Better late than never I guess… We just got this writeup in about last year’s Balsa Regional in the Black Rock Desert. And here I thought Balsars were procrastinators, but these desert campers are even worse.

As the date for the 2011 Balsa Man slowly approaches, I realize I am overdue to turn in my report from the 2010 Balsa Man Regional Burn. Apologies for my tardiness. I had a marginally rough return to what I am now calling the “Deficient World”, and I allowed minor commitments get in the way of a proper Balsa breakdown. This year’s Balsa Man Regional Burn was held on a dry lakebed in rural Nevada. It was attended by several dozen Tiny Art enthusiasts and builders, as well as a few passersby from a nearby arts & crafts festival.

BalsaMan: Black Rock almost didn’t happen at all.

Some crazed firebrand snuck up on proceedings just as a small crowd was starting to gather, and set the initial Balsa Man sculpture on fire. 2010 was the year our (regional) Balsa Man burned early!

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For those of you who weren’t able to make Balsa Man Japan, you missed out on a great mass of itty-bitty imagination and joy. Obviously the main Balsa Man event kept me on this side of the Pacific pond, though I really would have loved to be there in person to see the Li’l Lamp Fighters marching across the sand.

Balsa Man Japan 2010 - Lamp Fighters, photo by toitoi

I’ve gone through all the photos and video from the event with relish—especially the tiny Hot Chihuahua Stand! But nothing beats a first hand account so I will let Makibee, the Japan Balsa Regional Lead tell the story…

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The BPAF has just received this marvelous little grant request and regional proposal. We all immediately loved the idea as, as we know it is a small struggle to cross all that sand.

Toothpick Man, Near End of the Beach Regional

Keith Schon

Toothpicks, photo by Svenneman

I had a lot of fun last year participating in Balsa Man: volunteering at the Cafe, driving my RC art car around.  But the fact of the matter is, hauling all that stuff all the way to the far end of the beach is a pain in the ass.  It takes a lot of time, preparation, and endurance.  And all the “coping” — sand in my shoes, trying hard to find people… geeze!  I can’t do that every year.

This year, I want there to be an alternative for all those people who can’t get their act together in time for Balsa Man.  I intend to hold an even tinier event:  ”Toothpick Man”.  This will be held in the parking lot, or at the base of the stairs, depending on  circumstances.  The scale for this event will be approximately 1/5 that of Balsa Man, (i.e. 1/80 scale).  It will involve creature-comforts that are simply not available at the far end of the beach.

Grant requested:  $5 * 1/5 = $1

Simply bitsy brilliant Keith! We are more than happy to award you your grant of $1 and we will also be sending you a 1/5th size official regional certificate.

We received the following digital tiny art grant request. While we of course prefer postcards, this art project was too endearing not to honor:

“we and our 1/3 scale son would like to bring The Ghost of the Balsa Man. He will be made of straws and tissue paper and can fly after the man burn, aided in flight by balloons. We’d like enough for helium to fill balloons to raise the man.

achemical and baby bot“

The Ghost of Balsa Man

One thing that worries us about this project is that the world’s supply of Helium is running out. But we overcame our worries—it is only a wafer thin amount of helium. Not knowing how much it costs to fill balloons, we decided to award a grant of $8 to match the width of the project.

From Miss Cheeky herself…

Balsa Big Ben

Balsa Big Ben is 99% complete and we are putting on the finishing touches Sunday.  We’ve been hard at work cutting, swearing, gluing, drinking, sanding, and throwing our arms up in frustration… this last bit was when we found ourselves out of both glue and drink. Oh dear! We have powered through the difficult times and managed to get done without firing any volunteers or having any visits to medical professionals.

The Balsa Blighty Tiny Art Team met last night to review art grant submissions and a £5 art grant was awarded to Super Chicken of Balsa Blighty – a 6-8inch tall Super Chicken/ Rooster. It’s more of a Chicken so we shall call him a Chicken. He is made from several customized sizes of strike-on-the-box matches and clear glue. The frame of his body at least, the exterior of him will be covered in raffia of several colours depending on the location and appropriate colour. Cardboard may also be involved as well as a mysterious 3rd foot to make sure he stands upright.

Our other art projects include:

• Tiny Nowhere Omnibus – scheduled, on-time, public transport and tiny art tours. Complete with tiny passengers. Ding! Ding!
• Greening Balsa Blighty – trees trees everywhere making Balsa Blighty a greener sight to behold for all, tiny or otherwise.
• Mini Quixote’s Cabaret – the playa’s favourite British pub in a wee size!

We have also heard rumours of doves, mini ball bits, a flea circus acting as rangers, and perhaps even a tiny Gladys the Green Goddess. Gladys is part of the Nowhere Fire Service and is a much loved member of our community – more about the big size can be found on the Facebook page

I’m back to sniff some more balsa glue and finish the Big Ben!

I’m so excited for this! And we found a great location too! For location information for Balsa Blighty email gro.namaslabnull@ythgilbaslab

-Cheeky

Balsa Man Japan is nearly here! This Sunday August 29th the lil guy burns. As you can see, Maki and her crew the built an amazing creation.

Balsa Man Japan sits waiting for the burn!

It’s shaping up to be a don’t miss event—and sadly since BART doesn’t yet have a Tokyo station, I won’t be there. If you are planning on going make sure to review the Balsa Man Japan Tiny Map and read the Balsa Man Japan Survival Guide. Some wonderful tiny art and minute vehicles are going to be there, check out the photos below (more photos are on the Balsa Man Japan Flickr Group.

Cat Bus for Balsa Man Japan, photo by cabcab

Lamp fighters, back stage, photo by ijinden