About this project

This year in Black Rock City, there will be a 600' ring centered around the emblematic Burning Man. Along the circumference of this circle will be 24 effigies built by communities around the world, representing 24 of the areas in the Burning Man Regional Network. This is the Circle of Regional Effigies (CORE) project.

Burning Flipside's community will be sending Ouroboros to be a part of this project, which will culminate on Thursday of the festival when all 24 of the effigies are simultaneously set ablaze.

Burning Flipside is recognized as the oldest of the Burning Man Regionals, having roots in the Burning Man Texas event in 1998, and officially renaming itself as Burning Flipside in 1999. Culminating on Memorial Day every year, Burning Flipside is held near Austin, TX in which self-expression, art, and immediacy are the focus. Inspired by the success of Burning Flipside and events of that ilk, the Burning Man Regional Network came into being, and now has membership of over 150 regions around the world. 

Ouroboros, the figure we will be bringing, is defined in Wikipedia as

an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. It comes from the Greek words oura (Greek ουρά) meaning "tail" and bόros (Greek βόρος) meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail".[2]

The Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (the mythical phoenix has a similar symbolism). It can also represent the idea of primordial unity related to something existing in or persisting before any beginning with such force or qualities it cannot be extinguished.

That symbolism and meaning resonate in this project and in the Burning Flipside community. We burn our city down every year to validate that our community cannot be extinguished. 

The funds used for this project will be used for materials purchase, transportation of the effigy to Black Rock City, equipment rentals, tooling and CNC, lighting for installation, and on and on.

We are building this in Austin and on the playa with an all volunteer crew comprised of Flipizens, residents of Pyropolis, the city in which Burning Flipside takes place. We humbly ask for your support in this endeavor to bring this representation of Burning Flipside to the playa this year.

Thank You.

We would also like to thank Steve Hopson and Ira Weinschel for use of their amazing photos, and Curious Customs for their never ending inspiration and help with the rewards.