***Looking for an Art Car for Burningman 2008***

<<But the hippies wouldn't find that peaceful enough.>>

Just tell 'em it's incense.

A couple of years ago, our camp decided we'd do a MV.
We'd had a large gift camp for several years. Seemed like the next step for us.

We filled out our application, (Pre register), sent it off, and received a nice response saying "Yes, bring this vehicle to BM. You still need to check in at DMV for safety check."

So we built it.
Actually, we did way more than what we put on the application.

So we get there, and the gal says, "NO, you can still see that it's a truck underneath".
Now that fact that there were several "Trucks" out there on the playa didn't mean anything.
The fact that there was a small car, with no decoration of any kind next to us with an EL wire butterfly that got a permit at the same time didn't mean anything.
And the fact that we had got a "Pre approved Communication from DMV" seemed to mean nothing.
We had sat waiting for over 2 hours, to be told, "No. You did everything you said you were going to do, and more, but now we've decided that you don't get a license, but other 'Trucks' and obvious cars do get a license."

I went back to camp, and thought about this for a while.
I'd been nothing but friendly. We had a Pickup base that was decorated and light up with animations and had made benches in the back to haul 10 to 14 people around the playa.

I went back and just laid it out. "We were told YES, bring this to the playa". We did what we said, and more. Now you tell us NO ??
I basically guilted her into looking at it again, and going up the chain of command.
We got a daytime license. But it took almost 5 hours to do it.

We went back at night for the nighttime license.
By then, a friend had said they were working at DMV that night, and we should come by then.
Apparently, it's pretty subjective.
We arrived, our friend gave us the permit. We went out and gave rides around the playa.
UNTIL, a Ranger came by and noted that the night permit we had was for the YEAR BEFORE.
It had the same number on both the day and night tags. But the sticker was from the year before.
We went back to the DMV the next day.
4 hours more, after this guy was convinced that we'd pulled some sort of scam, because it "Could Never Happen that DMV would make that kind of mistake".

So, we spent 9 hours at DMV to get the licenses we needed.
So much for Pre Registering. So much for the "Word" of DMV.
And when they make a Mistake, It's "YOUR FAULT".

That last line pretty much defines bureaucracy.

We had the same experience many times over that year.
We no longer come as a large gift camp.
We don't try to bring art cars.
We went back to being "Self reliant" instead of trying to fight bureaucracy.
And the playa loses out on our "Gifts".
But that seems to be what the BM Bureaucracy wants.

If you look past the anger and vehemence of the reactions you've received (typical of message boards) you'll see what's really being said. A mutant vehicle is the creation of somebody who wanted to express an artistic vision on the playa and to offer an experience to the community, not somebody who wanted a cool and easy way to get around. I don't know if you're a virgin to the event, or how well you understand what it means to most of the attendees, but most veterans feel that the magic of the event is diluted by people who come to spectate, not participate. Your interest in renting an art car strongly suggests that you will be a spectator, not a participant, and that you will not be bringing anything to contribute towards making the event better.

You're welcome.

>The deadline for registration of mutant vehicles is the end of this month. So it's pretty late in the game to go this route.

Actually on second thought I take this back. Only the application has to be in at the end of the month, there are still several months to build the actual vehicle, so if money isn't an obstacle (I'm not making an assumption either way) there are plenty of artists in the Bay Area who could use the work.