Is Cacophony Back?

[some seeing eye]

The Burning Blog has
http://blog.burningman.com/2014/11/cult ... rning-man/.

It happens to be on the front page now.

It's loose and wandering in cacophony style. Written by an org PR person, one wonders if it represents a new brand direction. Less Larry, more creative participation?

It is also a clever hack to hitch a ride on Chuck's work, which is still obscure. A bridge to film industry participants? Instead of the usual dance party videos people make at BM and spew on YouTube, what would a cacophonous view of the event look like? What crowd would a new image draw or discourage?

Discuss.

[digital]

It's loose and wandering in cacophony style. Written by an org PR person, one wonders if it represents a new brand direction. Less Larry, more creative participation?

If so, my prayers have been answered.

Larry is *not* the All Seeing Eye of Burning Man. He is not its founder. He just took credit for the thing and provided a figurehead to the masses that needed one. Black Rock City was birthed from the minds of Cacophonists needing a blank canvas for creative freedom. While I believe BRC would not be alive today had not the Org taken the wheel -- it is clear from the current commodification issue a new course is needed. Wouldn't it be wonderful The Project came out of the trees to dig up its roots?

Personally, I identify much more closely with the anarcho-cyber mischief at the heart of Cacophony than the hippy burner mentality so prevalent on the Playa. (Weren't hippies the reason Cacophony went to Black Rock in the first place?)

Interesting time to be a part of this thing.

[Simon of the Playa]

haters from NZ gonna hate...




and if HE says it's dead, it most certainly t'aint....

[Jovankat]

Simon are you saying Obnoxious is the Burners.me guy?

[Simon of the Playa]

i don't know nothing.

[Lonesomebri]

Is there anyway we can get Tyler Durden to work in First Camp's kitchen?

[Simon of the Playa]

[media]

[unjonharley]

Honing my 2015 prank..

[Simon of the Playa]

.

[some seeing eye]

I would say that Cacophony made light of institutions and did no harm to individuals, as well as engaging in general surrealism for the benefit of their participants. I would also say that Cacophony has transformed, is still active, and others continue it in new forms. We just had a memorial service for a lost participant recently with croquet. In addition to Santa events, Brides of May, the Urban Iditarod, Black Friday events and more continue. Not the OG days and not dead.

[Dr. Pyro]

In addition to Santa events, Brides of May, the Urban Iditarod,

I think you meant to say Brides of March, a take-off on the Ides of March. The Sacramento Group always does it on or about March 15th. It is a lot of fun, that's for sure.

[some seeing eye]

My mistake, thanks Dr Pyro!

[Simon of the Playa]

"I’m still waiting for that to pop up in somebody’s head. That’s why we have things like Burning Man. Events like Burning Man are the laboratories where people go and experiment with social structure and with identity. It’s out of these little laboratories that our new culture will grow. And that’s why so many of my books are about these little “liminoid” human experiments that are short-lived and are kind of fun and exciting, like party crashing in Rant, or Fight Club. It’s these “liminoid” laboratories that will give us that vision, that new thing to quest for that isn’t just capitalism or Marxism. You’re outside of it, and in a way, you’re outside of yourself. Everyone is equal and everyone is forced to participate; you can’t just be a spectator.

chuck palahniuk.

[Token]

If it is back, that is about the only thing that could get me back out onto the playa. Place was tolerable up until The Green Man, then went south right-quick.

But how the heck can you tell if Cacophony is back?

[Simon of the Playa]

it's like the morning after a date with bill cosby...


you'll know...

[Zhust]

"Occupy did nothing" ... pfeh.

Occupy go the mainstream media to discuss "anarchy". Beat that.

[unjonharley]

Cacophony is about you being had and not knowing until your hit with it..

Up coming santa convention (a.k.a. red rampage) all over the world..

[vargaso]

Cacophony is about you being had and not knowing until your hit with it..

Up coming santa convention (a.k.a. red rampage) all over the world..

Santacon has turned into a drunken shitshow, but yeah it was a great idea at first. The whole concept of these kinds of things, flash mobs and whatnot, are kind of played out in that they're almost expected these days. People see one occurring and they immediately think, "oh it's a flash mob," which instantly compartmentalizes and disarms it, making any kind of meaningful disruption and/or engagement unlikely. It's still fun, I guess. Who doesn't love Improv Everywhere?

[unjonharley]

You may have lost your tickle.. I still have a couple of of puns to pull on the playa this year..

Harold and Maud forever

[Simon of the Playa]

there is nothing to see here...

[alt12]

Santacon has turned into a drunken shitshow, but yeah it was a great idea at first. The whole concept of these kinds of things, flash mobs and whatnot, are kind of played out in that they're almost expected these days. People see one occurring and they immediately think, "oh it's a flash mob," which instantly compartmentalizes and disarms it, making any kind of meaningful disruption and/or engagement unlikely. It's still fun, I guess. Who doesn't love Improv Everywhere?

Completely agree. Any kind of radical action if done repeatedly in an unexpected fashion loses its impact. It also makes it a prime target for co-option (i.e. guerrilla marketing flash mobs for branding purposes).

You have to keep moving the target or the mainstream culture will eventually co-opt it.

One could make the same claims about Burning Man, actually.

[The Rod]

You have to keep moving the target or the mainstream culture will eventually co-opt it.

One could make the same claims about Burning Man, actually.

Time to move then?


A while back I asked the question "who owns the culture?" viewtopic.php?f=65&t=72532


The answer, it seemed, was that no one did. And as 5280MeV pointed out "does the behavior of going to BM even constitute belonging to a culture?"

However it definitely seems to me that Larry & Co. are laying claim to the "culture" through copyrighting everything they can get their hands on (including the work of artists who are working for free) and even more so with the new website section devoted to "The Culture"

But what happens when the culture outgrows the event that it has become centered around? Or when the event (and the organizers) begin to stray from what purportedly made it so amazing in the first place?

Why do I lay awake at night wondering about this bullshit?



p.s. how the hell do you create a hyperlink in this thing?

[Jovankat]

p.s. how the hell do you create a hyperlink in this thing?

(url=http://burningman.org/)Link Text goes here(/url) but with square brackets.

[Simon of the Playa]

.

[alt12]

You have to keep moving the target or the mainstream culture will eventually co-opt it.

One could make the same claims about Burning Man, actually.

Time to move then?

A while back I asked the question "who owns the culture?" viewtopic.php?f=65&t=72532

The answer, it seemed, was that no one did. And as 5280MeV pointed out "does the behavior of going to BM even constitute belonging to a culture?"

However it definitely seems to me that Larry & Co. are laying claim to the "culture" through copyrighting everything they can get their hands on (including the work of artists who are working for free) and even more so with the new website section devoted to "The Culture"

But what happens when the culture outgrows the event that it has become centered around? Or when the event (and the organizers) begin to stray from what purportedly made it so amazing in the first place?

Why do I lay awake at night wondering about this bullshit?



p.s. how the hell do you create a hyperlink in this thing?

It already has moved. Its called 4th of Juplaya.

FYI - According to the ORG's stated viewpoint, the copyrighting is to protect the event from being co-opted by marketers and advertisers etc. Of course, they seem to not have an issue with on-playa commodification via commercial luxury hotels masquerading as "theme camps" but that's a whole other topic.


Of course no one owns the culture. We are all free to pursue it in any way we want.

[TomServo]

[Simon of the Playa]

[media]

[Simon of the Playa]

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[Simon of the Playa]

[media]

[Simon of the Playa]

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