A week with the first amendment

I'm back from skipping a week of school to volunteer for an arts foundation which held its annual symposium last week. It was a fabulous exposition, I saw a lot of art (some craptastic, some fabulous), and when not slaving over a computer in a small, dusty trailer, I also vigilantly exercised my first amendment rights to free speech and assembly, some might include religion as well.

Ok, fine. I went to Burning Man.

I go, and always have gone, for the art and freedom of expression. As usual self-expression ranged from subtle to extravagently blatant. Some was simple and personal; a woman biking topless - revealing dimpled scars of breast cancer survival. Some was declaratory; silent, contemptuous commentary on the political status quo. Other expressions were labors whose meaning was left to be determined by the viewer. Some of it was simply active participation without fear of judgment.

On the long drive home, I spent several hours trying to unite the lawyer and the artist, playing with an idea I have about symbols of justice and how it could be rendered conceptually and interactively. Anybody have a flat bed truck they don't need any more? How about 500 gallons of propane? Plasma torch?

Sometimes it takes a monumental shift from the conventional way of doing things for me to appreciate aspects of the dominant paradigm. Maybe it's not unusual or odd to have a festival on public land where clothes are optional, where people can express weird thoughts, spout messages that criticize the government, mock major religions, practice major religions, or even freely practice fringe religions, all without any governmental harassment or imposition. No one monitored my passages, nor took note of who my companions were and what we were doing. Maybe festivals like this happen elsewhere and I am simply unaware of them, but my intuition tells me that people wouldn't come such far distances if there were other, similar events closer to their homes, and therefore this week in the Nevada desert is unique, special.


Next time, a diatribe on the erosion of first amendment rights, even at Burning Man.