Our Community

Far Art Social Contract

For most of us almost all of the following goes without saying. In the interest of clear communication, we’re writing this down both for those who are new to the Burning Man community and because we all come from slightly different backgrounds. The goal being to define the broad strokes of what each of us can expect from the camp as well as what the camp can expect from us.

Since this is Burning Man the core concepts here are centered around the Ten Principles.

Radical Inclusion

Everyone willing to follow our principles, as defined in this document, is welcome in our community. Our default is trust and respect. We will go out of our way to meet people where they are and make them feel welcome. We will be clear about what it means to be “in” at all levels.

Gifting

Our primary gift to the larger community is our art and we seek to offer other gifts as well. As a community we recognize that each Far Artisan is gifting significant time and labor to each other.

Decommodification

There’s a lot of money moving around here but it is always in a supporting role. We need money to do our art. We will promote ourselves and our art in appropriate contexts to raise that money. We may even purchase labor from select Far Artisans beyond what they are able to gift on a very limited case by case basis with group assent, but we are not here to conduct or promote businesses.

Radical Self-reliance

Each of us is expected to have our shit together plus a little extra. We pool resources to achieve economies of scale, efficiency, and for community, but each person is expected to take care of themselves both on and off playa. Far Artisans are expected to speak up and ask questions if they need more information, direction, or have concerns. As a community we can’t do it for you, even though we will provide as much assistance as we can. We will always be clear about what resources are being provided by the community in any one situation so that you may make personal plans accordingly.

Communal Effort

As a Far Artisan you willingly support both the camp and the projects chosen by the camp even if you don’t personally love the project. You still help and take action even if you don’t fully get the why. You take a communal view. If the thing that is happening right now isn’t your thing, your campmates will lend you their hands when it isn’t theirs. Everyone pitches in.

Civic Responsibility

We do our best to follow all the rules, while applying critical thinking skills to both sensibly conduct ourselves in an ethical and thoughtful manner. We understand and agree that rules, regulations, and laws have value, while also understanding that judgment and interpretation must be applied contextually.

Leaving No Trace

We don’t leave a mess for the next person. We each are our own garbage man. Everyone cleans things up. There is no one else. We don’t just leave it to mother nature. We love our mother and we make it easy on her.

Participation

We are not passive. Far Artisans aren’t just here for the show, we created the show. We each spontaneously do things without being asked. We see a need, and after judging the right level of coordination needed, get to solutioning. We take action without needing to be told.

Immediacy

Regardless of what we are trying to do eventually, as a community we recognize where everyone is at right now. We do not sacrifice the present on the altar of the future. We recognize each Far Artisan is balancing commitments to the community versus commitments to others and we adjust accordingly on both sides.

In addition to the regular ten principles, within our Far Art community we add the following.

Integrity

We do what we said we would do on or before the time we said we would do it. We do not let enthusiasm or hubris lead us into over commitment. When we aren’t sure if we can do a thing, we say so. As soon as we know a commitment will not be met on time we communicate immediately with anyone who is impacted.

Communication

We write things down and read what others have written. We pass information along and make sure it was received. We acknowledge that we got something. We label things prominently and clearly. We recognize there’s probably someone coming along after us and we try to be kind to them. We empathetically acknowledge that communication is a receiver phenomenon, and willingly modify our behavior to accommodate others. We know that just because something was written or said, if no response was received, then no communication occurred.

Openness

Secrets suck. We make all information as widely available as we can while recognizing that yes there are a very small number of secrets that should remain amongst a few core people. We’re talking bank account passwords, etc. And yes, we may keep some surprises secret here and there for a limited time, but generally the rule is everyone can see everything.

Local Decision Making

We organize our activities so that decisions can be made locally, by the people directly involved, as much as possible. We minimize “I have to go ask”; set clear guidelines for when it is required; and respect the local decisions as much as possible. Once a decision is made, and particularly once a thing is working, we strongly favor keeping it made and leaving it alone..