Collecting trinkets at Burning Man
On my last two burns I collected like 50 pounds of trinkets that I found on the desert. I brought them back to my studio to transform these useless items into something else.
NO MOOP
One of the things why I love Burning Man is the awareness with trash. We build a city that only lasts a little bit more than a week and when we leave, there´s not even a bottle cap on the desert. We all collaborate to clean.. specially me. I spend my Burn collecting little trinkets... and that´s actually what took me for the first time to this sacred land.
HOW I MADE IT TO BURNING MAN ON THE FIRST TIME...
I have an Airbnb in my art studio at Colonia Condesa, Mexico City. That's how I met Denise Johnson. She is American. We became friends within a few minutes of meeting each other. She saw my work and said "Burning Man". I wanted to go, but it was only 6 weeks away, the tickets were sold out few minutes after they went on sale and I had no money. But it was such an illusion to go that Denise said her service that year would be to help me get there ... Because one of the principles of Burning Man is to give. Give. And give in exchange for nothing.
So we raised a campaign on Indie Go-go to get there. My project was to collect trinkets, clean the desert, collect MOOP (matter out of place), transform it into art and give it to burners. My friends helped me. One took the pictures, another made the video for my campaign, one more lent some outfits... What was hard to believe is that just some random burners that I didn´t know helped me get there. Denise orchestrated everything and the miracle happened! I raised enough money to pay for my expenses and extra luggage coming back home with my treasures.
I stepped to the sacred land of Black Rock City for the first time on 2017 and has been one of the most meaningful experiences in my life.
I´ve visited museums, galleries and art fairs around the world. I´ve noticed that they give more importance to the name of the artist, the awards, curators, exhibitions.... And some of them, have lost the essence in the market place. At Burning Man is the opposite. A perfect stranger with no aspirations to make a career, fame or money makes a piece of art with the aim of connecting with strangers.
What I saw in Burning Man is Art. The real one.
MY SERVICE TO BURNING MAN
To look for some trinkets all over, clean the desert, and transform that into something else.
Until 2019 I´ve gifted like 12 pieces of art and wearable art with repurposed found objects, many of them coming from Burning Man.
After my first Burn, I dropped my career in mass media, to dedicate to my passion: create with found objects.
Me collecting some trinkets at the desert.
Here´s a link to my VR Project on 2020
With my dear friend Denise Johnson