Projects
These are projects arranged by our community. Some predate the association, which was later formed to support the community. Larger projects usually have direct support from Eldis Ry, but this is not required and many projects have wider support via grants and personal funding from the artists (a.k.a. community members).
Listing:
- Projects at Black Rock City
- Pike of Mana
- Koulu School
- The Cosmic Egg
- Steam of Life
- Black Rock Sauna Society
- Local projects
- Helsinki Decompression
Burning Man
We have been going to Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada since 2015 as a community thing. Some have history that goes further back. During these years we have organized projects of various sizes. We have gathered a list below.
Pike of Mana
The Pike of Mana a.k.a. Tuonen Hauki (2015) was an art installation inspired by Kalevala.
The project that started it all
Koulu School
also known as Koulu on Fire was a project running until the end of 2017, aimed at introducing an alternative peer-learning concept at the 2016 Burning Man event, several Regional Burn events, and various low-infrastructure settings such as refugee camps or slums throughout 2017. The project is featured in a documentary film directed by Oskari Pastila.
At the heart of the project is the "Koulu" concept, a peer-teaching system created by the think tank Demos Helsinki. Its core principle is that everyone has something to teach and everyone wants to learn something. Collaborating, inspiring, having fun, being creative, sharing skills, and showcasing the expertise of people of all ages results in a successful learning experience.
The practical implementation of the Koulu concept aims to create a lightweight and easily spreadable version of teacher training according to the concept, and to disseminate the education platform where it is most desperately needed. In addition to learning, the purpose of the Koulu suited for resource-poor environments is to build structures of trust and communities in temporary residences, such as refugee camps and the growing slum areas of major cities. The pilot of the project will be carried out at the Burning Man event. Regarding the research on the concept, Finnish educational exports are generally not easily replicable or adaptable to challenging conditions. A key recognized problem in replicability is understanding the internal differences, culture, and operating environment of the target area, but research on the topic is lacking.
The Cosmic Egg - Space on Fire
The Space on Fire project combined Finnish space and architectural expertise in an unprecedented manner. The primary purpose of the project was to showcase a Finnish art installation that integrated space technology and wood architecture at the world's largest outdoor art event, Burning Man, in August 2017. The goal was to create an inspiring experience for the audience that connected them with space and brought space technology closer to people who would not otherwise strongly encounter it. In addition to the experience created by the technology and design, the project organized short scientific and artistic lectures related to the topic.
The project was designed to establish a connection to space through a ground station for satellites brought to Burning Man, creating an experience based on this connection within a specially constructed experimental wooden dome building.
The project also enabled the expansion of the pilot into a comprehensive setup where various stakeholders collaboratively developed different aspects of the pilot. The project included academic research on the subject, led by Aalto University School of Business. The practical implementation of the project was managed by the Eldis ry, whose members had previously project experience at Burning Man in 2015 and 2016. The satellite ground station was provided by Reaktor Space Lab, a Finnish satellite technology company.
Steam of Life
From birth to death and after
Steam of Life aims to offer a purpose to seek out the yet unknown by encouraging co-creators to become active community members, while facilitating the learning path to gain a more profound understanding of ourselves.
For us, the project is a brave attempt to bring out co-created dream from the Nordics and grow as a community and as individuals together with the project. We are ready to dive into the metamorphosis and beyond, hope you will join the ride too.
The key values connected to our project vision are co-creation, volunteerism and inclusion of a diverse participant backgrounds.
Through self-organizing as an organization model, we aim to empower participants to learn new skills and foster a positive spirit for learning via decentralized decision-making via the build of an sauna installation to Black Rock City. Moreover, in the long run, this way of organizing could foster new types of civic engagement and even address social problems such as marginalization in the society. Ultimately, we wish to distribute our learnt knowledge about the co-created content to a wider audience.
Black Rock Sauna Society
We are a vibrant camp of 70-80 individuals from Nordic regions and across the globe, committed to fostering a deep sense of community, belonging, and unity at Burning Man. Each year, we introduce a sauna to the playa, providing BRC residents with authentic steam experiences. This sauna serves not only as a sanctuary to momentarily escape the Playa dust but also as a serene retreat to unwind from the city's bustling energy.
Burning Man offers a transformative journey for many, and we want to embrace that transformative power at Black Rock Sauna Society too. For Finns, the sauna is more than a steam room; it's a sacred space for introspection, mental clarity, and purification. It's where we shed the old and embrace renewal. Here, barriers dissolve, facilitating meaningful conversations, mutual understanding, and personal growth, despite our usual preference for solitude. We wish the camp can reflect this as well, enabling growth and amazing experiences to all of us. We invite you to forge new friendships, support one another, explore new experiences together, and immerse yourself in joy.
In addition to our evergreen mission, each year’s camp members decide what kind of a project they want to create. Is partying a theme of the year? Or would we like to emphasize tranquility and have meditation sessions in the sauna yard? These are all to be discussed and co-created!
Helsinki Decompression
Decompression is a place for anyone – you – to create art or perform. We want to break the barriers between artists and participants and encourage everyone to suggest what they want to make. Content and program created by the participants is the core of Decompression’s magic, like in all Burning Man type of events.
Are you dreaming of creating a big interactive installation? A small one? A performance? Free hugs? A world of its own? A collective dance? Music? A trolley for give away smoothies? An army of friendly drones? A workshop? A silent place to meditate? Something else? This is a play ground for adults, we don’t ask titles or merits.
We started Helsinki Decompression after a couple of Burning Man projects, as our community was growing. Decomp quickly grew a strong following and has ever since been a large part of our community activity. The event has taken place in a few locations and has been organised during both fall and spring. It usually spans two days during a weekend to allow everyone time to immerse themselves in the art and explore.