The lotus
Thich Nhat Hanh said: "Without mud, there can be no lotus". The lotus symbolizes our journey through the mud to arrive at the realization that we are a part of everything. With this project, we invite our community to be participants in a regenerative cycle of water and nutrients, giving back what we take.
Women and peeing in nature
Cynthia learnt to squat from her mom at the age of 5. "If you can walk you can camp" was the philosphy of her family. And camping equaled squatting in nature. Almina's squatting practice started in College, drinking beer in the parks of Gothenburg with her College Choir.
Being experienced nature squatters and female burners, we know the hurdles "visiting the potty" can amount to. Locking ourselves into a box of hygienic questinability often put a pause-button on our Burning Man immersion. An then we know how pausing for a squat on the Earth connects us with Mother Earth and our wild essence. We are ready to not just normalize women peeing outside, but to celebrate it! We hope this is the first of many female art piece urinals on festivals and elsewhere.
Shifting how we view a resource
Elevated out of sight, a circle of lotus petals hides a one-person squatting platform resembling a zen pond...
Like everything in the natural cycles of nature, human bodies produce a byproduct. Still in 2020 - in society and Burning Man alike - this is most often viewed and treated as waste. In our view, this is bonkers and completely unnecessary.
Welcome to the time in history where humanity is realizing that our waste is a valuable resource and vital link in a web of life and matter.
At the union of infrastructure and art, Sanity awakens us to our immediate and precious participation in the cycle of life on this Planet. Together with Ecozoic Resources, we are bringing Sanity to Burning Man's resource flow.
Welcome to Sanity.
Not your ordinary potty.
A large glowing lotus flower sits atop a stainless steel mirror coated rectangular box that reflects the Playa in 4 directions. At the top of a ladder a petal opens like a door. 6 petals circle an open-air squatting platform with stepping stones hovering over an welded steel grate reflecting the cycle you are participating in. The lotus petals are constructed of steel and iridescent semi-translucent fused glass that illuminates from sunset to sunrise. The box hides a Ecozoic Biofilter toilet integrated into the platform. The waste is captured by the system and a process starts that transforms "waste" into a resource for nearby land hungry for nutrients...
Satisfy your curiosity on technical details, user experience, shit shows and Burning Man here.
Interactivity
The participant must interact with this art piece and climb to the top for the purpose to be revealed and experienced. Poetry and inspirational words and signs guide the experience and
invite contemplation of the users place in Earth's ecosystem. It's designed for use by women, to empower us to try the essential life skill of squatting outside, and to celebrate what this experience could be if us vulva owners designed their own urinals, in honor of ourselves and nature. However any participant can interact with this piece and learn how to squat. The box is 8 feet tall and petals on top about 3,5 feet tall to to give the squatter just the right amount of privacy, while leaving her immersed in the city and the wide starry sky.
Satisfy your curiosity on technical details, user experience, shit shows and Burning Man here.
About Us
Cynthia (US)
Almina (Sweden/US)
Almina (Sweden/US)
What is better than peeing with a view? Perhaps peeing with a view from within a piece of art. Cindy can't remember life without squatting in nature to pee. She's excited to bring this essential life skill to Burning Man and help people enjoy a squat with a view.
Bio: Cindy's enthusiasm for large public art grew from her first Burning Man
What is better than peeing with a view? Perhaps peeing with a view from within a piece of art. Cindy can't remember life without squatting in nature to pee. She's excited to bring this essential life skill to Burning Man and help people enjoy a squat with a view.
Bio: Cindy's enthusiasm for large public art grew from her first Burning Man in 2016. Inspired by ingenuity, collaboration, and creativity, she brought her first co-created piece, Reflecting Connection, to Burning Man in 2017. She's also been involved in supporting other artists on the playa, helping bring their vision's to life. Cindy's been creating steel sculpture since 2006 and finds great joy in creating soft beauty from such a strong, sharp, and ridged medium. Besides art, Cindy worked many years developing environmental policy and building environmental compliance programs to manage spill mitigation, waste management and air quality. She holds a bachelors degree in Environmental Science and Masters in Environmental Policy.
Almina (Sweden/US)
Almina (Sweden/US)
Almina (Sweden/US)
Let’s face it. She’s sick of porta potties. She’s been peeing all around the world with views over mountain ranges, oceans, volcanoes, highways and forests and she’s not coming to Burning Man to sit in a porta potty. She’s creating something new.
Bio: 2020 is Almina’s 9th burn, 4 of which have been the regional Scandinavian burn the Bor
Let’s face it. She’s sick of porta potties. She’s been peeing all around the world with views over mountain ranges, oceans, volcanoes, highways and forests and she’s not coming to Burning Man to sit in a porta potty. She’s creating something new.
Bio: 2020 is Almina’s 9th burn, 4 of which have been the regional Scandinavian burn the Borderland . In 2016 she co-lead The Lavender Lounge in Nectar Village at Burning Man. In 2017 she envisioned and led The Intention Station project on the Playa.
She holds a Masters in Sustainability and Human Ecology and her background is in non-profits, activism and political representation in municipal waste/resource management and event production. Her professional background is in chemical risk management and team management. She has traveled the world for the past five years exploring how we may lovingly and efficiently use tools for transformation and personal growth to embody the change we want to see in the world. During these years she struggled with a bladder condition that forced her to pee all the time. It taught her a lot about freedom and how to listen.
Ecozoic Resources
Almina (Sweden/US)
Ecozoic Resources
"We are rewriting the way humans interact with their 'waste' on a massive scale. Join us in collectively giving our gifts back to the planet."
Ecozoic's Biofilter™️ toilets provide all the environmental benefits of composting or waterless toilets, taken a step further with the help of microbes and enzymes, organically processed on the sp
"We are rewriting the way humans interact with their 'waste' on a massive scale. Join us in collectively giving our gifts back to the planet."
Ecozoic's Biofilter™️ toilets provide all the environmental benefits of composting or waterless toilets, taken a step further with the help of microbes and enzymes, organically processed on the spot. The end product is a nutrient dense natural fertilizer that go back to the Earth and support local farmers. Closing the loop.
Ecozoic brought 130 Biofilter toilets to Burning Man in 2019. Wait til' we announce their vision for 2020!