with large scale chess pieces handmade for various Burning Man themes (and which people helped themselves to also stealing several chess pieces), and the 26′ long sTeVe mutated vehicle which served as a stage for performances including an interview with John Halcyon Styn of Hug Nation, stories with Rasika Mathur of MTV’s

Wildn’ Out, my son teaching how to make origami cranes, silent movies (classic and footage from Burning Man), and me doing poetry with backing by Brian Lambert and DJ Jeremy.

The 26′ long mutant vehicle is the brainchild of Steve Knauff who I have known since we both had studios at Art City in Ventura in the early 90s; on my urging, Steve first attended Burning Man in 1999 and has participated with theme camps and art cars most years since then.  Execution of the mutant vehicle included sculptor Matt Harvey and set and costume designer Rosel Weedn. The TMSL Deluxe Mobile Studio made its first appearance at Burning Man 2013; LA Decompression was its second outing and more are being planned so stay tuned!

As I was busy most of LA Decom

with the Cardboard Challenge, the Dragon Dome Chess Camp, and the TMSL sTeVe mutant vehicle, I only got a few photos of some of the LA Decom highlights like the giant Scrabble game and one of the Cargo Cult themed DJ sound camps; there were 10 sound camps altogether plus folks like Pedal Bump and us had “ambient” sound that went with camp activities. But enough to give you a sample of Decompression.

Related articles

• Burning Man: Huge Mainstream Media Hit (artpredator.wordpress.com)
• Late-Breaking Update: SF Decom 2013 (burners.me)
• Art Car Street Fair in San Francisco (burners.me)