Bay Guardian City Editor Steven T. Jones is driving to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, stopping by Burning Man on the way there and back, reporting on the intersection of the counterculture and the national political culture.
By Steven T. Jones
Burning Man is thick with deep drifts of dust this year, making it a difficult and tiring bicycle trek to make it into the deep playa, where San Francisco artist Peter Hudson and his crew are building Tantalus. But it’s worth the ride, particularly if seeking a great take on the American Dream theme.
Like most creations out here, it isn’t up and running yet, but it will be by tomorrow when the event officially begins. Still, even in its static state, it is an art piece that already resonates with my exploration of how the counterculture sees the national political culture.
Tantalus looks like a red, white and blue top hat, with golden arms and bodies around it. And when it spins on Monday, powered totally by the manual labor of visitors working four pumper rail cars, they’ll see that man – a modern American Tantalus — reaching for the golden apple that is being dangled just out of his reach and falling back empty handed.
It’s a telling metaphor for such a big week in American politics.