Sorry peeps but the class for Saturday the 9th is at capacity and we have to cap our “admissions.” Not to worry though, wemihgt be having another class in the very near future. We will keep you posted!!!

Love,

the FLG xoxoxo

The crowd was very different from Burning Man, but they weren’t the yahoos I  think we were all expecting.  I think that sort of event really breeds spectating, so participating (by pushing buttons or by interacting with the art in whatever bizarre, over-the-top way one can conceive of) just isn’t within that crowd’s purview.

I heard lots and lots of compliments, wows, and general excitement and amazement.  Lot’s of people were asking whether it breathed fire / calling it a dragon. The kids at the festival just *adored* it and had a great time mashing buttons and controlling the jaw on occasion.  And a few people came up and mentioned they’d seen it before at Burning Man and really loved it and our work!

Overall a good, but very different experience.  I’m glad I went, and the lack of dust is *really* nice (walking barefoot on grass after a long day of work is devine!), but it certainly doesn’t replace Burning Man.

- Beth

FLG are looking for a structural engineer to help us bring to life our latest creation…Soma. Do you know someone who can help? Emailinfo@flaminglotus.com!

Flaming Lotus Girls are busy at work on our latest fire sculpture – Soma – for Burning Man 2009. We’re looking for some expert engineering help and support. What we need: an engineering whiz to give us structural guidance. Using our drawings and material specifications (mostly in stainless steel), this whiz will do some basic calculations to make sure the sculpture is a) strong enough to support its weight; and b) able to be freestanding. In gratitude for this help, we’ll be offering a ticket to Burning Man…and our everlasting love and affection. If you can help or know someone else who can, please contact us: info@flaminglotus.com.

For general information about FLG, check out our site! www.flaminglotus.com

Friday night it was still a little chilly out there and the serpent’s coil was crammed full of people huddling for warmth. Even on the other nights, when it was warm, people would crowd around and sit about the fire, and stay long after we’d turned off the fire, and even the lights.

Before we left, the geeks had heard a lot about how people would be out of control and how it was a different crowd from Burning Man (which it was). But people were almost a little too respectful–we had to really invite them in to play with the buttons, it seemed. I didn’t hear about anyone trying to climb on the piece. Maybe it’s the power of the fire, but even very drunk messed up people were just having fun and wanted to talk and were just excited.

The Serpent is up and the doors are open.  100 people are streaming in every second!  We will miss the private concerts as bands sound check, some of our favorites were hearing Leonard Cohen and Sir Paul McCartney.  But we are all excited to show our girl off to a whole new crowd.  Hopefully we will inspire someone or kindle the inner pyro in others.

We will update you later with our stories from tonights show.

love and fire,
Your Flaming Lotus Girls

Missed a couple of days of blogging, there’s been so much to do. Getting the spine erected is  a lot like building a house. You get the walls up and you think you’re almost done and then you remember plumbing, electrical, etc. Same thing here.

We got to light the piece the night before last, just a preliminary test of the continuous fire and a couple of poofs. We are so used to running our own show that we were surprised when the Coachella staff came racing over in a panic because we had the Serpent lit. It was totally under control, though.

The fire marshal came last night. He is a total professional  and he “gets” the piece.  There are concerns about having a crowd of this size come up close to the piece, especially since few of them have ever interacted with a fire sculpture before, but the marshal is working with us to  get the audience in as close as possible, while keeping them safe. The perception is that Burning Man is unsafe, but concert goers who don’t expect to look out for themselves are more of a concern to us.

Our new vaporizer, Thelma, is just brilliant. Perhaps too smart. When we did the test last night, she reacted to having all the poofers turned on at once by shutting down. She thought we were pulling too much fuel at one time. I guess we have to earn her trust. The plumbers think they have come up with a solution which involves turning on the poofers at the ball valve farm one at a time so the pressure equalizes and also changing the way the vaporizer is plumbed.

We meeting with the fire marshal again this morning and running our first show tonight.

Hot Hot Hot. Coachella is so different from Black Rock. The temperature is the same, but the grass is deceiving, so in some ways it’s harder to adapt.

We made incredible progress yesterday. The hed was attached and when we started testing the hydraulics, people from other installations started coming and asking questions. It is easy to forget that the number of people who have never seen one of our pieces because we operate in such a tight community. This is going to be amazing.

While the whole structure is up and the hoses slung , we are still waiting for the trencher to come so we can start laying down the pipe.

We are also awaiting the arrival of Thelma, our new vaporizer. She’s a rock star.

David (Geek 1) arrived last night and Nondas (Geek 2) arrives today.

Serpent Mother takes on So Cal at Coachella this week. She’s been in the desert before, but never one with grass. The container arrived last Friday morning and we started the build on Saturday. Getting everything out of the container was a breeze with the massive VR forklift they provided and we were feeling pretty slick when we took a break for dinner. We had our worklights set up and we were ready to go all night. When we got back after eating though, we found that the massive golf course sprinklers were in full force all over, under and around our work site. Panic and fury ensued. Great photos to come! (We got the sprinklers turned off Sunday.) Sunday was brilliant. We got the entire spine up before we broke last night and you can see the event staff falling in love with the piece. It is so much easier to put this monster together with two forklifts at your command. We would send gorgous photos, but Coachella demands we wait on pictures until after the event. Tomorrow the manlift and the rest of the vertebrae, and the hed! Great crew and good times. Karen

May 2nd and 3rd in San Francisco will be the site of an exciting 2-day seminar and workshop teaching basic practices and principles for incorporating fuel based flame effects into your work. This class is great for the beginning fire artist and always has something new for the “expert”.

On the first day we will have a classroom day where we will discuss NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) guidelines including NFPA 54 and 58 the LP gas codes as well as NFPA 160 Flame Effects Before a Live Audience. We will examine the physical properties of LP gasses and get some hands on time with fittings and parts. And we will finish the day by taking a look at some typical designs for Flame Effects including accumulators, free burning effects, pilot lights, etc. We will have plenty of demonstrations and hands on materials as well as the legendary clear propane cylinder.

The second day will be a shop day when the Box Shop one of the bay areas centers for fire artists will host us. Our helpers will be members of the flaming Lotus Girls who are proud sponsors of this incendiary workshop. With their help we will put what we have learned to action and create a one of a kind flame effect from what we have on hand, let me know if you have elements you may like to incorporate. This class will be fun for the artist who is thinking of incorporating a small flame element into their work as well as the more experienced fire artist wanting to take your work to the next level.

Leading this weekend will be Dave X, Fire Safety Manager for Burning Man 10 years, and Eric Smith.  With shop assistance from members of the Box Shop and the Flaming Lotus Girls

The cost of this 2-Day class will be $90.
The times for the classes will be from 10am – 5pm each day.
Printed materials and a crappy but filling lunch of burnt hot dogs and whatever cheap sodas we can get will be provided weather permitting.

Come and join us for this weekend to hang out with other fire artists and have a blast no pun intended. We have room for 30 and will be taking walk up registration the day of the event room permitting, but the class may fill. Send us an e-mail pre-workshop to ensure a place in this exiting seminar.

Please let us know if you are planning on attending by e-mailing
fuelmaster at gmail dot com

Here are some pic’s from past classes:

In NYC
In SF