Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/13/radical-participation.html
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I camped very close to the Humano camp in 2016. It was appalling. They had dozens of workers building the camp in the early part of the week. There were air coolers, tents, cabins, bicycles, all ready and waiting for the attendees. They put on a “show” at one point, some half-assed stage magician. I don’t know what else, I avoided it as best I could.
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First world problems.
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Upon the end of BM each year I grit my teeth in anticipation of various friends on Faceballs & their breathless, transcendentally soaring mystical meditations brimming with superlatives regarding the transformative experiences and epiphanies of Burning Man’s unfathomable awesomeness …
Such a big world. Expensively jamming oneself into a sweaty desert horde rife with class distinctions? No thanks. I love Boingboing & get that most happy mutants disagree, but there it is.
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Except, of course, when they apply for the festival permit from Pershing County.
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Money-Out-Of-Place?
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where you can pay giant sums to pretend to be a Burning Man “participant” while being looked after by paid “sherpas” (including, rumor has it, sex workers),
Granted I am not an expert, but it is my understanding that isn’t that like bringing sand to the beach?
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Morons Out On Playa
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it’s not burning man’s fault that pershing county doesn’t have a “TTITD* / Not A Festival” permit category.
it’s interesting that Larry was the defender of the Plug & Play camps… as a theme camp organizer, i’m happy with the new changes. more legit theme camps able to get placed is a good thing, and more low income tickets available is DEFINITELY a good thing.
*That Thing In The Desert
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I think my question is…
Is Burning Man still relevant? Like many of the “counter culture” events, once it gets press and corporate support (or garbage like this) then it’s just a yearly event. The Borg needs a splinter group who does more pop-up events via invite or quest only, ala raves back when they first started (and before they became frat house horror shows).
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Really wish i could’ve attended Burning man about 10 years ago but at the time i just didn’t have the money and time. Would’ve been great to experience it before it became one of those trendy instagram type destinations. If I were to go to a burner event at this point I would much rather go to a smaller local event. I’ve talked about it before in other threads but I did get to camp by a small burner event in Nevada near Lake Mead (next to Hoover Dam) some years ago and I loved it.
I believe someone mentioned Austin does have something like that but i havent seriously looked into it yet.
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Having never been i can’t say. But the fact that there’s a strong appeal to the event does lead me to believe that it is relevant to some, but the wild commodification of the event and just the overall difficulty to get there for the lay person i would be inclined to say that there are other smaller events that can better cater to people and local artists.
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Not really. The first of the Ten Principles is, “Radical Inclusion: Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.”
Burning Man is going to have a hard time making a “cultural course correction” if the people charged with promoting its ethos refuse to accept what that ethos actually means.
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No, it’s not.
*As long as they can get/afford a ticket.
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I have never met a single “Burner” I could stand to spend an evening with, let alone a week(?) in the desert. I know that a lot of folk here are likely the exception, but it also seems like the sentiments expressed are riding decade-old vapors tinged with nostalgia for something that once seemed like a really great social experiment.
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The one-percenters took over Bohemian Grove, the Burning Man of its day.
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Leave no trace? Is that 747 still out there?
Having traveled beyond the bubble of the “first world”, I can assure you that I have seen first hand the “problem” of vast amounts of people gathering with the goal of increasing humanity’s happiness while decreasing the carbon footprint, is a problem for people in Mexico, India, Viet Nam and I imagine even “third world” places like the United Kingdom.
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