A burning desire to be part of art with heart




MAN VERSUS BEAST?—Agoura Hills resident Abraham Raphael holds a piece of Squirt the octopus that trekked with him to this year’s Burning Man event in the Nevada desert. IAN BRADLEY/Acorn Newspapers

MAN VERSUS BEAST?—Agoura Hills resident Abraham Raphael holds a piece of Squirt the octopus that trekked with him to this year’s Burning Man event in the Nevada desert. IAN BRADLEY/Acorn Newspapers

Art for art’s sake, not for money or fame—as the saying goes. This year at Burning Man, the weeklong festival in the Nevada desert, the art was out of this world.

Agoura Hills resident Abraham Raphael, 46, is one of the more than 70,000 people who trekked to the Black Rock Desert for the August event. He brought food, water and all the supplies he’d need to camp in the desert.

He also brought along a 9-foot-tall talking octopus named Squirt.

“(Squirt was) an LED light-up octopus that was trapped inside a glass as if it’s being shipped out to a research institute,” Raphael said. “(A short distance away) was an observation booth where there was a voiceover artist (wearing) headphones who could hear what people were saying (and talk to them). We put a microchip camera in the head, so we could see what the octopus was seeing. That way if somebody did something physical we could respond.”

Made of wire, trash bags, foam and sequined fabric, Squirt was contained in a plexiglass jar inside a wooden shipping container. Raphael and his friends spent nearly a year on the project; it was on display for a week.

OUT OF THIS WORLD—Squirt the lit-up octopus is the brainchild of local resident Abraham Raphael. Courtesy of Abraham Raphael

OUT OF THIS WORLD—Squirt the lit-up octopus is the brainchild of local resident Abraham Raphael. Courtesy of Abraham Raphael

He chose an octopus because of the animal’s intelligence—he’d seen videos of them solving puzzles and escaping their enclosures at aquariums.

“(I thought) an octopus that’s talking to you might be kind of cool. Ultimately, I was trying to find something enjoyable,” he said. “I think the greatest reward from the Burning Man experience, on a daily basis, is when somebody gives you a smile or a hug or a laugh, and you know you’ve enriched them in some way, you’ve made them happy. That’s fulfillment, that’s the reward, because it’s not going to be money. There’s no money out there.”

Through the microphone, camera and speakers hidden in the container, visitors could have a conversation with Squirt, who answered questions about life, love and happiness. Raphael and his camp mates took turns voicing the octopus from inside a control booth, which was filled with reminders to be kind and friendly. People visited the piece repeatedly, sometimes leaving gifts.

HELLO EARTHLINGS—Made of wire, trash bags, foam and sequined fabric, Squirt the talking octopus is contained within a plexiglass jar inside a wooden shipping container—and was able to speak to passersby during this year’s Burning Man. Courtesy of Abraham Raphael

HELLO EARTHLINGS—Made of wire, trash bags, foam and sequined fabric, Squirt the talking octopus is contained within a plexiglass jar inside a wooden shipping container—and was able to speak to passersby during this year’s Burning Man. Courtesy of Abraham Raphael

Raphael needed at least 15 people to help operate his camp at Burning Man—and had come up short before the festival. Then he overheard Malibu resident Gina Bonelli talking to a friend about the event, which she had never attended. When Raphael offered her a ticket to join his team, Bonelli said, she had to take it.

“Burning Man isn’t what a lot of people think. It’s an art show,” Bonelli said. “(It) was a challenge but also really a blessing and one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done in my life. I felt really honored to be a part of the art. Doing Squirt’s (voice) was so much fun, just to sit there and play with people. People were blown away. Some cried, some people laughed. It was awesome.”

Raphael recruited his friend Chris Chanaud to sketch his idea for Squirt last fall. Once they had a design, Raphael organized a 20-person camp to construct, transport, operate and disassemble the piece.

The camp, called Free Squirt, spent months turning Raphael’s idea into reality. Chanaud said up to 10 people worked on the project for four hours a day for months.

“There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that goes into it, a lot of effort, and none of us get paid for it. In fact, for the most part we all lose a sizable chunk of money and time and energy investing in all this. Once it’s up and running, the best part for me is when you’re watching people come by and enjoy it,” Chanaud said. “I saw a video last week of a little girl who was about 4 or 5 who made friends with the octopus and then after it was gone she was sitting there crying about it. (Raphael) wrote her a touching letter.”

The project was partially funded by a grant from the Burning Man Project, a San Francisco-based nonprofit group that organizes the event and donates to dozens of independently designed art installations each year.

Raphael chipped in to help fund the difference.

“There’s fulfillment and pleasure and fun to be gained from doing an art project and bringing it out there, bringing friends and new people. So it’s an opportunity to make a lot of people happy. That’s the bottom line. It’s worth it,” Raphael said.

He added, “We all need validation, to flex our muscles and understand our potentials. For me, you’re testing yourself. Can I get through it? Can I survive? If you can do these difficult things out there, maybe back in the real world you can do it, too, and not have so much fear or inhibitions about trying to build a business or moving certain projects forward.”