Legendary Burners Parts (Plug4) and Bacchus (Disorient, or as it is known this year, D16Orient) have teamed up to bring vinyl and old school beats back to the Inner Playa.
Parts at Plug4 has teamed up with The Mayor of Disorient, Dave ‘Bacchus’ Marglin to create an experiential installation called Plug ‘n’ Play on the playa.
A tribute to the essential power of hip-hop and its five foundational elements: Emceeing (oral) • Deejaying (aural) • Breaking (physical) • Graffiti (visual) • Knowledge (spiritual)
Plug ‘n Play is a countercultural interactive art installation at Burning Man 2016.
Within Plug ‘n Play, we facilitate, teach, and honor our analog past.
Plug ‘n Play is a large orange wooden electrical plug protruding upwards. Passersby can drop in on turntablism demonstrations, live MC cyphers, scratching lessons and sessions, lectures, films, and videos, ‘twerkshops,’ and other interactive moments.
Surrounding the Plug are five Quad Boxes – where you can immerse yourself in a gallery; each Quad Box visually represents one of the five elements of hip-hop.
We plug in; we explore & amplify the almighty vinyl record, the mic, and the crowd. Feel what it’s like to drop the needle on the record and physically engage with music and hip-hop culture at Plug ‘n Play.
While Burning Man has given us an honorarium, we have quite a way to go to cover our projected expenses. Please show your support and contribute so we can get things officially in Play!
To make a larger, tax deductible donation please contact Parts at ninjaneered@gmail.com
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This promises to be one of the highlights of the year, and the team behind it are some of the best Burners I’ve ever met. For decades they have selflessly given back on the Playa by helping literally thousands of Burners. This is the first time they have done an art project. They are reaching out to the community for help with the installations, volunteers and donations are needed. They did receive an Art Honoraria grant from Burning Man, but this is not enough to cover the cost of the project. With less than a week to go, they’re at 65% on Tilt.
Parts says:
Hello out there! As some of you know, I’ve taken on a sizable art project this year. When asked the age old question “What is Art?”, the great philosopher and millennial-whisperer Tyler Hanson once said, “Art is a conversation.” Yes indeed!
This project has been a social experiment from day one, thus the name Plug ‘n Play. What better thing to burn?!? Let’s talk about the elephant on the playa and figure out how to connect patrons with artists and build bridges while burning old models of experiential consumption, hyper social capitalism, and radical self indulgence.
So to start this conversation, two unlikely tribes – Plug4 and D16orient – have come together to celebrate and educate around an underrepresented culture on the playa via the elements of hip-hop.
Five structures represent the five elements: DJ, MC, Breakdancer, Graffiti Artist, and Knowledge. Some argue that Producing (beats) is an element, as is Beatboxing. Ah, the conversation continues!
Here is what is confirmed thus far:
– The DJ Dojo from Austin is coming with multiple “vinyl manipulation stations” where Manuel Muniz will teach basics of scratching and turntablism.
– The visual works of Gabe Shaughnessy and Dan Cohen will grace the exterior, while other notable muralists are stepping up to contribute to the interiors.
– DPW’s own Summer Burke will be hosting a Twerkshop to teach basics of Nola Bounce and discuss the origins she witnessed during her time down there. We also hope that any playa-bound bboys and bgirls will drop in for our intimate 7″ sets at 7pm featuring some of the original breaks on vinyl.
– A special guest Master of Ceremonies will be on hand to educate and inspire at the Plug each afternoon while we have our workshop, lecture, or screening.
So why are we poking at Plug ‘n Play as a name and a concept? It is time to have this conversation around art on the playa, openly and unabashedly.
One of the major things that we pride ourselves on for this project is that we are also employing local carpenters in Reno and commissioning our artists as best as our budget allows.
In this final fundraising push, I’m asking for some last-minute support so we can share these funds within our community of builders and artists, helping us prepare for the big push to get this project out to the desert.
As another part of this social experiment, we do have some patrons that are matching funds that we raise within our own circles. Anything you could do to support this Conversation Called Art is much appreciated and will come back to the project many times over.
Thank you!!!
P.s. We will also need 100+ volunteers to help with our burn perimeter on Friday evening! Message me if interested…
If you believe “fuck plug and play, let’s take it back to the old school”, support this project. Or if you believe “I’m a Medici, let them snort cake!”, support this project.
And just for the sake of clarity, DISORIENT IS NOT SUPPORTING PLUG AND PLAY CAMPS. Disorient pride themselves on being the sort of camp where everyone participates and everyone gets the Ten Principles, NOT a dreaded “turnkey camp”.
