A play in three parts, Crude Awakening asks what happens when the oil economy is over, when our oil reserves and gas tanks have run dry?

act one: Eight faithful representing various religions from around the world traverse the barren, lifeless landscape to pay homage to The Revered Oil Derrick, the modern day house of worship.

act two: While the National Anthem melts in the background, The Revered Oil Derrick belches forth a fireball as the last of the planet's oil is finally depleted. The Revered Oil Derrick is then consumed with flames and falls to it's malevolent death.

act three: The following morning, the rising sun reveals the charred remains of The Revered Oil Derrick and the lush and massive tree that has grown in it's place. The faithful now celebrate the end of the oil economy and rejoice as they return to balance with nature.

The documentary, "Crude Awakening Burns," by CurrentTV includes artists' statements, conceptual background, construction footage and the epic Act 2.
 
Crude Awakening has received much press and started many dialogues about our reliance on oil and the imminent energy crisis. Headless Point Studio is proud that Crude Awakening has received many endorsements and invitations to exhibit at various events.

John Schaeffer is Chairman of the Board, President and Founder of The Solar Living Institute and the Real Goods Trading Company. After experiencing the Crude Awakening performance, he immediately inquired about displaying the figures at the institute's facility in Hopland, CA. Currently two of the faithful, Eileen and Kneela, call ISL their home.

Headless Point Studio exhibited three figures at Maker Faire in May, and at The Crucible's Fire Arts Festival, in July. Other performances are scheduled throughout the rest of the year.

Created initially for an audience of 45,000 people, Crude Awakening has now been experienced by millions around the world via the internet, print media, photography and ongoing discussions. When reviewing the statistics, it is interesting to note that the consumption of energy "per person" decreased dramatically as Crude Awakening reached beyond the original audience and venue via various forms of media.

Following is a chart of specifications as they pertain to various aspects of the project, followed by comparisons of common every-day occurrences to put things into perspective.

item	quantity	description
crew	180	Crude Awakening was produced by five distinct teams. These teams were comprised of a wide variety of personalities and skillsets ranging from doctors, acrobats, auto mechanics, ship captains, computer programmers, yogis, nurses, TV reporters and lawyers to master carpenters, welders, engineers, music composers and pyrotechnicians. It is estimated that it took 23,000 hours to produce Crude Awakening, which equates to 128 hours per crew member.
comparison		"The average American watches more than four hours of television per day. In a 65 year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube." "Annually, Americans watch 250 billion hours of television."
interns	2	Headless Point Studio hosted two interns from MetWest High School, Oakland, CA during the production of Crude Awakening.
welding lessons	100+	Headless Point Studio offered welding and metal working lessons free of charge for those interested in working on the project and for folks who simply wanted to pick up some new skills.

steel for figures	61 tons salvage steel   3 tons new steel	The forms of the figures, Epiphany, Manu, Ecstasy, Mumbatu, George, Achmed, Elieen and Nila are built-out entirely from salvaged steel. Five of the eight figures used salvage material for the structural amature, three were made with new material due to their unique engineering requirements.   Each figure weighs 8 tons on average, for a total weight of 64 tons for the group. Of that, 3 tons of new steel was used, the remaining 61 tons were harvested from salvage steel keeping our carbon footprint and consumption to a minimum.
comparison		Three tons of steel is approximately the equivalent of one full-size pickup truck.
Lumber for The Revered Oil Derrick	1900cf	The Revered Oil Derrick stood 99' tall and was structurally engineered to accommodate 200 people on the upper platform. Due to engineering requirements, only 50% of the lumber used was FSC certified. The balance was selected per engineering specifications.
comparison		1900cf is approximately the amount of lumber used to build an average home. Half of the lumber used in producing The Revered Oil Derrick is FSC certified and is carbon neutral.
Victory Siren	1	Salvaged from the top of the old Woodminster Amphitheater, Oakland, CA, the victory siren, also called a "Chrysler Air Raid Siren," is one of only five operating units left in the country.   The siren was removed from the top of the building with the utmost care and precision by Jack Schroll, who then refurbished it expressly for use in the Crude Awakening perfomance.   Produced from 1952 - 1957, the siren measures 12' in length, 6' in height, weighs over 3 tons and remains the most powerful siren ever produced. The siren generates 2610 cubic feet of air per minute at 7psi. The air exits through six giant horns at a velocity of 400 miles per hour. At 100 feet from the horns of the siren, the siren's wail measures 138 decibles.
WWII Battleship Smoke Screen Generator	1	Produced for use during war time, this device uses a non-toxic "fog oil" which fogs when heated to create smoke screens to assist in tactical maneuvers. Today, this oil is commonly used in special effects and stage perfomances.   The smoke generator uses pulse jets to heat and vaporize the oil. One 50 gallon drum of oil can obscure 60 miles of land in just 15 minutes.   The Crude Awakening performance consumed one gallon of oil to create a 10' deep layer of fog and envelope the Revered Oil Derrick in an eery, ghostlike mist. The fog covered six acres in approximately one minute.
tree	1	A 50' tall living nursery-grown redwood tree was brought with the intention of erecting it in place of the fallen Revered Oil Derrick. The tree was treated and permitted as required by law to cross state lines from California into Nevada. A full-time professional tree mover was hired to remain focused solely on the care and health of the tree during it's travels and performance. The performance was choreographed to ensure the tree remained on the playa for no longer than 24 hours.   Today, the redwood tree is alive and well and enjoying a certain kind of fame among it's friends at the nursery.

steel for pipeline	500' salvage	We received permission from the owner of a disused industrial warehouse in West Oakland, CA to harvest 500' of 10" schedule 40 pipe from the property.   This artistic representation of an oil pipeline also served as the fuel chamber for the large flame effect.
JP-8	400 gallons salvage	Four bleve cannons were aimed at the top of the Revered Oil Derrick to ignite the structure.   The primary fuel used was JP-8, which is designed for powering aircraft, tanks and other military vehicles, serves as a coolant in engines and other aircraft components and as a fuel for heaters and stoves. For example, JP-8 is used at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station for heating, electrical generation, and melting ice for water.   The Crude Awakening Fuel Specialist, Jack Schroll explains, "Due to both military and civilian regulations, when fuel is removed from an aircraft it may not be reintroduced to another aircraft. This is due to the fact that there is no cost effective method to assure the user that the fuel has not been contaminated. Authorities have determined the simplest method of disposing of this fuel is to burn it as hazardous waste. This is indeed what is done by NASA when they defuel a plane for service. The government pays $200 +/- per barrel to have the fuel removed and disposed of.   "My contact within NASA is authorized to give me access to the fuel for my artistic endeavors. When I repurpose this fuel, the government saves the disposal fee and I am able to turn a 'hazardous materials burn' into an artistic installation. JP-8 is actually cleaner burning than diesel or kerosene."
comparison		400 gallons is the amount of jet fuel consumed in a round-trip flight for two from San Francisco to NYC based upon a 300 passenger plane.
gasoline	300 gallons	Mixed with JP-8 in the bleve cannons
comparison		300 gallons is the amount of fuel burned in an average pickup truck in 73 days, based upon driving 15,000 miles per year.   It was estimated that in 2006 Americans burned 400 MILLION gallons of gas PER DAY.
propane	1600 gallons	Propane was used in the main flame cannon, the bleve cannons and for special fire effects in each of the figures over the course of the week.
comparison		1600 gallons of propane heats an average home for approximately one and a half years.
pyrotechnics	5000#	The fireworks exhibit which preceded the explosion of the Revered Oil Derrick was twelve minutes in length. To accommodate local requirements, the grade of material used was approximately 25% less explosive than that which would be used in a full-scale Fourth of July pyrotechnics exhibit.   At the end of the event, The Crude Awakening installation site was scrubbed clean and left in pristine condition, free from pyrotechnic debris.
comparison		One standard fireworks exhibit, as in San Francisco on New Years' Eve for example, including the required infrastructure such as certified operators, fire marshall and a robust insurance policy, runs from about $80 - $120,000 tax-payer dollars.   To the best of our knowledge, there is no clean-up team to remove litter from the San Francisco Bay after a fireworks exhibit.

deisel for transport	1134 gallons	Nine round-trips were made from the Headless Point Studio in Oakland, CA to Black Rock City. The mileage averages 315 per trip, and the truck averages 5 miles per gallon of deisel.
comparison		1134 gallons is the amount of deisel a big rig uses in one cross country trip.
wine	36 cases	Wine was used to power the crew throughout 2006 and 2007 during the production of Crude Awakening. While there is invariably some carbon footprint associated with this activity, we voted on the issue and all agreed it was worth the investment. We purchased four carbon credits per bottle of Merlot, five for Cabernet.

The following comment was posted by Joseph Alexander on the WIRED MAGAZINE article, "Crude Awakening Arises at Burning Man." His comments are in response to questions posed about the energy consumption of Crude Awakening, and put things into an interesting perspective, inviting us to consider our own enviromental footprint in our day-to-day lives.

"Been going to the event for five years. I'm an architect and LEED certified.

6000 miles flying from NYC = 100 gallons
(with a full passenger load about 60 miles per gallon flying)

Driving back and forth from San Francisco to the event = 45 gallons

2,000 gallons used to ignite the sculpture divided by 45,000 people watching it = .044 gallons per person

Lets say 20,000 gallons used to cut the wood and transport the tower (All the metal for the sculptures is recycled).

20,000/45,000 = .44 gallons per person.

So if I'm a typical burner coming from NYC flying into SF and then driving to the event, I spend 145 gallons on travel and then .48 gallons watching on that sculpture burn.

A gallon of gasoline is about 35 KW of power. Average American consumes about .5 - 1 KW.

.48 gallons will probably get you about 15 miles in a car by yourself. So the per person total damage is about the equivelent of driving to blockbuster to rent a movie.

Posted by: Joseph Alexander | Sep 7, 2007 3:53:46 PM"