Report Back: BWB in Black Rock City 2022 (BWB-BRC)
August 31, 2022
BWB was proud to support the Renewables for Artists Team (RAT) in Black Rock City 2022.
Read the RAT Afterburn Report here.
Key Accomplishment was working with these art projects:
Empyrean Temple, Renzo Verbeck – Originally, due to time constraints, budget and equipment considerations, solar was not going to be used. RAT developed a proposal of powering up just the southern portals of the Temple using an off-the-shelf contained system. A donation for the complete solar system was made and the Temple team approved the installation. With cooperation from the Temple lighting team, RAT was able to install the solar powered generator, construct a panel racking system and install all the panels. Prior to the Temple burn RAT disassembled the system to be sent to 360 for continued use. No on playa issues with solar
Tinkle Drum, Bibi Bliekendaal – Issues with drum load wheel bearings. No solar issues
IntraNurture, Sylvia Adrienne Lisse – was in need of metric battery nuts. RAT assisted in finding the needed nuts. No on playa issues with solar
SpaceCats, Ayda Keshtkar – This project was burned. The electrical lead had concerns about the power production. RAT inspected the system and all appeared to function normally. No on playa issues with solar
Glee!, Berley Farber– No issues but the system was built on playa. A RAT member did assist Berley with the build.
Ripple, Josh Vermetti – All solar issues discovered during burn-in. No issues on playa. RAT did supply some wire to the project
Harmony Strand, Cynthia Fleischmann – Did have a mechanical issue that was fixed on site. No on playa issues with solar
Friendship Cube, Lindsey Fielding – No solar issues but was concerned about having enough battery reserve so another battery was brought. No on playa issues with solar.
Planetary Possibilities – Diane Ebrill – Burn-in at home revealed the need for a different panel configuration. No on playa issues with solar
Bouncing Infinity Gadget, Sarah Gonsalves – Mechanical issues did plague the conveyor system. They did add an additional battery to the solar system to build in reserve. There appeared to be an attempt to unbolt the cabinet door that held the solar control system. The thief of solar equipment is concerning with unattended art on the playa. No on playa issues with solar
Colors of Nostalgia, Alena Starostina – no solar issues.
Chilopod, Lawrence Grown – An expensive off-the-shelf solar generator system was purchased but they did not install it. Instead a generator was used due to time constraints, thief concerns and inability to get insurance. The system was used for camp power instead.
Lessons learned:
- Discussion on chief concerns with artist
- Use of reflective tape on solar panels and art to prevent art car, bike or pedestrian collisions.
- Daily 09:00 radio morning meeting
- Work on a way to reach and educate more artists on using solar. 12 into1200
- Give a RAT radio to the ARTery for ease of contact
- 1 radio in the MRU. One charger or spare batteries to help maintain equipment control
- Promote the use of more reserve power batteries and panels for white/brown outs
BWB was proud to support the BLAST (Burner Leadership Achieving Sustainability Themecamps) in Black Rock City 2022, a Green Theme Camp Community (GTCC) project.
Read the BLAST Afterburn Afteraction Report here.
Key Accomplishments:
Stats from this year…
- 20 camps and 1 village applied to join BLAST, ranging in size from 4 to 325 campmates
- 10 camps submitted an application by the deadline
- 3 pre-playa community calls for camp leads and sustainability leads
- 2 on-playa volunteer orientation meetings
- 17 on-playa volunteers visiting camps
- 14 camps visited on-playa
Additionally, BLAST distributed stickers and patches with the BLAST logo. A large sign at Burners Without Borders BRC introduced the BLAST Radius Sustainability Tracker, designed by DA, creator of the MOOP Map. The Sustainability Tracker will be used to visually plot each camp’s progress and to share their BLAST results before the end of the year.
List of 2022 BLAST camps:
- Burners Without Borders BRC
- Silicon Village
- Elementum
- Sheep Thrills
- MOOP Map HQ
- IDEATE
- Spice N Vibe
- Retrofrolic
- Planned Playahood
- Friends Manufacturing Cooperative
- Things that Swing
- Waking Futures
- People’s Art Congress
- Lingerie Lounge
- Brand Ur Ass
- Hotel California
- SACBE CAMP
- Camp Kintsugi
- Square One
- A Transformation Station
- Ocean Beach