What IS Burning Man?

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:52 pm

If you're like me you've had the experience of struggling to explain to someone exactly what Burning Man IS, and what's it's about. (Also, you smoke too damn much and say "Fuck!" a lot.) Perhaps this question is so difficult to answer because there is no one right answer, it means something different to everyone.

I've often thought it would be so much easier to just show the person as much of the spirit of Burning Man as I could without actually bringing them them to the desert, and let them draw their own conclusions.

But how to do that? The official website is a good start, but it just doesn't quite capture all the magic somehow, in my opinion. Youtube has some good video clips, and many more bad ones, and articles can be pretty hit or miss, depending on whether or not the author "gets it." So I've decided to create this thread as a substitue for my undeniably passionate but often inarticulate blathering when I'm telling someone about that thing in the desert.

I'm going to gradually fill it with the best text, images, and videos that I can find that, to me at least, demonstrate what Burning Man is REALLY all about. Please feel free to add to it as you like.

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:54 pm

Burning Man: The Experience
Fatima Najm | Arab News

Extraordinary: As night falls, a flame comes alive in her hands. By day, she seems to be in perpetual state of prayer.

Land in Reno. Set your GPS coordinates to 40Â°45â€™13.83â€

Elorrum · Post by **Elorrum** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 3:24 pm

lonestoner916 wrote:I'm going to gradually fill it with the best text, images, and videos that I can find

not sure if this makes the cut, but I found this to be a well considered collection of photos with good comments. I like the overview of structures seen out there.
http://thisisblackrockcity.blogspot.com/

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 5:19 pm

I cannot participate in this poll because "A Satanic Ritual" is not one of the choices.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 7:16 pm

how about:
"A Pagan ritual"

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 7:39 pm

Elorrum wrote:
lonestoner916 wrote:I'm going to gradually fill it with the best text, images, and videos that I can find
not sure if this makes the cut, but I found this to be a well considered collection of photos with good comments. I like the overview of structures seen out there.
http://thisisblackrockcity.blogspot.com/

Good stuff!

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 7:42 pm

I thought Satanic ritual and human sacrifice went without saying.

Truthfully, for some reason the last option I put in the poll; "Whatever YOU make it" didn't post.

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 8:01 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 8:12 pm

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 6:46 am

Elorrum wrote:
lonestoner916 wrote:I'm going to gradually fill it with the best text, images, and videos that I can find
not sure if this makes the cut, but I found this to be a well considered collection of photos with good comments. I like the overview of structures seen out there.
http://thisisblackrockcity.blogspot.com/

About a third of the way down on the "older posts" page there's a photo of the Land Yacht last year.

Fire_Moose · Post by **Fire_Moose** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 7:51 am

What IS Burning Man?

Burning Man IS lame

Burning Man WAS better before all the hippies showed up

klondike_bar · Post by **klondike_bar** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 2:58 pm

burning man is a place where noone is a stranger. The person that you are meeting for the first time is either a friend or lover. You will roam a once-empty tract of desert, in a state of wonder at how many people and obstacles you must suddenly navigate through, without being drawn away by thier lights or noise.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 4:53 pm

it's a motherfucking cult, so just shut the fuck up and drink the goddamn kool-aid.[/size]

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 5:41 pm

klondike_bar wrote:burning man is a place where noone is a stranger. The person that you are meeting for the first time is either a friend or lover. You will roam a once-empty tract of desert, in a state of wonder at how many people and obstacles you must suddenly navigate through, without being drawn away by thier lights or noise.

sounds more like Reno during Santa Crawl to me.

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 7:13 pm

drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid.

Post by **Sham** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 7:19 pm

pinemom wrote:drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid....drink the koolaid.

I think we already drank it!

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 7:20 pm

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:07 am

I believe that by extrapolating from past and future stories about "islands in the net" we may collect evidence to suggest that a certain kind of "free enclave" is not only possible in our time but also existent. All my research and speculation has crystallized around the concept of the TEMPORARY AUTONOMOUS ZONE (hereafter abbreviated TAZ). Despite its synthesizing force for my own thinking, however, I don't intend the TAZ to be taken as more than an essay ("attempt"), a suggestion, almost a poetic fancy. Despite the occasional Ranterish enthusiasm of my language I am not trying to construct political dogma. In fact I have deliberately refrained from defining the TAZ--I circle around the subject, firing off exploratory beams. In the end the TAZ is almost self-explanatory. If the phrase became current it would be understood without difficulty...understood in action.

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:35 pm

Black Rock Beacon Archives

http://bitethe.com/brb/archive.htm

Avatre the New Dawn · Post by **Avatre the New Dawn** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:21 am

Can't I choose option D) All of the Above?h

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 5:33 pm

"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."

Of the two descriptions, surely Rental Car Guy's is the more familiar. When Adam Lambert revealed that he'd gotten the idea to go on American Idol while on mushrooms at Burning Man, America groaned. The image, I assume, was of a drugged-out weirdo coming up with a loopy idea in the middle of wild, crazy party.

The truth, though, is that Burning Man is an ideal place for self-reflection and self-transformation, whether substance-aided or not, and as someone who's just gotten back from his 8th Burn, Lambert's revelation didn't surprise me a bit. Friends of mine have changed their names, their professions, and their entire lives at Burning Man. And not because they were stoned or tripping, but because Black Rock City -- the temporary city (built and erased within a month) where the event goes on every year, the week before Labor Day -- has a tendency to expand horizons, reveal possibilities, and question the assumptions most of us make about how we're supposed to live our lives.

Burning Man does this, I think, because of a combination of factors. One of them is the sheer size and scope of the thing. 50,000 people. Hundreds of cars and trucks modified to look like dragons, whales, radios, and steamboats; many breathing fire; most with dozens of revelers dancing on them. It's like "Mad Max" meets "Blade Runner" meets "The Ten Commandments," and it's real, it's actually happening.

And it's happening without capitalism. There's no vending at Burning Man -- it's a gift economy. Entire "theme camps" exist just to give away spaghetti, to serve people free margaritas, to make pancakes. Yes, it does cost a lot to get in (between $150-350), but that mostly pays for the rental of the land from the government, the porta-potties and other infrastructure, and grants made to large-scale art projects. No one -- not the celebrity DJs who were there this year, like Armin van Buuren and Carl Cox, and not the people who build the solar electrical grid -- gets paid. No one is making a buck.

This is incredibly liberating. It's not sustainable, but it is a temporary autonomous zone of bullshit-free living. And just being there, just participating in the creation of an entire city devoted to what we want to do, rather than what we have to do to make money, has the tendency to invite self-reflection like Lampert's. Who am I? What do I really want to be doing? If people can create a twelve-ton sculpture of a bird's nest made entirely out of plumbing pipe, what are the limits on my own creativity? "Once you are free," said Baudrillard, "you are forced to ask who you are."

The freedom is more than just freedom from conventional economic life, though. Yes, there are some naked people running around on drugs, because the culture of Black Rock City is a very, very liberal one. (It's not free of law enforcement -- this year in particular, I heard many stories of people being busted for drugs, and for giving alcohol to minor-aged-looking undercover cops.) Of course, how people choose to exercise that freedom is up to them. For every NPRAOD, I'd guess there are two people wishing they had the courage to do so, one person playing the violin on a sofabed in the middle of a desert, two people cooking pumpkin ravioli, and another person writing the name of her beloved on the wooden walls of the Temple -- this year a three-story, Lotus-shaped construction just north of the center of the city, that was burned last Sunday night.

Of course, we don't hear about these other people, which, to me, says more about the puerility of the default world than the sexuality of Black Rock City. It's as if radical self expression is boring, but if it means naked people on drugs, then it's titillating, easy to condemn -- and also comprehensible. Oh, I get it.

You don't get it. You don't get what it's like to have 50,000 people circle around a wooden effigy, with 1000 people spinning fire and 500 more playing drums, all encircled by 200 art cars -- and then all roaring in unison as the effigy is set afire. You might think you get it, and it may scare or tempt or delight you, but I assure you, you don't get it. None of us do, because it's not about any one thing in particular; "it" can be an orgiastic celebration, or the sad mourning of a lost loved one. Or a warm, hippie-like community. Or a mean, Mad-Max-like apocalypse. "It" is chiefly a space in which all these things are possible.

The temporary erasure of societal, social, and personal boundaries is, for most of us, terrifying. Such boundaries help build the structures of society and self; they give form to human life, which is often chaotic and unpredictable. Thus they have been the bedrock of religious and civil life for millennia, even before the Furies were imprisoned under Athens, and Moses descended from Sinai.

But if religion creates boundaries, mysticism and spirituality efface them. In the transcendence of ordinary distinctions, peak experiences such as those encouraged at Burning Man give a glimpse of the ultimate, the infinite. It may seem absurd to suggest that Burning Man is a mystical event. But then, if it's just a big party, why is there a temple in the middle of it?

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 11:02 am

the temple is there to provide a venue for yarmulkes, duh.

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:12 pm

My favorite photog, Tristan Savatier

http://www.loupiote.com/burningman/

drucake · Post by **drucake** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:45 pm

ls. you said it perfect. good job. beautiful.

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:24 pm

Have you ever felt you were missing something in your life? I had always felt this. Seemed I was the one always looking outside the box and exploring a bit deeper with a different view. Even just a blade of grass in a lawn was more complex than most ever new and I would stare at the complexity of it as a child.

Growing up I always felt I missed the sixties. Loved going to friends and relatives who had kids older living the so called hippie life. Loved the beads, psychedelic posters, the melted bottles, all that was not your typical 70's conservative family home. Then one day acting like a child my aunt asked my cousin to put me in his room and get me to calm down and he sat me down, threw some head phones on me and played a record. (that is a 12" vinyl disc for those who are to young to remember). Life was changed at about 6 or 7 years of age. It was not Bing Crosby, Mozart, or Benny Goodman. It was a wild screeching guitar music like Jeff Beck but I really couldn't tell you who it was but just knew I was in the wrong age.

Through the years I fell into watching people like the Rainbow People and always wanted to go to one of their events. Stayed away from the Grateful Dead as I knew I wouldn't come home. Even my dear friends told me that. I was always wanting to find something of that sort but never got there.

Fast forward to 2009. My son and his Girlfriend had been going to Burning Man for several years and I new several other people who had as well. Some of the older folks told me of how it had changed and would not be going back but my son was insistent my wife and I go and gifted us tickets. I had no idea how this would change my life profoundly.

In preparing for the event I talked a lot with my son and learned tons about the event and wanted to contribute to his little tribe who were taking us in. I was able to use a few pieces of art and some old lumber and put together a bar for the camp. It was amazing to have others in my community who never have been to the burn, donate time, ideas and supplies to see the bar complete, but also a 20' flagpole with a beacon light on top. The spirit was alive and I had not even left my home.

We finally packed the car and left the few things we couldn't fit like my tripod. Big mistake. Hit the road and planned on meeting up with all in Reno. My dad, who surprisingly supported this non affordable adventure, kept telling me that it was gonna be an adventure and he was so right. A bit before hitting Sacramento, my son called and we were gonna meet up and caravan the rest of the way to Reno. A bit later after getting into Sacramento we get a call and he is broken down just west of Sac town on the 80 and we whipped a u-turn and headed west and found them at about 6:30 Sunday Night. There trailer had almost lost a rim and we needed a new rim. Bad timing, Sunday night at 7:00 p.m.. We scrambled into Sacramento and searched for hours. No Luck. Called hundreds of repair people with no luck. Finally got a friend in Reno to get needed supplies and waited for him to drive over. All said and done I think we were back on the road by about 2:30 a.m..

Made it to Reno and started the last minute process of cigarettes, baby wipes, gas, and any other things we needed. This was my first encounter with true burners. Nothing but smiles and friendliness. Oh, some outrageous clothing to boot. Excitement was truly building even being completely exhausted. It had already been over 24 hours with no sleep. Finally got gassed up and off we went. We took Pyramid Lake Highway out of Reno and I must say, I was for the 1st time in my life, awed by the beauty and landscape of the desert. Saw a few busses and vehicles along the road but not the lines of people coming from the North when we hit Pyramid Lake. I really had no idea the contrast I would see when we finally saw the playa.

In getting to Gerlach, I was amazed, a party outside the party so to speak. Great people, every one smiling and happy, a group of people giving away free water. Was truly a site for me and we still were not on the Playa. After a cold soda and an ice cream, we all loaded up and headed to the playa. IT was an amazing site to see the dust storm from the cars heading in and still no concept of the size of the place but we were heading thru the dust to the gates. We stopped at will call and I was amazed. People running around happy, sharing gifts, everyone saying hello, and I just was amazed at the gear I saw on trailers. What was all this stuff?

After a bit we headed for the gates and everyone said to expect at least an hour. Could not have been happier, it was maybe a half hour and the car was inspected and flagged to the greeter. My son in front of us informed the greeter we were virgins so she ran excitedly to our car and asked us to get out and do the ritual while our son was there. Walking towards the bell she was the 1st to question that we had never been to the Burn before. I guess all those years of needing the other things than a 9-5 job, 3 bedroom house, 2 kids and a dog was now apparent to others and I felt like I was home. I know this is so cliche, but really, I was home. We rang that bell, Well I tried to break it, and talked a bit with the greeter. I must say that who ever you are, thank you for the greatest greeting I ever received in my life. I was just in awe and really was sad we had to continue on but 1000's more were waiting behind us.

Driving in we headed for our camp. We had other friends who got there earlier and we found them and finally parked. I had a cold 6 pack that somehow stayed cold for 30 hour drive and we all shared them. We then proceeded to start the process of setting up camp. My son had a large military tent and we were struggling to figure it out and a group of people showed up and had the same tent in prior years and jumped in and helped with it. More people showed up to help and it was up in no time. During this process others saw us and were bringing cold drinks and beers to us. I was amazed. Just because they wanted too. The feeling of the Burn was hitting me hard but I was just in awe. Could this life really sustain itself for 7 or 8 days?

After all camp was up, personal tents, and all, we raised the flag pole. We were home for the week and the 1st dust storm arrived. Unprepared and never being in such, my wife and I hunkered down in our tent for several hours wondering if we made a mistake coming out to this environment. That was the last time we, or at least I, had that thought. Truth of the matter, We were just totally caught off guard and realized the power of Mother Earth and it was o.k. to allow her to do what she does. The dust storms actually just become part of the experience and for me, makes it better. After the storm I walked to the bathroom and on the way back a group of younger guys came by and called me dad. I suppose the name I will keep.

The 1st day stayed mostly at camp as it got more crowded and I was watching for friends to flag them down on their arrival. They showed up just at night fall and I proceeded to help them with lights and hammers and what not to get their camp up. It was a blessing to meet them in a closer setting then just at a party in Topanga. and they brought one of their friends from England that is just the greatest man. Wow, what a trip. He was in England just the day before.

So the first day I explored a bit. Wife who is disabled was still getting used to all and I walked to center camp with my son and registered the camera and we did our thing on the computer. Wow, this place was huge. Everyone was amazing, helpfull and happy. That theme stayed on the playa just about the entire time. We had an incident the last night but we all got thru it and the staff and police were much more than I could ever imagine and if any of you ever read this, Thank You and everyone is safe and o.k.. 9:30 and A. You all know who you are.

The nights were great, I found myself walking or riding the playa unaware of time and space. Finding things that touched my heart, freaked me out, amazed me with the creativity, and all in all, bewildered me that so many people can get to together to share their experiences both making it and enjoying it. I often found myself miles out just standing in one place or laying down listening to the sounds and staring into the city. It is truly something that must be different for all and really undescribable. It was fascinating. the lights, music, art cars, and most importantly, the people all coming together to form a city of dreams, hopes, and togetherness.

There was truly one event that touched me deep in my heart and soul. Growing up, my father was dear friends with a man we knew as Windy a.k.a. WD. A gruff outdoors man tough as nails. We used to go hunting and fishing with him as kids in the Sierras. Later in life he became a very close and dear friend to me and I feel as though he was my 2nd father. He passed and I know he would have loved Burning Man. It was just him and the mechanical equipment people had there would have made him drool. I brought a vest he made and wore it nearly everyday. My trip to the temple was in his memory and anticipated the Temple Burn in his memory. I never got to see him in his dying days and have yet to visit his grave so this was my memorial to let him go. The magic of Burning Man was so strong that I really needed to let him go and circumstances were such that I was forced to even more than I could imagine. The night of the Temple Burn I went to grab the vest and wear it in his memory and amazingly it was gone. He had already prepared me to let go. After the Temple Burn, lot's of tears not only for WD but everyone else who was being remembered, All in my camp let me know he had told me to let go before the burn by letting the material thing go that meant so much to me. It's hard to accept but at the same time, If someone else has it, WD's wisdom and spirit will be passed on to them.

Upon waking on Monday morning, was amazed to see how empty it was and many packing up to leave. Got almost completely packed and we were asked if we could take a friend back to Oakland, She had had a really rough time the last 2 days so we made sure others could handle the moop (matter out of place or trash) and re packed the car as best we could and headed out. The drive out was long. It was a true happy party all the way to the highway. I must say it was sad to be on the road. The girls needed to pee so we stopped at a little gas station and as they were doing what girls do, I met an older, long haired, long bearded man northern California. Told me about being at the burn years earlier and after went to the desert and stayed for like a month with nothing but nature. No sounds except the wind and animals. It hit me hard as that is exactly what WD would have done and this man, other than being a bit smaller, could have been his brother and carried on and talked just like him. Truly amazing as this really was the last person I talked with that I did not know.

This is truly the magic of the Playa and the event if you accept it as it is. This is a place I must return to and carry the lessons learned, outside of the city known as Black Rock City.

Dad

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Wed Jan 13, 2010 2:22 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:55 am

Burning Man is a big swimming pool filled to the brim with weird. Your choice is to dip your toes in at the shallow end or do a great swan dive off the high board.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:17 pm

http://www.hermetic.com/bey/taz3.html#labelTAZ

I don't know any otherway to say it..

But then, 50,000 people may disagree.

Thanx again Ugly

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:05 am

Just send me your post-teen daughters for my macabre rites, and we're even.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:17 am

What IS Burning Man?

Burning Man is...

What IS Burning Man?

Thanks for this Bobzilla!

Re: What IS Burning Man?

Re: What IS Burning Man?

Good vid from 2007, my virgin year!

Rainbows. Not just for hippies and gays!

Re: What IS Burning Man?

2009 Time Lapse. Thank you Delirious!

The Truth About Burning Man, Jay Michaelson, Huffington Post

Thanks "Dad!"