Gallery: Libertarians Celebrate Freedom With 'Burning Man on the Water'
01erin-rapacki-at-memocracy-conference
A small group of libertarians created their own, floating vision of the future in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta recently. It was, as organizers billed it, a little like Burning Man on the water — minus the giant, flaming effigy and with a fraction of the number of event-goers. The festival was almost canceled due to insurance problems, but in true libertarian fashion, the would-be attendees created a do-it-yourself substitute in its stead. The would-be event, called Ephemerisle, was sponsored by The Seasteading Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to [creating independent micro-nations in international waters](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2008/05/seasteading). "I heard about the cancellation and said, 'In the spirit of self-organized nation-building, let's get together anyways,'" said Matt Bell, who spearheaded the effort without any central leadership or organizational backing. Supporters called their alternative, uninsured gathering "the not-Ephemerisle Floating Festival, or a Festival Formerly Known as Ephemerisle." Patri Friedman, executive director of The Seasteading Institute, attended the substitute event as a private citizen, not formally representing his organization. "The high insurance cost is one of many examples of how the current political system in America makes it difficult to try new things," said Friedman, who is the grandson of Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. "That's bad." He added, "On seasteads, we would have a [wider variety of legal environments](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/17-02/mf_seasteading)." Among the motley crew at the four-day festival were a bunch of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, a handful of international libertarian activists and two seafaring travelers who said they were homeless. When participants weren't trading visions of their utopian futures, they floated around and enjoyed art and music. Pirate accordionist Jason Webley and trapeze artist Miriam Telles regaled spectators. Interactive art bobbed beside the boats. And a heady gathering called "Memocracy Conference" gave festival-goers a chance to share radical ideas (or memes) about the future of biotech, telepresence, life extension, secessionism and robots. According to Bell, the Festival Formerly Known as Ephemerisle gave participants the chance to practice forming their own societies. "It's like a toy version of seasteading that we get to play with," said Bell. For more background on the gathering, watch a [short documentary about Ephemerisle](http://vimeo.com/11236146) from last year, and don't miss this short animated history of [previous attempts at libertarian countries on the high seas](http://vimeo.com/12831899). __Above:__ Erin Rapacki discusses the future of artificial intelligence robots at the Memocracy Conference. Rapacki works for a startup company trying to commercialize telepresence robots — Avatar-like robots that use video and robotics technology to let people be present from afar.
02houseboats-tied-together-for-a-floating-festival
The floating festival occurs on a string of houseboats tied and anchored together in the middle of a waterway in the Sacramento Delta.
03the-refurbished-boat
"Chicken" John Rinaldi and a merry crew of builders and artists refurbished this boat, which originally cruised the Sacramento Delta in 1945. The boat is an "artstead" (a take on seastead) named Relentless that Rinaldi said will live a long life beyond the floating festival — as a gallery, show and studio space for future performances.
04patri-friedman-executive-director-of-the-seasteading-institute
Patri Friedman, executive director of the Seasteading Institute, takes a question during his Memocracy Conference speech where he addressed questions about the future of Ephemerisle. Friedman is wearing a sling after dislocating his shoulder on the second day of the event. He wants to hold Ephemerisle on San Francisco Bay next year.
05looking-up-how-to-treat-a-dislocated-shoulder
Max Marty, a Seasteading Institute employee, visits the site wikihow.com on his iPad to learn how to fix Friedman's dislocated shoulder. Since the official event was canceled, there was no medical or security staff in case of emergency.
06christine-peterson-president-of-personalized-life-extension-2010
Christine Peterson, President of Personalized Life Extension 2010, shows off one of many vitamin supplements that she takes daily. Peterson gave a talk at the Memocracy Conference about health-hacking your way toward immortality.
07lasse-birk-a-seasteading-institute-volunteer-from-denmark-flies-a-digital-camera-attached-to-a-helium-balloon
Lasse Birk, a Seasteading Institute volunteer from Denmark, flies a digital camera attached to a helium balloon. Birk captured aerial photography of the event from 100 yards in the sky, before ultimately losing the camera to the heavens.
08person-inside-a-clear-ball-floating-on-the-water
A festival attendee tries to maintain balance in a Zorb — a large hamster-ball-like water toy.
09matt-bell-stands-on-a-giant-koosh-ball-made-of-pool-noodles
Matt Bell stands on a giant Koosh ball made of pool noodles. The floating art is named *Dandelion*. According to Bell, "the *Dandelions* will be a metaphor for the spread of civilization and new ideas onto the ocean, a further diaspora of the human race." It is hard to maintain your balance on a floating *Dandelion*, however.
10lasse-birk-and-erik-kofoed-launch-a-potato-from-a-spud-gun
Floating, autonomous nation-states in international waters will need to defend themselves. The Sacramento River delta is a much less-threatening environment, however. Here, Lasse Birk and Erik Kofoed launch a potato from a spud gun.
11trapeze-artist-mariam-telles
Accordionist Jason Webley performs aboard Relentless while trapeze artist Mariam Telles, shown here, spins, flips and contorts her body. Webley's interactive, seafaring folk music warmed the audience on a chilly, windy Saturday night.
12a-floating-platform-docks-near-a-pod-of-houseboats
A floating platform docks near a pod of houseboats. The platform is recycled from an art project named Apocaisle from last year's festival.
