Monday, September 19, 2011
Burning Man: Why would anyone go?
Slate Magazine: Twenty-five years ago, in the summer of 1986, Larry Harvey and a few friends built an 8-foot-tall man out of wood, dragged the sculpture onto a beach in San Francisco, and set it aflame. A small crowd of strangers gathered to watch. It couldn't have been more than 20 people. The wind pushed the flames in one direction, and a woman ran to the unburning side of the man to briefly hold his hand before the spreading fire engulfed it.
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9 comments:
I have had a couple of friends that have gone to burning man over the years, and from their facebook pictures it seems to be a truly wonderful if bazaar place. I have one friend who has gone every year since she was one because her family knows the main guy, she is used to riding around in cupcake cars, and desert bowling, in addition she dresses like she is going to burning man year round. I also had a friend that I worked with this summer who, I got to see prepare for burning man, it is a large indever you have to cover you entire car from the sand and figure out exactly how much water you need and how you will get rid of your waste because you can't leave any trace. It seems like really quite an amazing place, a Utopian society. Also there is an app that allows you to track everyone that comes to the burn as they do, so you can see all the cars descend!
I have always been under the impression that Burning Man is something you really do not get until you go to it. It stopped being about the concerts long ago and now seems to be more about crazy stuff that happens around the concert that is in now way organized by anyone except the people who show up. I am not really sure that there's a specific reason that anyone goes to Burning Man, I think it's the reasons that people discover there that keep causing them to go back and bring more people with them. It's kinda like a modern folk legend that you can actually go see.
Alright. I feel the question here shouldn't be "why would anyone want to go?" but rather why wouldn't you want to go? it is one of the few festivals in the united states that until recently had grown very large but still stayed under the radar of mainstream media. the fesival is a unique blend of individuals . something that any curious individual would find fascinating and fruitful. as for the design of the festival, its roots and its continued tradition is as important as the content of the works featured there. very few large scale festivals in the united states grow and still hold the traditions and values of their original inception, this is why burning man is so compelling. its unique as it is still as it was when it was created.
I continue to be fascinated by this event. Anyone trying to plan something of this scope must immediately assume that it's impossible - a lost cause. But clearly despite the complete impossibility of preparing fully for such an event, they have developed a community dedicated and robust enough to make it work year after year. Even more impressive are the people who bring some of the more complex or gigantic art to the show. To bring something with no hope of getting replacement parts shows a level of preparation and commitment to a project. I don't know if the folks who succeed are very careful and detail oriented folks, but I'd like to think they're expressive, excited artists who just make things work.
I wonder how an event with 53 thousand people is organized and run. I wonder who is calling the shots, what kind of planning needs to go into the event, if anyone is arranging for medical staff to be on site, what happens if something goes wrong, and if they have to deal with any of these questions. It sounds like the culture is such that it would not want people who would try to structure the event or lay down any rules or safety guidelines, but at the same time I can't imagine there isn't some kind of organization that runs it each year (IE the people selling the tickets) and I wonder what steps they go through to make sure it is a successful event.
I have never been to Burning Man, but I fully intend to go at some point in the next few years. I’m really glad to see an article about Burning Man on the blog because to me it exemplifies one of the reasons why we bother doing theatre at all. The fact that a festival like Burning Man exists strongly supports the idea that humans need a creative outlet, and to be challenged to create and experience new types of art. The article mentioned that this year was the first year that the festival completely sold out, and the popularity of it honestly does not surprise me. Being able to leave the “real” world to live creatively and spontaneously for a week sounds like an incredibly liberating experience. The freedom to leave reality and simply create and experience is almost a necessity for being human, a necessity that both the theatre and a festival like Burning Man is able to fulfill.
Going to burning man is just like going to any massive gathering of people who don't know each other. It's for the experience and to see something new. If you want to go somewhere and see something you have never seen before, get some good stories to tell friends, or just meet a few freaks, why not do it at burning man? It's basically a guarantee that you will leave having seen something unique. Granted the festival has become about all of the drugs and crazy antics more than what was originally intended, but people are going for the same reasons they always have. It's weird and gives them some cool experience that they can remember (hopefully) for a few years.
I agree with Calvin, I really wonder what logistical planning goes into this event. The writer of the article seems to state that not much is done, however with tickets ranging from $220-$360 some sort of safety precaution has to be implemented. I must admit that while I was reading the article the only thing I kept thinking was..... "REALLY? REALLY?" This is a perfect example of how some events prosper once sex, drugs and the "anything goes" mentality are involved. This is my initial view, I have never heard of this event before, therefore I will try not to cast judgement on it; but realistically it is just a big weekend getaway fete. What started out as a 20 member event apparently is now a HUGE money making venture! I guess I can't knock it until I try it, but I probably wouldn’t pay to attend.
I grew up in a town in which people had mini versions of Burning Man statues to practice for their annual travels to the event. Nevertheless, I know quite a bit about this festival but am still consistently in awe of the spectrum of this gathering. Interestingly enough, in response to Calvin's comment about safety and structure, there is actually a very structure nature to this event and they work very hard to protect that. There are many rules and regulation to Burning Man that are enforced and respected throughout the community. Recently, as the festival had grown in popularity, many have pushed the structure and have truly upset the old timers of the festival. Like many large gatherings, there is a level of respect that must be maintained and it's upsetting to me in a way to see the popolartity of the event grow because I know that that respect will continuously be tested each year by newcomers with the wrong intentions.
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