USAGETTA is a project in which a nation rises and falls in seven days.
During the festival, Burning Man people will join forces to bring a dream nation to life, serving as citizens and witnesses to its disappearance. The nation will leave no trace. USAGETTA will be the shortest-lasting nation in history.

Resembling l'Esplanade's characteristic arch the Seven suns on its flag rise only to fall.
But someone will notice that it resembles “the belly” too. As a breathing dune “the belly” will enigmatically remind people that something is going to happen.

 
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the belly

 

 

Burners visiting the Playa will find a frantic pre-electoral atmosphere: colourful people will be promoting a presidential candidate.
Who could become the first president of the nascent Usagetta nation? Anyone and everyone.
Wishful Burners --- AKA the Public of Usagetta --- will be provided with necessary kit to start a dazzling presidential campaign: music, gadgets and, among other things, the GETTAMobile --- a mutant-vehicle at the service of all citizens who run for president.

 
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GETTAMobile

 


The election is over. On the seventh day Usagetta has its first president.
The first act of the new nation is to refuse its status as a nation.
Through a visually rich performance, Usagetta is finally ready to redeem its citizens.

Fire.

 
ED
ritual: announcing USAGETTA

 

• TECHNICAL INFO •

 

A BEAUTIFUL FLAG

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FLAG IMAGINARY: 7 suns for 7 days which rising only to fall

FLAG'S CIRCULAR SYMBOL: la Playa's arch - The Belly

Color scheme matching US' flag percentage. 16% • 41% • 43%

INTERACTION

 

Usagetta relies heavily on the direct intervention of people. “Public of Usagetta” (as the project calls them) are welcomed to join the future of the rising nation in several creative ways. They may build their own free presidential campaign: GETTAMobile will be at the disposal of candidates to let them share their vision among burners.
Music, food and gadgets will be everywhere in Usagetta, demonstrating that all nations are indeed meant to bring people together. Volunteers will be needed on the seventh day during a collaborative, joyful, and mystic effort to bring the newborn nation into the limelight. Eyes wide open.

 
BURNING ARTWORK

 

On Sunday flags will removed from the rebars and put on a corrugated steel sheet situated in front of the dome. They will then be burned in a small fire. A dry-chemical fire extinguisher will be on hand. Clean-up will commence promptly after the last flag has burned. No trace will be left.

 
LEAVE NO TRACE

 

At the close of the event the installations will be disassembled in reverse order. Once the installations are cleared, the site will be griddled and combed for moop. All guy-line anchor holes will be filled and packed. The Playa will be returned to its original pristine state. The rebars will be returned and the floor fans, electrical equipment, and fuel tanks will be donated to charity organizations and schools.

 
TIMELINE

 

Pre-Event Schedule

March 2008: booking moving truck and power generator
June 2008: manufacturing of flags and dome
July 2008: booking the floor-fans
August 2008: GettaMobile construction, buying rebar, cover rebar, rebar cutter, power lines, plugs, and the fuel tanks in Reno by crewmember Marco Bettinaldi, who is based there.

Playa on-Site Schedule

Friday 22 August: arrivals at BRC (evening)
Saturday 23 August: building of structure, including Dome, fans, LED structure lighting, and perimeter flags with rebars
Sunday 24 August: completion of fans and domes setup, electrical work and flag positioning
Monday 25 August: details work and setup completion

 
THE TEAM

 

Alessandro Franchini is an exhibition-art events organizer; this is also his role for the USAGETTA project. He is the USAGETTA head of communications, and will manage the project including setup and tear-down. A can-do Italian with a flair for building team spirit, Alessandro says: "We've got the power!" He is a burner through and through, having first come to the Playa alone, from Italy, a long time ago.

Marco Balconi is Alessandro's project co-manager. In addition to his burner experience, Marco has several Sahara Desert expeditions to his name. He will handle logistics and help with construction and clean-up.

Marco Annoni is a Reno-based crew member. He will assist with logistics, as well as handle purchasing and liaising with US suppliers.

Luca Bertini has exhibited across Europe (Sonar 07 in Spain, Mulhall 06 in France, GAMec in Bergamo, and Edith Russ Site fur Medien Art in Germany), as well as in the US (ISE Foundation in New York, Audiorelays in Indiana).

Anselmo Tumpic is a Milan, Italy-based Croat artist having worked three years at the prestigious media-research center-cum-communications agency Fabrica (a Benetton and Oliviero Toscani project). He is art director at Milan-based DLVBBDO ad agency.

We will be assisted in setup and tear-down by a core crew of ten people from the Italian burners community, several European burners communities, as well as some American burners and other theme camps.

The core crew will do the majority of the prep work in Milan and Reno; we will arrive early to set up and leave late only after tear-down is complete. We will professionally handle all clean-up.

 

ITEMIZED BUDGET

 
 

 Full

(with Dome, 250 Flags, 200 Fans, 2 Trucks) 

 Medium

(no Dome, 250 Flags, 200 Fans, 1 Truck) 

 Slim

(no Dome, 125 Flags, 100 Fans, 1 Truck) 
Dome:      
# 1 Dome special textile (diameter 40 feet,  high 13 feet)              10.000    
# 1 Portable Generator               2.000    
# 40 Hurricane stakes               4.000    
# Various               2.000    
              18.000                   -                        -  
Flags:       
# 250 (2.30x0.98 feet)                4.800             4.800                2.400
# 1 (23.00x9.84feet)                  200                200                   200
# 2 Rebar cutter/bender                   250                250                   250
# 250 Rebar 24” 10 feet                   300                300                   150
# 250 Rebar cover                   400                400                   200
# High resistant glue                   500                500                   300
# 1 Steel Sheet                  200                200                   200
# 4 Dry chemical fire exstinguisher                  200                200                   200
                6.850             6.850                3.900
Fans:       
# 200 Floor-fans 18in                3.400             3.400                1.700
# 200 Rebar 24” 10 feet                   300                300                   150
# 25 Power lines (61 feet each)                   850                850                   400
# 25 Multiple plugs                  250                250                   150
                4.800             4.800                2.400
Lights:      
# 4 Special Dome lights                1.000    
# 250 Leds               1.000             1.000                1.000
# Power lines                   500                500                   500
                2.500             1.500                1.500
Energy supplier:      
# 1 Power generator 20KW rental 12 days               4.000             4.000                2.500
# 200 Gallons diesel                   600                600                   300
# 15 Fuel tanks 12 gls                1.000             1.000                   500
# 1 Generator Cover                   100                100                   100
                5.700             5.700                3.400
Truck:      
# 1 GettaMobile (Mutant Vehicle)               4.000             4.000                4.000
# 2 Moving Truck 24’ rental 12 days                1.600                800                   800

              5.600
            4.800                4.800

TOTAL
         43.450
       23.650           16.000

 

ARTISTS

 

Luca Bertini. Via Mauro Macchi, 20124 Milan-Italy
luca.bertini(::at::)email.it

Anselmo Tumpic. Via Oglio, 20139 Milan-Italy
atumpic(::at::)yahoo.co.uk
Cell: +39 3284926901

Project Managers:

Alessandro Franchini. Via Breda, 20126 Milan-Italy
Alex.franchini(::at::)gmail.com
Cell: +39 3493578499

Marco Balconi. Largo Settimio Severo, 20144 Milan-Italy

Art-Work Title: USAGETTA