Mosaic Newsletter Updates for July

Stuff is starting to move quickly. Tickets are selling. Grant applications are flowing in... The effigy for Mosaic Experiment 2014 : Hive Mined has been selected. There were several applications, all of which were freaking great. Ultimately, we congratulate the community for welcoming Thom Root as our effigy lead.

ART GRANT deadline has been extended to JULY 17. The DEADLINE for ART GRANT applications is now JULY 17. Finish it already; everyone knows that you need the money.

Lastly, since this is really more of a love letter than an update, I'd like to mention the land where Mosaic occurs. The site is affectionately referred to as "Reclaim." Reclaim is known to be a recovered strip mine in Rutland, Ohio. Aside from the clearing where we gather, the land is largely forest and generally undisturbed by humans... As such, burners are ideal guests and hosts. The "Pack in/Pack out" nature of our LNT (leave no trace) values ensure a minimal impact on a fragile and recovering slice of raw beauty. Ever since I first visited Reclaim at Scorched Nuts several years ago, I have learned that we share a lot in common with that land... trying with all your might to find balance and manifest beauty may sound familiar for you as well.

Speaking of... Have you registered your theme camp? If you're one of the many who have obtained a ticket this early, it's probably a good idea to get on that. We've ALL got planning to do... This thing's going to reach max population.

Oh, and fun LNT aside: I've encountered more than one festival-hippie question regarding recycling and how Mosaic Experiment handles it. Answer: We don't. YOU do!! You get two choices... Pack out what you pack in, or don't come. Watching both of their expressions change as they "got it" reminded me of a really suspenseful joke that someone once told me.

Art Grant Deadline Extended to July 17

For those of you considering bring art to Mosaic Experiment, this should be good news... The art grant application extension is largely attributed to Lakes of Fire decompression. You folks know how to bring it... Now come get some!!

Want to make some art? Need some money to do it? Afraid your vision isn’t grand enough for funding? Worried you won’t have enough to do your large, grand art vision? Fret not! We have a few ways to help your ideas become a reality! We want you and your art to shine at Mosaic, apply today!

[http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/art-grant-application/

Parking at Mosaic 2014

Fuck yer day or whatever... Parking at Mosaic Experiment 2014 : Hive Mined is something you may need to be prepared for. Your car will NOT be participating in the burn... It will be radically expressing the shit out of being parked outside of the decommodified environment. If you feel that you should be an exception to this policy, please refer to the parking portion of the survival guide to pursue arrangements accordingly. [http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/survival-guide/]

Weather permitting; All unregistered vehicles entering the event will be allotted 2[two] hours to unload and get parked. If the land is wet, vehicles may not be permitted to proceed beyond the parking area.

There will be NO ART CARS! While this is something which may be considered for future events, the land owner of reclaim has requested no motorized art infrastructure for this fall. Your art may be mobile, but your car will be chilling in the lot with everyone else's.

I hope this post both informed and entertained... If not; Fuck my day too, right?

Art Grant Applications Are Now Live

Want to make some art? Need some money to do it? Afraid your vision isn't grand enough for funding? Worried you won't have enough to do your large, grand art vision? Fret not! We have a few ways to help your ideas become a reality! We want you and your art to shine at Mosaic, apply today! [http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/art-grant-application/]

Have you registered yet for all the things?

I can't wait to see what is inspiring you this year. Whatever your art may be... Please register your installation! If our placement team knows what you're bringing, you'll find that your neighbors aren't randomized problem generation units. Having neighbors who compliment your creativity serves the whole community! Which... You DO know that's what you're helping to build by attending, right? Okay. More coffee. [http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/register-for-placement/] ALSO!! EFFIGY GRANT SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS LOOMING LIKE A VERY CLOSE THING!! [http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/effigy-submissions-are-now-open/]

I'd like to open this message by pointing out that there has been a lot of coffee in my life today. Mosaic is happening eventually and the more time there is to prepare, the more time there is to prepare. [http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/survival-guide/]

Have you bought a ticket yet? Have you volunteered yet? Have you tuned these questions out yet? The end is the beginning. [http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/tickets/]

Effigy application forms are live

Any individual artist or team of artists is encouraged to submit their ideas for art that fosters the ideals of self-expression, growth, empowerment, family, and participation. Projects will be evaluated based on the application’s artistic vision and practical explanation of construction. The artistic vision, its philosophic intent and impact on others are important considerations... and Mosaic 2014 is allotting $500 toward enabling you to bring it all together. Evaluation of all applications will be done by the Mosaic Art Grant Committee and will be announced shortly after the submission deadline... That submission deadline is June 27th. Submit your application here: http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/effigy-applications/

Mark of the Mosaic!

Mosaic's head of First Aid, Susan Masek, illustrates what happens when you leave a Mosaic sticker hanging in your car window... wait, what just happened? A MOSAIC TATTOO? Welcome to the hive mind!

Consider this: "When a force acts to move an object, we say that work was done on the object by the force." - says Cindy West from Mosaic's Public Relations department.

In other words, our burn begins when we begin to burn. There is no reason to wait for Mosaic when you can MAKE your Mosaic!

MOSAIC 2014 TICKETS ARE LIVE

Curious about tickets?

Curious about the event? Tickets are currently on sale but, whatever; Read on:

Mosaic Experiment is an official Burning Man Regional Event... What this means is that our community is an acknowledged extension of the Burning Man Project.

While Mosaic is NOT Burning Man, Mosaic IS a burn. The 10 principles apply. Art... Creativity...  Generosity...  Individualism...  Community... Manic energy...  In abundance.

Curious about what you need in order to ensure a positive burn experience? Definitely read the survival guide.

Curious about ways you can strengthen this community and enable a positive collective experience? Volunteer!

We are a community of Burners. We come from everywhere. We do everything. We are a gathering of Humanity. We come from anywhere. We do anything. We are a family. We come to relate.

You know what you want to do. Tickets are LIVE. There are only 350 of them.

Intention is everything. Intention with a ticket is a burn. Go.

http://www.mosaicexperiment.com/news/tickets/

Our Experiment Needs YOU!

ATTENTION: kiddies, crafters, artists, flow-ists, inventors, dancers, mad scientists, mischief makers, do-gooders, and BURNERS! Mosaic Experiment 2014 (also known as Mosaic 2.0) has open lead positions in the MORG (MosaicORG) and we need YOU to help us fill our holes... and you don't even have to take us out for dinner first!

Interested? Check out the lead positions we have open and follow the instructions in the doc! If you're having an issue viewing it, let me know!

Happy start to burn season everyone!!!

Mosaic Experiment 2013 Retreat Afterburn Report

Freezing Greetings, my burner friends! I’m very excited to report that last year’s Mosaic organizers recently met up for a winter retreat to discuss all the things that went right and wrong at our inaugural epic 2013 event, and all the ways in which Mosaic could evolve and improve. I’m not joking when I say: we literally went to a “cabin in the woods,” confined over 15 of us in that tiny space for 2 days and worked our asses off trying to figure out how to make Mosaic more radically participatory and radically responsible for 2014!

We already have a date and location confirmed, so mark your calendars and start saving your gas money!

Date: October 2 - 5, 2014, first Thursday through Sunday weekend of October, consistently the same as last year.

Location: RECLAIM, of course! Did you have any doubts?? Same place as last year in Rutland, OH. Joe and his family love seeing the artistic participation of our community and expressedly appreciated our LEAVE NO TRACE efforts!

As for the specific ticket price, ticket cap, and the go-live selling date, those are coming soon! We promise no big surprises on the price point, but based on last year’s sales, we emphatically urge you all buy your tickets as soon as we make them available as we are expecting to sell out before the event. Yes, you read that right! Our inaugural burn was 2/3rds sold out having only been announced 60 days prior...how do you think it will go this year? That’s right...if you wish to be at Mosaic 2014, you’d better buy early.

After Mosaic 2013, each team lead submitted what we call an “afterburn report” which asks: what worked, what didn’t, and what needs improvement? From this data we created several new team lead roles which we identified as imperative to the success of Mosaic 2014, and are now writing those job descriptions and expectations. Once finished, we’ll be asking you to step up and fill them!

As for our existing roles? We’re already doing succession planning and hoping to mentor a few of you to take our jobs within the next couple years. It is just as much a joy to organize these events as it is to attend them, but just as new participants evolve burns, they also evolve organizations and help them grow. In lieu of this, we will soon be posting our OWN job descriptions and if any of them appeal to you, PLEASE contact us and feel free to help in that role however you can. If you’re feeling inclined and motivated right now, shadow us before or during the event! We all need to gift these opportunities to others, so which of you will take them? Which of our teams intrigue you the most??

We brainstormed many ways we could improve and optimize our existing event infrastructure: gate entry, parking, fire and safety, shift changes, and team lead communication during the event, and agreed to implement several improvements to our internal communications process prior to the event.

We made an organizational chart & reporting hierarchy; out of this we found ourselves reorganizing several departments resulting in the creation of new team lead positions we need you to fill! We’re just a couple weeks from posting those roles because we want to ensure we properly communicate their expectations. No one should be taking a job without knowing what they’re expected to do and when they’re expected to do it!

You want to see more art at Mosaic? We agree! By consensus we voted to organizationally offer art grants this year! We discussed several ways in which this can happen, and reached a consensus that it should be a separate department from the organizational leads. The who, what, when, where, how, and why’s of this will be reported to you shortly, but we wanted you to at least know we agreed to make funding available for Mosaic art projects this year!

That’s all for now, gang, but we’ve got a very busy year ahead of us and lots more information to share in the upcoming weeks. If you’d like more information about our retreat or our event’s financial details, feel free to skim our meeting minutes…. but BE WARNED -- they were written by exhausted community volunteers stuck in a concealed space in the middle of nowhere for days! Oh wait….isn’t that a burn??? Here are the retreat’s meeting minutes: http://tinyurl.com/mosaicretreat2013

Can't wait for our next info update? Please address any immediate questions to info@mosaicexperiment.com

Or talk to our community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MosaicExperiment/