The Alchemist. Volume 2, Issue 2.

Alchemy Art FUNdraiser - June 21st
Seeking Your Artistic Submissions

The Alchemy Art Team is busy busy planning and plotting to make the Art FUNdraiser the coolest way to show your support for the artists at Alchemy!! The event is scheduled for June 21st at The Blue Tower Gallery in Atlanta. Come out and join us- support the artists you want to see at Alchemy, gather with other burners, look at some great art, spin some fire and have a great time!!

Currrently, the event is slated to start around 4pm and end around midnight. Keep an eye out on the AlchemyTalk email list and the website for more specifics in the coming weeks!!!

Submissions
Artists interested in seeking community support for their art are invited to submit a plan to art@alchemyfestival.com that includes the following:

1. Legal Name
2. Burner Name (if applicable)
3. Contact Information - email address, physical address, phone number (Please identify which information is okay for the Art Team to use publicly to help promote your art.)

4.. A detailed description of the project. How will your project incorporate the Alchemy community through its planning, creation, realization, and removal? How will the piece/creativity be installed/performed and removed from the land, Leaving No Trace? Will the piece incorporate Flame Effects? If so, how will those Flame Effects be handled safely in the Alchemy environment?

5. A thorough itemized budget. What materials will you be using and how much do they cost? How will you transport those materials to and from Alchemy? Will extra safety equipment and personnel be required?

6. A time-line detailing the planning, creation, installment, and removal of your project. Optional but suggested: detailed drawings, CAD files, sketches, or other graphic illustrations of your creative concept.

Open Gallery

There will also be a gallery open to artists in our community to display their non-installation work for the enjoyment of others. There will also be stage space available if your art is not the passive enjoyment kind! If you are interested in displaying your work during the event email art@alchemyfestival.com.

What other events are planned?

There will be several DJs spinning throughout the party for your musical enjoyment. Slated for possible performance are DJ JayD, DJ Warhammer and Ju^2- these will also be some of your DJs at Alchemy this year, so come out and have a listen!!! If you are interested in performing at the FUNdraiser or at Alchemy email music@alchemyfestival.com

We have a community art project and are looking for YOUR help. A large canvas will be set out to be painted and altered to become the 'Welcome Home' banner set up at the main gate at this year's event.

Got a question? Want to help make the event happen? Want to tell your Art Team you think they are really awesome? Email- art@alchemyfestival.com.

The Alchemy Temple

The Temple for Alchemy 2008 will be a four sided geometric cube with a central chill area inside. The idea of the temple is to inspire reflection of the past, insight to the future and awareness of the present.

It is meant to be a quite place for the participant to escape the wonderful, over stimulating chaos of the burn. It will be neutral in color, yet adorned with flowing sheer fabric. Art is welcome to be placed in and around the temple after it is complete. Participants are encouraged to leave messages, and air their burdens on the temples structure, to be released later in a fiery end. This temple will be burned unlike most, as it is a gift to the community, it will be burned while most are still in attendance on Sunday morning close to sunrise.
If anyone is interested in helping the construction of the temple off and on site, or want to be a temple guardian, please contact JonathanATTY@yahoo.com  and include BOLD TEMPLE in the subject line!!

Volunteer Call

Fiery festival seeks volunteers of all variety for pre-event and during event positions. Must like freaks, be willing to enjoy a new experience, and walks on the other side of life.

Geeks, freaks, artists, technicians, spatially oriented, and just those with helpful hands are the kinds of volunteers Alchemy needs to make up each of the event teams. A couple of hours before the event and a bit of time during the event will help build our city to rock for you. Let us know what mad skills you have and what time you have available (before, during, and after) to help.

Even the Volunteer Team needs a Co-Lead to help share the wealth of knowledge and people! volunteer@alchemyfestival.com

LAMPLIGHTERS CO-TEAM LEAD

Our current Team Lead, Adam, is making a move across the country and so we are looking for someone a little more local to help him out on this coast. If you have an interest in making the city of Alchemy shine and are willing to step up and be the go-to person email lamplighters@alchemyfestival.com

MOOP MASTERS

Is MOOP your mortal enemy? Or, do you at least dislike it a lot? Want to help educate your fellow Alchemists on the evils of Matter Out Of Place? Volunteer for the LNT Team. Email Puzzle at lnt@alchemyfestival.com

Dont Let It Hit The Ground by Puzzle

Yes, tickets have just gone on sale and theme camps are getting ramped up, but now is the time to start considering your LNT action plan. What can you do in the planning stages that will help decrease your MOOP potential?

1. Keep the MOOP factor in mind as you plan. What does your foot print look like? Will you have to dig into the ground to secure any of your structures? Will your installation leave a burn scar? Are you planning decorations for your theme camp that could blow away or come apart? Keeping the LNT philosophy in the back of your mind as you plan will help you raise questions you might not have before.

2. Think in the long term. How are you lighting your structure or yourself? A million glow sticks = a MOOP nightmare and a huge amount of trash you have to haul off site. The long term solution- think el wire.  Not only is it cool and workable, but is able to be used night after night and burn after burn. The same thought can be applied to the gifts you bring. Volunteer your time at the burn, rather than making a whole bunch of items that may be thrown away at or after the burn. You are a great renewable resource and the gift of time leaves no trash behind. Think about the long term solutions to your wants and see if there is something you can use or bring that is renewable or long lasting.

3. DeMOOP as you pack. Everything we buy today is packaged in something else and that all becomes trash with the potential of becoming MOOP. Remove all unnecessary packaging before you pack and bring it. The less MOOP potential you bring with you, the less trash you have to haul off site.

4. Where is your trash going? You plan how to get everything you want and need packed into your car/truck/school bus, but do you plan for the bags of garbage that must go home with you? And, where are you going to drop it when you are done? Leaving it at rest stops or throwing it in dumpsters on your way home isnt being conscious of the larger community. Burn barrels will be available on site for you to burn all that can be burned, but the rest must go with you.

Have questions? Want some LNT advice? Want to volunteer? lnt@alchemyfestival.com

For Your Calendar

May 22-26 - Flipside: (Texas Regional Burn) Dr. Tiki's Combustable Medicine Show at Flat Creek Crossings Ranch near Austin, Tx.

May 22-26 -  Moondance at Dragon Hills near Carrollton, Ga.

May 23 - Lefty Williams at Allen's Bar and Grill in Athens, Ga.

May 25 - Towel Day : A nod to Douglas Adams, a towel is the most important item a hitchhiker can own.

May 30 - Avery Dylan Project at Alibi in Athens, Ga.

May 31 - Swamp Stomp : This is an Atlanta PsyTrance party being held at Spring 4th. PsyTrance in the main room, Experiemental in the second room. Several DJs spinning.

June 5-8 - APOGAEA: (Colorado Regional Burn) "Far from Earth" in Range, Colorado.

June 6 - Mark Farina at Swerve in Atlanta. Show to start at 10pm.

June 7 - The War Room at Spring 4th, Atlanta, Ga.

June 7 - Lefty Williams at Charlie Mopps Pub in Sandy Springs, Ga.

June 13 - Blue Haired Ladies at Alibi in Athens, Ga.

June 20 - Infected Mushroom at Swerve, Atlanta, Ga.

June 21- The Alchemy Art FUNdraiser at the Blue Tower Gallery in Atlanta. Come out, support your Alchemy artists!!!

June 23 - Tiesto at Opera in Atlanta, Ga.

July 4-6  - Atlanta Pride Festival at the Atlanta Civic Center, Atlanta, Ga.

 
Deommodfication by Rebecca Cobb

You mean I can't buy a hot dog at Alchemy?

Decommodification means that there is no monetary exchange that takes place at Alchemy.  This includes trading.

There are a few key concepts when it comes to a decommodified event.  Bring it, Ask for it, Gift it, and DON'T BE A MOOCH!

So how do you get the things you need? The best and most obvious answer is to BRING IT WITH YOU!

If you see something that someone else has, and you want it, it is okay to ASK them for it. You never know - perhaps they brought extra and wouldn't mind sharing.  However, one of the most important and under-emphasized lessons in life is that NO MEANS NO.  If you ask for it once, and you are told no, please kindly and respectfully walk away.

This bring us to the next point:

DON'T BE A MOOCH.

It is your responsibility to bring everything needed for your personal happiness to the event. While it is acceptable to ask people for things, if you make it a habit do not be surprised if you are not viewed kindly by those from whom you have mooched.  Decommodification is not a practice in getting everything you want for free!

GIFT!

While it is not necessary for you to bring extras of everything, and while you are absolutely not required to gift anything to others, you might want to consider participating in this way.  There really is nothing comparable to having someone gift you a pancake at 4am unexpectedly when you've been up exploring all night. Gifting can be done in a lot of ways, from making extra food and giving it out to your camp neighbors, to giving a hand to someone who is having a hard time putting up their tent.

Often, burners talk about making things to give out as gifts at burns.  If you are planning to do this, please keep a couple of things in mind.

First, not everyone is going to want your gift.  It is always okay for someone to (hopefully nicely!) reject taking whatever you are trying to give.

Second, please keep the MOOP factor in mind when you are considering your gifts.  Sure, who wouldn't want to be gifted a lime green and pink feather boa?  However, the feathers it sheds become a MOOP situation! Consider gifting things that will either be consumed completely on site -- like food with no wrappers-- or something that will last and not shed. My personal favorite Burning Man gifts are button pins and pendants that someone has made.

Third, be creative!  Rather than a bunch of tiny shampoo bottles that you've collected from a hotel bathroom put a personal spin on your gift, like the pins and pendants, which are little bits of the event that can be taken home.
 Finally, remember that your gift does not have to be a physical thing.  Very often, gifting your time, your strength, your talents, or maybe even just lending an ear someone for a while, can be the best gift you could possibly give.

 Submission Guidlelines for The Alchemist

1. Article Length- no more than 500 words
2. All articles will be reviewed by the newsletter team and if there is a question about the content being in line with the Mission statement of the festival it will be reviewed by the Board, in addition the the Media Team.
3. All articles will be accepted, but not all articles will be published based on space and content of the issue
4. Any topic dealing with Alchemy, Burning Man, the principles, burn culture, etc. are encouraged, but the piece may not be of a slanderous nature to any individual or group. If there is any question the article is turned over to the Media Team and the Board for review and discussion with the author.