Frith O’Steen

I got a chance to hang out with good bud Rebecca last night, and as always I knew I could count on her to find something fun and interesting for us to do. Sean and Decker and I joined her and her hubby Todd at the International Market in Emeryville for dinner, and after Decker got hopped up on “full sin” juice and cheerios, and had had his fill of running around and exploring the entire food court, I let his lucky dad take him home (heh) and then I took off to see the Burning Man Art Preview at The Crucible in Oakland. (Wow, I think that sentence just ran on longer than Proust!).

What is The Crucible?, one may ask. (I did). It’s an unbelievable huge warehouse that serves as the home to an arts collaborative, where they teach classes in all sorts of cool stuff, from arc welding to glass blowing to wood working to jewelry making. They had 3 different sections for welding, depending on whether it was TIG, MIG, or arc. The size of this place was outstanding, and it seemed really neat. They teach both adult and children’s classes, and you could go and learn how to fix up your motorcycle, or build a canoe, or pretty much anything you can think of. It used to be located next to Urban Ore on Ashby, but now it’s on 7th in West Oakland. So we toured around the warehouse, and then settled in to listen to a few of the better-known Burning Man artists come up and talk about their art, how they make it, what inspires them, and what people can look forward to seeing at this year’s festival. I was floored - I knew Burning Man is a big deal and that thousands of people go, but I didn’t really ever comprehend the sheer magnitude of the art that is brought there. Giant temples made of recycled wood pieces, big enough for people to walk around inside. Sculptures that feature 22,000 lb granite slabs and boulders, which are suspended by cables and which people can climb on and hang from while they spin on ropes. 30 foot high welded sculptures of a mother and her child, which will be spouting fire and water, and symbolize the sharing of experience and wisdom. It was really really really cool, and you can tell these folks are so passionate about what they do and also have a fun time doing it. The engineer who’s working on the suspended boulders sculpture got up and was wearing these tight leopard print pants, a tux dinner jacket, and a mohawk…and he sounded brilliant - I loved it.  I got a better glimpse as to what Rebecca has been up to all these years, and I can see why she cares about it so much.

So, very different than stuff you typically see around here in quiet lil’ ol’ Pleasant Hill. It was a nice night out, and fun to be around such a energetic and creative group. I didn’t get to see anything actually burn, but if I had, I sure looked from the pictures like it would have been cool!