Fertility 2.0, the theme for Burning Man 2012, has caused quite a stir within the community. Is this a failed attempt that should be ignored? Or can we salvage something to create with? Becca Levy and Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee battle it out to see if Fertility 2.0 is capable of inspiring a 50,000 person art party in the desert.



Image by Becca Levy with Satellite Image by GeoEye

Fertility |fərˈtilitē| two |toō| point |point| zero |ˈzi(ə)rō |

fertile

adjective

1 the soil is fertile: fecund, fruitful, productive, high-yielding, rich, lush.

2 fertile couples: able to conceive, able to have children; technical fecund. ANTONYMS barren.

3 a fertile brain: imaginative, inventive, innovative, creative, visionary, original, ingenious; productive, prolific. ANTONYMS unimaginative.

The possibilities are endless. Being fertile is having the capacity to create. This creation can be a person, a tree, or even an old school bus that turns into a shark/land-boat/DJ booth. Self-labeled ‘Burners’ are generally a creative people. Upon hearing the word fertility, most jump right to an image of a fetus or genitalia. There is much more to it than that, though.

Alkaline dust does not make for the most fertile ground in most cases. If an animal or plant is placed in the desert without any form of care, it will disintegrate at a rapid pace. The land is not meant to be fertile. We were not meant to grow there. It is not there to sustain us. But thanks to a seed that Larry Harvey planted in the Black Rock Desert, a community grows and lives annually in this spot.

Fertility is a theme that graced the Burning Man event in 1997. At that point, the event was held at Hualapai flat, close to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert which is now considered an annual home to approximately 50,000 people. At that time, there were ten thousand attendees, a mere twenty percent of the population attending today. 1997 was the second year that Burning Man planned an official theme. It was the first year that streets were gridded, and the 5 mph rule came into effect for art cars. There were far more rules and regulations, which some people felt took away from the original anarchistic feeling of Burning Man.

Seeing as though Fertility [1.0] made such a large impact on how we ‘burn’ today, I imagine 2.0 will affect Burning Man in a similar manner. There is already a new ticket system, tickets are selling out, and it seems that most people in the default world know what a person is talking about when Burning Man is mentioned. Fertility 2.0 is a theme that promotes growth and creation, two ideas that could not be more relevant to this festival.

Fertility 2.0 is also a celebration of life. Our biological parents were capable of conceiving, and now we celebrate the continuation of this life. Sometimes it is easy to forget how fortunate we are to be alive. It is important to remember that the Playa is NOT the only place to celebrate being alive, and to participate with a community through self-reliance.

It seems ironic that the ticket lottery system is making people give up hope. “The man is getting us down.” However, this is not what the principles dictate. Giving up is not a measure of self-reliance. The official Burning Man Website stated before that the ‘winners’ were randomly selected and that there were an average of 1.7 tickets requested per person. While some are scalping these tickets for outrageous prices, I would like to think that those who understand the ten principles will gift a ticket to a friend or a stranger.

Fertilization is when sperm meets egg. Fertilizer is a chemical added to the ground to assist a plant’s growth. While coming from a similar root, these are not the same as the theme. Fertility is the capability to produce. It is not the conception, but the ability to conceive. I believe that Fertility and Immediacy will be good friends. People will be able to bring excitement to others and their productions. It is part of what makes this community great. There is such an enthusiasm manifested among these people to create together and experience each other’s hopes, dreams, and lives.

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