Saturday, September 15, 2012
The Truth About Burning Man
huffingtonpost.com: "Really?" the guy at the Alamo Rental Car place said, when I'd told him about Burning Man. "I heard it was just a lot of naked people running around on drugs."
Coated in gypsum dust, and still high not on drugs but on the altered consciousness of radical creativity and community, I had just tried to describe what Burning Man is, somehow. I think I'd said something like, "It's a temporary city of 50,000 people, devoted to radical self-expression. So you'll find anything you'd find in a regular city -- art museums, dance clubs, yoga studios -- only in the middle of the desert, with no money, and with more creativity than you've ever seen."
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19 comments:
Burning Man sounds like something that everyone, artist or not, should get to experience at least once in their life. I had somehow never heard about this before reading this article, and now I just wish that the school year at CMU started just two weeks later so that I could go and see this for myself next year. The idea of spending a week in the desert in an all-inclusive, artistically thriving community of tens of thousands free of obligations and normalcy is so appealing to me. Now, if I were to be organizing this event, it would be a whole other story...so I'd much rather let myself dream about the creativity and sheer power that stems from such an incredible gathering. Hopefully I'll get there someday!
I agree 100% with Camille. I believe that Burning Man sounds like an amazing experience that everyone should have the chance to experience. I hope that one day I will be able to experience something similar to Burning Man because I believe this would be an eye-opening experience for everyone; artist or not!
While Burning Man will always be (or at least purports itself to be) the site for pure, unadulterated ART in capital letters, fundamentally our theatrical productions attempt to do the same thing: provide escapism, introduce audiences to unfamiliar people and make them feel something. Now, Shrek: The Musical's not going to be the same religious experience as something like Burning Man, but perhaps it could be. Think of the ritual of the theatre - receiving your ticket, showing up at the same place as a bunch of people with a similar purpose, entering a space hallowed and used only for this purpose of storytelling, and allowing the audience to imagine. It's our job to hold up that experience, to enhance it for our patrons, and to allow them to experience something that reveals something about themselves or connect them to something bigger. Am I too idealistic in that? Or do we need something as big as Burning Man to offer similar emotional experiences?
< /soapbox >
I don't think that single person in the school of drama would not want to visit Burning Man (Not stay the whole time, but at least experience it for a day). This experience is as Brian states "ART". The ability to go to a city with no jobs and money is like truly getting away from the stresses of a normal life and I can most definately see how this is a truly liberating experience. My assistant choreographer from my show this summer went to Burning Man this year. She said that she found a new found appreciation for what she does in the theater because of her experience. I think that the ideals and passion that the people of Burning Man have needs to some how be brought out to audiences in theaters. Like Brian stated, musicals and plays don't offer the same experience ad Burning Man, by can't we have them strive to be?
I really appreciate this article. I was pretty confused about what really took place at Burning Man until I read this. While I know that this article only represents on person's perspective of the event, I think it really sheds light on what the event can mean to different people. I think I could really use an experience like this right now. While I would be terrified to ignore my real-world obligations for the duration of the event, I think that would be so worth it- the self-reflection and self-discovery that people seem to have the chance to do at Burning Man is pretty inspiring. While I think that theatre can provide a similar escape for people, I don't think any theatrical piece could come close to having the same effect on people. People actually LIVE the Burning Man experience, but people can really only live vicariously through a theatrical experience. I absolutely believe that theatre can be enlightening and emotionally therapeutic, but I also believe that Burning Man takes that to a whole different level. One other amazing thing I'd like to point out about Burning Man is that the people involved are all giving something so that they can partake in the experience and so that others can enjoy it- the electrician donates his time installing solar panels, while the bar owner donates margaritas. The bar owner benefits from the work of the electrician, and the electrician gets a free margarita. This is a simplified example, but it is just awesome that so many people are willing to give so much to one another in order to share this experience.
Burning Man seems like an absolutely brilliant, inspiring place. I had never heard of Burning Man prior to reading this article, and I can definitely see how Burning Man stereotypes and misconceptions have come to be. It is inevitable that drugs and experimentation are bound to exist in such a liberating environment, but I am glad that this article opened the eyes to its readers about "The Truth of the Burning Man." I hope to one day visit Burning Man and be able to share in the glory of getting to experience art without life's pressures surrounding me.
I have scoured the internet before for a description of what goes on at Burning Man and this has been the best one I have seen. I have wanted to go to this event since they made a "Malcolm in the Middle" episode about it. It sounds like it would be at the very least an astounding sight and at best even a life changing one. I disagree with Brian that theater does the same thing. Theater is usually performed by people who have dedicated their life to it and has unwritten rules about what you can do that revolve around your audience. Burning Man is free to everyone and it is a chance for absolutely anyone to feel completely free. Even in the case where everyone in the world had regular opportunity to be part of theater, being able to cast off all ruled and express yourself in any way you want has much more opportunity then theater.
I admit I was a little skeptical about Burning Man when reading the article on it last week. I didn't understand the extremities that people went through for self expression. But now I see it is more an expression of freedom of the self. I especially like the fact that it poses the question about who you really are when you are given such freedoms. I admire the fact that the author recognizes the "naked people on drugs" as being a little superfluous, as I'd agree with that that isn't necessary for expression. After reading this article I myself would like to experience the event to see how I might react in an atmosphere of a community of complete freedom of self.
I also have to admit that prior to reading this I didn't know much about Burning Man, however little did I know I've experienced something very similar but much smaller in scale. Just outside of a small college in town in Western New York tucked away in dense wooded hills surrounded by vineyards there is a small week long festival dedicated to art and music and expression much like Burning Man, or at least there used to be about 4-5 years ago, I has since been cancelled indefinitely. It was a week that I will never forget, witnessing painters cover 4'x8' canvas' while a band played a 40 minute set simultaneously, using the music as their inspiration, and that was only the beginning... Sadly there wasn't a giant burning structure that everyone danced around, but it was very organic communal and inspiring more levels that one could expect.
It must be absolutely fascinating to be a part of Burning Man. I have heard about the event before, but have never seen such a concise and helpful description of the event as a whole. As much as the art, culture, and spirit of the whole event would fascinate me, I am more intrigued by the idea of creating an entire living infrastructure (water/sewer/electricity, etc) for just a month and then dismantling it. It makes me curious who does all of the offical set-up vs. who is just around to help out. Is everything managerial volunteer-run? Or is nothing really managed to start with?
Once again, the point of Burning Man is to do acid in the desert.
I've spent the last few years watching documentaries and going through photoblogs of the things going on at Burning Man, and the art that is produced there in such a short time with (near) complete strangers is completely fascinating. There are, of course, parallels to what we do day in and day out; meet a group of people, find out what makes them tick as an artist, and work together to make something you all believe is a good representation of who you are as designers and that makes you proud to have done it. From the towering sculptures to the fantastically assembled outfits, Burning Man embodies the perfect society in which no idea is stupid and the artist reigns supreme. If everyone in the arts could go just once, lest they are intimidated by the extracurricular noted in the article, they would be able to expand their artistic vision ten-fold.
While I'm glad that this post exist and more people are finding out about this great festival, this article leaves out a major aspect of the the organization's standing on self-expression. If you are a professional photographer in any way, or you plan on recording any video for personal use, the Burning Man Organization requires that you register with them. Upon doing so, the contract that is signed legally hands over all rights and ownerships of all pictures you take while there. They have the authority to say which pictures can be published and in what fashion. This censorship gives the festival a very hypocritical flavor. Why is a festival that is committed to free self-expression so controlling of how people choose to portray it? When you buy the ticket, and you camp on the land they rented, you submit to their rules, and their rules consist of a Disney-like protection of their "brand". Reading over the contract itself, it's actually impressive the legal jargon that is woven to go to every extreme of never actually using the word "brand" anywhere in the document. And to top it all off, all those pictures that are finally approved by the organization for public showing that you made so much money on? Yea, the organization is contractually entitled to ten percent. But if you send them the photos that you took (which is actually mandatory), they can use those pictures however they wish with out telling you as well as not pay you for them.
Irregardless of all the above, this festival is great and my time there remains to this day some of the most inspiring and influential moments that I have had the pleasure to experience.
I know some people who think I am crazy, I know some people who think I am crazy for saying I want to attend burning man. None of these people attend CMU School of Drama. None of them would even consider themselves to be artists. Which makes sense, but is a little disheartening. I think it is those who don't consider themselves artists that need the eye-opening experience that is burning man the most. I'm accepting of the lifestyle that everyone chooses, but if you're choosing to sit behind a desk at an office Monday thru Friday and do work not even knowing what kind of bigger picture it's contributing to, I'd like to show you some NPRAOD and just see if that remains your choice. The difference, I think, is that we all fear what we don't know, but the most creative people step beyond that fear and are able to immerse themselves in the situation rather than avoiding it.
Burning Man has always been something that's intrigued me. The extreme escapism offered by the event is a call that I find hard to ignore. I feel that because the culture at Burning Man is so vastly different than that of mainstream America it becomes easier to discover who you are as a person, and as an artist. It seems to be an incredibly inspirational experience, but not just because of internal reflection and self discovery. I want to watch this temporary metropolis live its life around me: I want to experience what it's about not just for me but for everybody else as well.
Ive been planning on going to burning man for a while now and hopefully ill get that opportunity within the next couple of years. It is a shining example of what can happen when there are no limits. No worries of being criticized for creativity and the opportunity to experience other peoples unadulterated creativity
Burning Man is definitely something I would love to be a part of before I die. The experience the author writes about -- "the temporary erasure of societal, social, and personal boundaries" -- "an ideal place for self-reflection and self-transformation" -- is something that theatre has the potential of achieving, but sadly never does. If the experience is really as magical and mystical as its believers make it out to be, what is it that the artists are doing to achieve that? What can we learn from this to make the theatre a more magical place? Or is it entirely the drugs?
I agree with Camille. I would LOVE to see this. However, the article states that religion creates boundaries. From how it was described and from pictures on Google, Burning Man sounds like a religious event (like the Islamic Hajj or an ancient Greek sacrifice). It sounds like it is the religion of art, where people from all around the world come together and pay respects and appreciation towards freedom. This sounds like a fantastic experience to see a life that one does not normally see.
I think Pia nailed it.
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