Trust Art :: Dreamers

Dreamers : Chapter THREE

Black Rock City Dreamers

Chapter Three of the Dreamers Project, shot at Black Rock City during the Burning Man Fesitval, was the largest portrait yet. A large group of dreamers gathered for a sunrise portrait just outside the beautiful structure known as the Temple of Flux, traditionally the largest art project at Burning Man.

Contents

1.Background
2. Preparation
- 2.1 Inspiration
- 2.2 Determining Logistics and Reaching Out
- 2.3 Securing Funding
- 2.4 Gift Making
3. Executing the Shoot
- 3.1 Preparation
- 3.2 The Shoot
- 3.3 The Flag
- 3.4 After the Shoot
4. Key Collaborators
5. Use of Funds and Accounting
6. References
7. External Links

Background

Justin Tellian is a photographer inspired by the power of dreams. Tellian first brought together his love of street art, his skill in photography, and his belief in the power of dreaming to a 2008 group portrait of dreamers in Brooklyn. The invitation came last minute but many friends gathered wearing white. Artists, fashion designers, filmmakers, writers, and musicians all united in this common experience.

Since then Tellian's vision has widened with the ambition to unite people in six cities across the world, spreading the message: "DREAM". In each city, Justin gathers anyone who identifies as a dreamer regardless of background, age, or lifestyle. Justin considers the Dreamers shoots as a mixture of celebration and mise en scene.

So far, dreamers have been photographed together in Brooklyn, Mexico City, Berlin, Black Rock CIty, and most recently, Tokyo. The next chapters is Johannesburg, and final chapter is New York. In New York, as the last act for the project, Justin will host an event where all the portraits will be revealed together, as large-scale prints.

Preparation

1.Inspiration
Although Black Rock City wasn't in the initial plan for the Dreamers project, we were excited to add an unexpected chapter to the project. The move to include Burning Man as part of the Dreamers Project grew naturally for Tellian, who has long dreamed of gathering thousands of dreamers at the festival of 50,000. Making things more interesting for the photographer and his Burning Man collaborator, Nasa Nich, a veteran Burner was the a silent morning walk into the sunrise called The White Procession that has been happening every year at the festival, giving them the opportunity to invite people ready-fashioned in the collective white attire, a signature element of past Dreamers shoots.

2. Determining Logistics and Reaching Out
Trust Art needed to find a camp to stay at Burning Man. Because it was already the beginning of July when we decided to go, this wasn't an easy task. We reached out to a friend, Ryan Fix, a longtime burner and Trust Art supporter who camped with the people who created the Wedge at the previous year's Burning Man. He reached out to his friend Jon Morris and they were able to help Trust Art secure a place to camp.

Tellian chose the Temple as the location for the shoot not only because it is historically the largest project at Burning Man, but also because the story of the Temple - a memorial to the builder's son on which people were invited to write their own hopes, dreams, and memories on- resonated with Tellian. He also wanted to leverage the fact that the white-procession ends its sunrise journey at the Temple.

Knowing that we wanted to use the Temple as the location for the shoot, we also reached out to The Flux Foundation, responsible for the construction for the Temple, to ask for their blessing. Although we were unable to connect directly, we were later serendipitously connected.

3. Securing Funding
Trust Art secured funding for six Burning Man tickets through two major donations: Rafe Furst and an anonymous donor. Transportation was self-funded.

4. Gift Making
Justin began the process of making Dreamers project-inspired "Gifts" to bring to Burning Man--where the only economy is gift-exchange. He worked with Nasa Nich and his wife, Laura, to create a telescope and Dreamer's Flag pendant to bring as gifts upon arrival.

Executing the Shoot

1. Preparation
In the first few days, Tellian and the Trust Art group (Seth, Jose, and Anne), settled in at their camps (Black Rock Lemonade and Wedgeopolis) and started making friends and getting the word out about the shoot. In the interest of avoiding excess litter, they opted out of fliers and passed out Tellian's gifts. Tellian's camera also needed to be transported from their camp to the Media Center to register it.

2. The Shoot
The shoot took place at sunrise on Thursday, September 2. The Trust Art crew awoke in the night and jumped on the Black Rock Lemonade art car to the Temple. John from Black Rock Lemonade took the megaphone and started calling people from the white procession and others in the area into the shoot. "As soon as they saw us they were just so happy to be part of the project," Jose said. "They didn't even blink. We told them it was about celebrating the power of dreams and they stayed to take the picture." Additional people who had heard about the shoot previously also arrived for the shoot -- over 100 subjects total, the largest ever yet.

3. The Flag
Tellian chose Nasa Nich to be the flag-bearer for the shoot. Because of the heaviness of the flag and the conditions of the day, it was difficult to get it unfurl properly for the shot, with only 20 10"x10" negatives to capture the moment. Luckily, Tellian believes he caught the perfect shot in the last frame (though none of the film from any of the chapters will be developed until the end conclusion of the entire project)

4. After the Shoot
Tellian coordinated with The Danger and Robot Heart to have their party behind the Temple at sunrise that day so that the Dreamers could linger together after the shoot. It was also then that Tellian climbed upon the Temple, writing "I DREAM OF LOVE."

Key Collaborators

Coming Soon

Use of Funds and Accounting

$2100 in monetary donations
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Coming soon. X hours of time donated ($500 equivalent at $20/hour)
See how we account for time

Coming Soon. $x in-kind materials donated
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Coming Soon x new shares created, x shareholders