Written by Kristen Ankiewicz, Balsa Man Regional Lead and Czarina of Tiny Art.

Balsa Man Regional was, by all accounts, a fabulous little event. At 5pm, in front of Ardent Heavy Industries (3:50 and Adapt), a crowd grew around the collection of tiny art that had yet to be unpacked. Earlier that day one of the Giant Man KCrew delivered an actual Toe of the Man. Rumor has it that “The Toe” is a leftover piece of lumber from That Other Man.

Tiny Star Tree (photo by Kristen Ankiewicz)

The population clearly wanted to be involved, and several volunteers quickly began building the L’il Trash Fence. We assembled The Toe with the L’il Balsa Man Head, not too far from the L’il Temple. We joked about having the man “from head to toe”. Silliness abounded. Cali brought her Tiny Star Tree, which added considerable class and swank to the event. The Tiny Star Tree was an art piece with many adventures in its future, since it was the only piece to attend both the Regional and the actual Balsa Man event.

After a tiny portion of an hour, we began the arduous task of digging mini-trenches for the Tiny 2piR. However, our spoons wouldn’t make a dent in the playa, so we decided to leave the fire effects above ground. That worked fine for everyone, because mere moments later a couple of tiny drunken slugs and a l’il raver penguin were on the platform. We’re not sure where the tiny bottle of Jose Cuervo came from but it turns out everyone dances better when drunk.

BRD Balsa Regional Participants (photo by Kristen Ankiewicz)

The beauty of the Regional was the high level of participation from attendees. People started rearranging the tiny attendees (mostly slugs, penguins, and frogs). Smuckles von Smee and several of his slug friends were enjoying the event from the ground level.  A couple of Regional rangers kept order around the perimeter. Many photographers were taking photos with macro lenses. I doubled as media volunteer, and gave attendees carte blanche to document the heck out of the Regional. Of course we reminded everyone that in keeping with the spirit of the main event, BALSA MAN REGIONAL RETAINS ALL RIGHTS TO ALL THUMBNAILS OF ANY PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEO, OR FILM THAT IS TAKEN AT THE EVENT. Several people with bullhorns helped narrate for those who weren’t as close to the front lines.

About half an hour into the event, it could only be described as wonderful, beautiful chaos. The Garden of Tiny Delights evolved (as it should) beyond my initial designs. The attendees of the Regional moved the little frogs and penguins out to the trash fence; the zombie penguin was poised to attack the Temple; the Obelisk was placed out by L’il Mural. The S&M penguins embodied radical self-expression, and were causing quite a stir with their public flogging—scandalous! Tiny parachuters landed onto the playa, dust storms started kicking up thanks to Rubin’s can of compressed air, and people started clamoring to burn things. Alas, one of the little parachuters landed funny, but after some quick thinking by Eddie (a Regional burner), a tiny helicopter came to medi-vac the injured little parachuter guy out of there.

Balsa Man Regional - Head to Toe (photo by Neil Girling)

At 5:45 the event culminated with the burning of the L’il Man + Toe. Although he’s made of balsa and kitchen matches, we decided to douse him in fuel just to make sure he’d really burn. All it took was a carefully aimed magnifying glass to set the thing ablaze. For a few minutes it was calm enough for one of the attendees to toast a marshmallow. Pretty soon a raucous group of people started chanting and dancing in a circle around the L’il Man, and one or two people even jumped over him.

Finally, at nearly 6, we burned the L’il Temple. The crowd grew solemn, with various people hushing and shushing and yelling DOWN IN FRONT. I believe a few tears were shed. We doused the structure in fuel, and used Edrabbit’s flame effect/flame thrower to light it on fire. Laughter erupted as the flaming ball of temple flew ten feet off the platform onto the playa. I doubled as DPW and cleaned up all the ashes.

Lots of people exchanged hugs and vowed to come back next year, with more art, and more ideas. Perhaps we’ll recruit a pyrotechnics expert to strap down the burning items.

Balsa Man (photo by shorelinesue)

I’m sure you all know by now what an amazing success Balsa Man was. The Balsa Man himself may have arrived a tad late—due to amalgam of minor impediments so typical of art projects large and small—but once he arrived the small crowd of early arrivals cheered and the preparations began in earnest.

Ian, head of DTW, set up the Esplanade and directed others to install the tiny trash fence, Port-o-potties were installed, and Bryan generously jumped in last minute to help with artist placement. And boy was he needed as by this point, tiny artists were streaming in by the dozens: Puny Pants camp set themselves up next to the Balsa Center Cafe with Polar on the other side selling ice cubes for 15 2/3¢ a piece. The 1/16th Indian Taco stand set up shop over by the gate and the sound camps began to arrive. And in the center of this chaos, the Balsa Man KCrew got to work raising the Balsa Man.

When the Balsa Man was in position and lanterns on the base were light, the Balsa Man event was officially open. Tiny artists were still arriving, but now the crush of magnificently dressed participants began to arrive along the path set by the Burma Shave signs.

Deep-False Illumi-Opulent Cowboys (photo by mikest)

With hundreds of participants, the event was radiating with a spectacular energy. The place was teeming with creativity; everywhere you looked was a another small artistic gem waiting to be discovered. In fact, even though we started the event an hour earlier than last year, it was still nearly impossible to see all the art on display. We counted over fifty sculptures, a half dozen tiny art cars, and numerous other artists doing whatever it is that they do: just to pick one example, Josh & Naomi’s cell tower was sanctioned by the UN.

Pom Petite (photo by kitsunecaligari)

As the sun set and darkness settled on the beach, fires popped up sporadically across la playa as artists torched their work. Paul Addis burnt early as did Domokun. Soon the time came for the Balsa Man himself to be lit. Søren, the Lead Balsa Ranger and his crew set to work clearing the perimeter so that tiny artists could light their art and the Balsa Man KCrew could install the pyrotechnics as the tiny poi dancers entertained the crowd.

Of course not everything could be perfect, there was a little trouble raising the arms but once raised it was time for the main attraction.

With little ceremony, the Balsa Man was ignited and quickly turned to burning embers—and boy do I mean quick.

Seriously, you need to watch the burn in slow motion to really catch it in all it’s flammable glory.

After the man was finished, everyone headed to the back of la playa near the trash fence to see their minor imperfect woes and pet peeves burn away into nothing. Then feeling a slight weight removed from their shoulders, the participants, with smiles on their faces, slowly dispersed into the foggy night…

I too couldn’t help but smile. What an amazing year! Thank you all for making it the best Balsa Man yet!

After one solid weekend of work and another late weeknight, the Balsa Man has been built! There are a number of improvements to the man this year. Most noticeably, the ribs and the circles on the arms and legs which are much more regular and smooth thanks the new scroll saw which was a recent addition to the Balsa Man workshop. Also new this year in the workshop are the saw horses which were built by SFSlim. There are also several little touches that we were able to accomplish due to the increased size of the Balsa Man KCrew.

And lastly there is the beautiful heart that was created by SparkleBottom and signed by every member of the Balsa Man KCrew.

We photo documented the build and have a Flickr Balsa Build 2009 photo set.

I’ve also created a new Balsa Man 2009 group pool which I invite all Balsa Man artists to contribute their build photos to. This pool can also be used to for pictures taken during the event itself.

Far from the cool, sandy shores of San Francisco, the Black Rock Desert in Nevada is called home by many artistically inspired individuals. While this alkali desert is far away, ideas have a power to reach farther and faster than any Cruise America RV could ever hope.

And it is this small idea—the tiny yet wonderous idea of Balsa Man—which has flown across state lines, through Donner Pass, past the garish lights of the Peppermill Casino and taken root in the mind of at least one dust-covered creative soul.

We are pround to announce the first…

Black Rock Desert,
Balsa Man Regional

Host: Ardent Heavy Industries
(at 4:00 and Adapt)
Date: Friday, September 4th
(Labor Day Weekend)
Time: 5 to 6 pm

Join your fellow lovers of all things tiny at the Black Rock Desert!

Are you driving all the way up to the middle of nowhere in the Nevada desert, with nothing to do? Do you have a tiny art piece that would be perfect at Balsa Man but can’t make it all the way to the main event in San Francisco? Then head over to the official Black Rock Desert Balsa Man Regional!

Tiny Artists and other participants are welcome, email BRDregional@balsaman.org for more details.

Kristen Ankiewicz, Balsa Regional Lead & Czarina of Tiny Art

Kristen Ankiewicz will be taking the helm as Balsa Man Regional Lead and Czarina of Tiny Art.

It seems that tiny art leads to big titles. This is all of course in addition to being in her own right artist extraordinaire and mastermind behind the cute and tiny monstrosities all for show at her site Monsters.net. You can find her at Camp Ardent Heavy Industries (4:00 and Adapt) for other questions.

I, your humble guest Balsa Blogger will be another Balsa Man Tiny Art Festival — Black Rock Desert Regional Contact. (see what we mean about long titles?) I will be camping with Rathskellar, placement as yet to be determined.

If you will be missing out on the Balsa Burn on Saturday, September 5th in San Francisco, because you’ll be up at that other playa then come on over to Ardent and party with us on Friday.

And please, apply for a tiny art grant to bring some tiny art to the first Black Rock Desert, Balsa Man Regional

Facebook event page

Balsa Man Regional call for artists!

The Balsa Man Black Rock Desert Regional does not yet have a central figure! Kristen is looking for artists who would like to build the BRD Balsa Regional’s “Balsa Man” effigy. The central figure does not have to mimic the original “Balsa Man” but it should be inspiring. If you would like to build the BRD Balsa Regional’s central figure please contact BRDRegional@balsaman.org

World's smallest version of Babe, the Blue Ox, photo © Erika Nelson

If you’re looking for a tiny replica of the World’s Largest Can of Spinach, Carhenge, or Babe the Blue Ox, look no further than The World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things (WLCoWSVoWLT).

The WLCoWSVoWLT is more than just a collection, it’s a sideshow-painted Ford Econoline van-turned-traveling-museum full of miniature versions of roadside America attractions.

Erika Nelson, artist and director of WLCoWSVoWLT, is the mastermind behind this magical mobile menagerie of roaming replicas. She often tours the country, seeking out and documenting the oversized kitschy Americana that we can all be proud of. Erika speaks at art schools, universities, art commissions, and is a consultant for cities and Chamber of Commerce who are looking to improve their local skyline with a gigantic fiberglass (or steel, or wood, or whatever) thing.

Think big by thinking tiny

Although she encourages people to think big, Erika knows how to think tiny. Not only does Erika understand the concept of Balsa Man, she loves it. Unfortunately, Erika and her collection will be unable to attend the event; however, she has offered to send on-loan THE WORLD’S SMALLEST VERSION of The World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things! (seen below).

This marks Balsa Man’s first official tiny art car! Of course, this on-loan miniature van will have to register with the Department of Minute Vehicles.

Erika and the World's Smallest Version of WLCoWSVoWLT, photo © Erika Nelson

Along with this minute museum Ericka has offered a donation to the Black Pebble Arts Foundation in the form of a crisp $2 bill!

Thanks Erika!

PS: She also teaches kids how to sculpt things out of SPAM. She is our people.

NOTE: Tiny Art Placement is not finalized and is shown for example only. Due to space limitations, all Balsa Man theme camp placement requests have been rejected. Participants standing towards the back must be careful of the ocean as there is no life guard on duty and the water is cold (see Balsa Man Survival Guide)

Balsa Man takes place in San Francisco; for event location information please contact info@balsaman.org.