Playa Makers

Buttonka Animalia

Buttonka Animalia, 2023 Linoprint and Postcard by Misa Rygrova.
Misa writes, “This one is for all the animals who stay behind without us and for all of us who need to separate from our beloved companions.
It is a linoprint and I plan to make postcards with this design as gift for playa, because sending postcards from BRC is really awesome.
The whole story is here https://bit.ly/animalia-rygmisart
Misa Rygrova’s Story:

“When the theme for BRC 2023 Animalia was announced in October of last year, I was quite excited. Of course the unicorns came to my mind, but also dragons (as I am originally from city of dragon), and lions and whales and the biting playa shrimps and the bugs (I still have some anti-bug spray in my burner bin hahaha)… and, well many more other animals – the actual animals, the spirits, the deities, the myths and the fantasies. Little did I know how different the meaning of Animalia would become for me in 2023.The change started the night of January 25th when 8 little furry balls were born and I was helping with them since day 1. At that time, I was just helping but after some time it was quite clear that one of them would stay with me. And so it happened and I suddenly had a puppy and was running down 5 flights of stairs every two hours day and night to teach her to pee outside. I had to move everything in my flat and had to start thinking about time, scheduling and work differently. It was a huge leap for me. Definitely not an easy one but definitely worth it. I have the bestest puppy in the whole world! Her name is Buttonka, because her black circle on her neck looked like a button since the moment she was born, and now, at 5,5 months old, she is some 19 kilos (42 pounds) of happiness, mischief, love and everyday lessons on life.

For me going to Burning Man always was a 3 to 4 week trip… traveling from Europe to US, picking my stuff in Reno and getting ready in a day or two, volunteering on playa pre, during and post event, having 2 to 3 days in Reno afterwards to wash everything and store it for next year and flying back over the ocean to Prague. But this year there is a puppy and everything changed!

How do I go to Burning Man when I have a puppy? I was thinking of not going but as Burning Man is my human and humanity battery recharger I kinda need to go to avoid becoming  a bitch. I will have to shorten my trip but even two weeks seem like ages to not be with her. I am very fortunate that she can stay with my brother and her mom and her sister when I am gone. I can’t even imagine how I would feel leaving her somewhere else. She smiles when she sleeps, she is the sweetest. She also comes over and has some part of her (even very tiny)  slightly touching me… and I love it. She comes for snuggles every now and then. Yeah, you get it, I love her. So how do I manage that time without her?! I do not have an answer to that yet. I’ve never experienced something like this in my life before.

With all of this it dawned on me one day… Animalia… we think about imaginary animals, about deities, about myths… but Animalia is also about our loving furry (and not furry, I know I know) companions we leave behind when coming to Black Rock City. And this is what influenced my design for this year Black Rock City. It is a paradox of the theme – we celebrate the Animal world and our place in it but to do so, in BRC, we have to leave our closest ones outside… and not just behind the trash fence but thousands miles away.

This one is for all the animals who stay behind without us and for all of us who need to separate from our beloved companions.”


Maker: Misa Rygrova Private Collection of Misa Rygrova
SKU: 13283 Categories: , Tags: , , , , ,

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