This theme could easily have been a lot more interesting than it ended
up being. It first came up as a topic of discussion on e-Playa (the
Burning Man BBS) some while back (some time around the beginning of 2002).
I was still subscribed to "the Jack Rabbi Speaks", and (owing to a
severely disturbed sleep schedule) was up in time to be the first one to
relay that announcement to e-Playa. BMORG, apparently, wasn't happy about
that, at all. I wrote:
"
The floating world?"
That's what the announcement in "Jack Rabbit Speaks" says.
The theme for 2002 will be "the floating world". I wonder if this is a
Japanese reference? The "floating world" is the one that one sees
portrayed in many woodblock prints. ("Floating", here is a reference to
the transitory nature of what is being portrayed).
Here are a few references that I was able to quickly pull up on
Altavista : Ukiyo-e sites of
the Internet. It's mostly artwork, but it should give you some feel
for the time and place. (The Edo period, Japan's period of isolation,
1615-1868). Oh, and here's a curiosity from the period : "Japanese Temple Geometry" (*). You have to like a people
who bring geometric proofs as offerings to their gods. Don't get the wrong
idea, though. This is far from being a dry topic. The world portrayed in
the prints is that of the merchant class at play, in a setting where its
members could breathe a little more freely than usual. There are more, and
probably better references, but these looked interesting. I'll see if I
can pull up a few literary links before heading out for my morning coffee.
Enjoy. If this is what this year's theme means, you'll have a lot of
material to play with."
After doing a little more looking, I added:
"Most curiously frustrating ...
Translations of Japanese literature into English seem oddly difficult
to find on the web. No matter. They are easily found in bookstores and
in libraries. I did find some link sites at Duke and Wisconsin
that might be of use. These may give the reader some idea of where to
begin his reading."
leading to the question:
"What makes you think that "Floating World" is complicated Japanese art
stuff? "
To which I responded ...
" The floating world" is a well-known cultural reference, no more
obscure than a reference to "the Roaring Twenties". Complicated? What
makes you think so? The people one sees in these woodcuts are enjoying
simple pleasures, in a peaceful setting. They probably are not discussing
philosophy. 
If this is what BMORG is referring to, then they've made an excellent
choice for 2002. The Edo period, when the original "floating world"
existed, was a time of relative peace and calm for Japan. Ever since
Sept.11, peace and calm have been things that more than a few Americans
have been craving. The reference to the image of an idyllic time and place
speaks to that need. The fact that the setting is a strikingly foreign one
reminds the visitor of something that is easy to forget, in a time of
rising xenophobia : that the desire for such things is not uniquely
American or even uniquely Western. We are reminded of the common humanity
that links us and the so easily distrusted "other".
The tie in to the ephermal nature of Black Rock City has already been
mentioned. Everything fits together really nicely, and the participants
are given a rich source of ideas to play around with, to say nothing of a
vast source of visual inspiration for possible installations. When
everything works out that tidily, I find it difficult to believe this is a
mere coincidence. Plus, it's hard to picture BMORG wasting a perfectly
good cultural reference like that. If they meant a floating city, why not
just call it "the floating city"? Replacing "city" with "world" would
confuse the visitor, and block the future use of a promising theme.
Unless, that is, one wants to have two years in which the theme is "the
floating world". "
"Lora" mentioned a relevant literary passage which explained the
significance of the name "the floating world":
" I think this pretty much sums up Burning Man, no matter what the
theme:
'Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the
pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the
maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves
in just floating, floating; caring not a whit for the pauperism
staring us in the face, refusing to be disheartened, like a
gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we
call the floating world....'
Asai Ryoi, Ukiyo monogatari (Tales of the Floating World),
ca. 1661 "
Some interest was expressed in this theme, one person even stating that
while he had ignored the theme in past years, he could definitely
incorporate this on into his camp. Ever the ones to play politics at
the expense of all else, BMORG made sure to try to put the kibosh on this
one as quickly as possible. A short while later, "Stephen" wrote in to say
...
" Floating World - not so fast
"Hi all, just trading email with one of the BM staff this evening and
I was going on a 'Floating World' theme assumption. I got cautioned that
the theme is aquatic but NOT 'Floating World' despite the JRS comment.
Apparantly 'floating world' was a reference to marine life, that's all. I
guess we'll find out soon enough. The web site will have the real theme
with details."
"Cautioned"? As in "you'd better not explore that concept"? So much
for radical self-expression, I suppose. I was really stunned by the
pettiness of it all, with BMORG apparently gutting its own theme just to
avoid having somebody else be the first to discuss it on their boards, but
there you have it. What followed was the
dumbed down, semi-coherent version you see on their website today. Not
that there is anything wrong with having an aquatic theme, but there were
so many more possibilities that the "floating world" theme opened up, and
to deliberately narrow the creative range of those following the theme is
not to make for a better event. From the serious (kabuke theatre) to the
whimsical (underwater geisha houses guarded by katana wielding squid)
one could have had so many fun ideas to play around with, much more
interesting than just having a few plastic fish floating around in a
tunnel.
Some camps did ignore that "warning", but not enough to lift the event
out of the creative slump BMORG sent it into, as the documentation of
Burning Man 2002 shows. Bad news for those who went, aside from those too
drugged out to care, but it does mean that others who may wish to revisit
this theme at their events and do it with a bit more flair will find that
the possibilities are far from exhausted.
Click here to return to "Past
Project ideas ..."
(*) This article has since been taken down from the Scientific American
website, but it can be found in the May 1998 issue of Scientific
American.
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