Lessons Learned
Letting Go
This is a very important lesson, and a difficult one to master. This piece was broken by someone right in front of me, (who didn't realize I was the artist, not that it should matter.) After all of the work that went into it, the emotion that brought up in me was challenging, and thus I believe contained a lesson for me. I was able to let it go, and forgive the drunk and apologetic perpetrator, but I think only because it happened at the end of the week, after it had been seen by many, and I had taken my photographs.
Someday, one of my installations will be broken before that happens, and I will face this challenging lesson again. It is only a piece of art. Let it go. You can always make another one. Indeed the transient nature of art at the Burning Man art festival is one of the appeals of displaying there, but there is a difference between transience controlled by me, and forced upon my work by someone else. If my goal is to spread good things, like beauty, inspiration and wonder through my works, that I am convinced that needs to be my response to what happens around it, and beyond for that matter.
Be Prepared For Field Repairs!
This is a lesson whose importance is hammered home EVERY time I do an installation. Almost invariably, you are faced with some kind of field repair, or modification. In an ideal, or performance-critical situation, I recommend that you bring enough parts to completely rebuild the installation if needed. You do not know what will fail, be stolen or damaged, and so you need to be prepared for it to be anything, or everything. More often than not, it is a small thing, easily repaired if you are prepared for it. Sometimes it isn't though, and you have to dive headfirst into a deep, invasive repair. Bring your full complement of tools. Bring spare parts. Most importantly bring your inner McGyver, J.Rigginz, or whatever you call that part of your personality that is the creative-fixer, duct-taper, hot-melter, baling-wirer, c-clamper, etc. I have grown to love the creative challenge that is responding to an unexpected situation, and problem-solving my way through it. Don't forget to ask for help from others around you when you need it, and offer the same when it is needed from you.
Solar Power is AWESOME.
This piece was my first solar powered installation. As a result it required no maintenance to shine away every night for a week. All for free. Thank you sun. This was a dramatically simpler way to power a free-standing installation in a remote (and sunny) location, requiring no refueling trips at all.
Go Simple, Not Complex
This tradefoff is not always obvious, as in the case of this installation. Reusing a bunch of lawn lights seemed like a clever way to get a solar circuit for free for each light, and indeed it was. What wasn't so clever was having to solder all of those connections!!! I partially used all those panels for a purposeful ad-hoc look, which I believe I achieved, but I think there would be other ways to create 'ad-hoc', and use a single solar panel with NO SOLDERING. The lesson here, is look for commercial products that might satisfy a project need before building them yourself, assuming, of course, that it can be successfully integrated with the finished piece in a way that is cohesive. The marketplace tends to ensure they are the easiest solution to many problems. Be careful though, depending on the usage, pre-made can detract from the soul of your finished piece. Let how you feel about it be your guide.
