The Truth About Burning Man

"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?

Comments

[russjosephs]

You keep saying 50,000 people, like that's a great thing. Not to sound like one of those 'you should have been there' guys, but it was WAY better when it was only 10,000 people. Still a huge #, but intimate enough so you could feel like part of one whole, symbiotic community, bike around the entire thing, and have an experience that was something like a large family; with 50k, it's way too big to produce anything of the sort.

[Hixx]

Burning Man has been profitable since 2003 or so.

[SoulRepairMan]

Burningman, Black Rock City, the months that lead up to it and the months that follow it, are all reasons to live. A gift economy- the gifts of giving and rewards that accompany them. Collaboration for the greater good. Unconditional acceptance of the wild and the mild, the abstainers, the party animals. Extraordinary art, extraordinary thinkers, extraordinary visionaries. Extraordinary Possibilities. The opportunity that is BRC, is nothing less than extraordinary. Me- 4x Burner, college educated, professional, very spiritual, family, married. Wife- 6x Burner, mother, professional, engineer. We've gone alone and together. It is not a place for the weak, the judgmental, racism or Archie Bunkers. It is not a trivial endeavor- even to get there, let alone sustain a daily routine. It is an opportunity. What one does with opportunities in their lives will likely reveal the best of their life patterns- here, in BRCity. This could be their Utopia, especially for those who approach life from the same starting point. They Begin Within. Aloha!

[MoreBlaseThanMost]

Having now been to Burning Man twice, once as an active member of the DPW and this year as a regular paying Burner, I say bravo to this article. You have as much as it is possible to do so in such a short format really encompassed a lot of the vibe and energy of BRC. Great article.

[gregoryjames]

I liked this article a lot, I am also someone who had faith in the ethos of radicality to make profound transformations in people's daily lives. I really want to go to burning man to experience this myself one year, but I have one problem with the depiction of the event as non-capitalistic. As I understand it, Burning Man (or the people who have incorporated to run the festival (and I get that they purportedly did so so that they could protect the privacy and rights of the festival goers), make about 300 bucks on each ticket, and sell about 50K tix (less this year I know). So they are literally making MILLIONS. So, if the bands aren't getting paid, after insurance and port-o-potties, and security and staff are paid, they still have millions in profit. Does this all go to artist funds etc? Is there anywhere that I can access the dispersal of these funds, I think that a little more transparency would be in order, and so am surprised that more people aren't asking questions about where millions of radically self-reliant people's money is going? If this money is needed for the festival's production, fine, but is it all needed?

[albany tim]

Every year Burning Man makes a financial report available to the public. And easy google search for Burning Man Financials will lead you to this page http://financials.burningman.com/

[michaelgarfield]

This is a fabulously articulate article that mirrors my own experience out there. Thank you, Jay. After my first burn last year I wrote an extensive essay about the beauty and ugliness (both) of this incredible event, which like any metropolis is big enough to reflect whatever its citizens bring to it. At Burning Man, like elsewhere in life, it's been my experience that you get out of it what you put into it. To that end, here is my essay, which inspired several people to attend for their first time, and like Jay's excellent article is just one perspective (albeit an elaborate one) on something ultimately beyond any single interpretation:

http://www.realitysandwich.com/giving_astonishment_burning_man

[JoeRSB]

I have been to Burning Man 3 times and find alot of what most of the other people experienced that have commented so far to be true, both the positive and negative perspectives of the experiment. I must agree that the "non-burner" world does not understand what its "really" all about, and its great when I meet someone in the real world to share the "Burner" bond with.

One of my favorite experiences of Burning Man is sitting around talking about all the "controversy" of the event, and trying to answer the questions about the hypocrisy, meaning, and purpose of the week.
I'll be back next year and many more to come...

[JoeRSB]

I have been to Burning Man 3 times, and I have found a lot of what most of these people have said to be true. One my favorite parts of

[Shawn Conner]

I went for the first time this year, and have mixed reviews. I had great moments and bad; it's life-changing and freeing, but people are still people—I was greeted warmly at times and not so much at others, just like in the real world. Still, it's among the most memorable weeks of my life.

[bobsee]

the truth? not according to me. to say that burning man happens without capitalism is exactly the kind of burner jibber-jabber that makes me want to puke. i've known way too many affluent burners to believe that nonsense. you might barter when you get there, but it takes a LOT of capitalism to truck all the gas, water, food, drugs, costumes, wigs, makeup, campers, lumber, etc to pull of a burn.

the " temporary autonomous zone of bullshit-free living " notion, one night, i didn't dress up. no one would talk to me. it wasn't until i put on a silly costume that i was finally accepted. it's not that it's bullshit free, rather, it's burner bullshit. still bullshit to me. i believed all the hype, but that wasn't what i found at all.

everyone was so drugged, that a conversation was impossible. everyone was wandering, looking for the party........ kind of like the nirvana "plateau" song. it wasn't until i realized that some great truth was not going to come to me, that these people are exactly same sheeple that i see in traffic everyday.... that i was able to see the truth.

i'm with the alamo guy. burning man is nothing but a bunch of neo-hippie-yuppies getting naked, doing drugs, and having lots of sex. calling it mystical, and happening outside of capitalism is exactly the kind of over-hyped, higher than thou, hypocritical non-sense that just pisses me off.

[reverbsf]

Please please prove me wrong bobse.

Tell me that you did something for the community that expresses your individualism and creativity. Tell me that you were part of a theme camp that did something amazing, or that the desert happily absorbed your blood as you built your art project or that you spent a majority of 2009 planning and preparing for this one week so that others could for just a brief moment, enjoy being a part of what you created...

What's that? You didn't do any of these things? You went to Burning Man just like you would go to Disney World? Expecting everything to be done for you and giving nothing back to the community? Poor bobse, it's not because you weren't wearing a costume that noone would talk to you, it's because you just... don't... get... It.

Please, prove me wrong. Tell me what you did to make BRC a better place.

[bobsee]

lol. yup. exactly. i don't get it. whatever. go be. so, what about the fact that after i put on a costume, things changed?

i found the whole thing shallow. i'll also readily admit it's all about perception, but MY perception was that the whole thing was very shallow. i'd ask someone about their art, and the meaning would be this nothingness. a couple did a hand binding or hand fasting ceremony...... i asked them what it meant, and the at the same time.... the girl said it was a long term commitment, while the guy was saying it bonds them for 3 months. they looked at each other like, wtf? and i realized THEY didn't know what it meant!!!

i always have my ways of expressing myself. i give. i participate. i just don't like being told HOW to do that, and people like YOU, and your big headed condescention really irritate me. maybe i'm not kewl enough to be "in", but i thought that was the WHOLE POINT, that anyone can be accepted. apparently, not.

[bobsee]

i mean, you just totally made my point right there!!

[Larski]

Sorry you feel that way, @bobsee. I had a completely different experience. I was in jeans and a t-shirt most of the time, no EL wire, glo-fur, or other acoutrements (though I will have those next time) and had some of the best conversations of my life and felt warmly welcomed almost everywhere I went.

Not sure if anyone has said this yet (and I don't have time to read all the replies), but I think BM is a lot like that Hindu parable about the blind men and the elephant. One guy touches the torso and thinks it's a wall. One touches the trunk and thinks it's a hose. Etc. Please don't judge the whole event based on your narrow experience.

Few of the people I met were totally fried on drugs. In fact, many of them remarked on how unnecessary they were given all of the amazing art and human interaction.

One request: please be careful with phrases like "nothing but." One of my favorite things about BM is the complete impossibility of pigeon-holing the experience. In fact, I'm not convinced you even begin to grok the experience. For one thing it's a gifting economy, not barter - huge difference there.

Enough for now, time to start preparing for next year's trip to BRC.

[funkstar]

You miss the point of Burning Man on so many levels I don't even know where to start!

Of course it takes money to put up a temporary city of 50K people! The point is you are not defined by money once you get there. I know several people on a shoe string budget who had an amazing time at Burning Man.

"Silly costumes"? The problem is you are a leech. People ignored you because you sucked energy instead of adding energy! The costumes are not only for self expression and personal enjoyment, but to add to everybody's experience. Wow, BM would be great fun with a bunch of people like you - walking around in jeans and a Nike t-shirt waiting for somebody to help you find "some great truth".

Well of course some people use drugs or alcohol to play and celebrate. But to state you couldn't find somebody sober enough to have a conversation that's just complete rubbish. The problem is you! You sound like the last person on earth that anybody having a good time (drugs or not) at BM would want to talk to. Who would want to be brought down by a whinning, to lazy to put on a "silly costume", show ME the truth bummer of a human?

Save yourself the headache next year, save me and all fun loving people at BM from your negative vibes, and go to a place that will cater to your shallow needs - Disney World.

[bobsee]

problem is you're all so closed minded, you can't even get what i'm saying.

riddle me this, WHY IS IT, that when i put on a SILLY COSTUME, all of a sudden, everything changed?! did my energy change? did i become someone else?! NO. only thing that changed was others' perception of ME, even though i was the same person inside.

if you think i'd ever go back, you're crazy. i found it shallow. someone very close to me had just passed away, and i was looking for meaning and connections. i got neither.

now run along and make your art while the world crumbles around our ears.

[SoulRepairMan]

Bobsee has a point of view that is consistent with people who see what they see in their lives, here, there or even in Black Rock City. Bobsee could be in the Vatican, the Louvre, or in NYC and still see the things that piss him off. Bobsee is not alone. A great majority of people see reflections of things they have not overcome in their own peace of mind. I hope they, and Bobsee, someday get over their own fears, hate and pain, and find that you can be in prison, on death row (like Geronimo Pratt) and find inner peace, love and happiness. the Burningman experience is an OPPORTUNITY to find the best of humanity, and most do- which is why it draws tens of thousands from all over the world, over and over, year after year. Let go, be the change you want to see in other less fortunate people, and forgive them for they know not what they do. Aloha, (unconditionally, even to Bobsee)

[Justin Reed]

just wanted to thank the author for this great and concise peace summarizing what is a very difficult to condense experience. My own contribution to the fray is as follows:

went out in 2005 and i have never in my life been in the presence of such a magnitude of human creativity for the sake of itself and community. People from all over the world (with admittedly too many white people from California for my taste due to the proximity and cultural basis) sharing culture including sculpture, music, knowledge and faith with the result of enriching and inspiring the human spirit - as i belive 9/10 responses from attendees have illustrated.

Like many here have said burning man is many things to many people...inspiring, enriching or even potentially life threatening (for those that underestimate the harsh environment).
For anyone who is brave (and admittedly finanically secure and flexible) enough to venture out of their day to day life...If you wander around you will find something that you didn't realize you were looking for.

Is burning man perfect?
- clearly i have listed a couple points that are not ideal for me...but a utopia on earth shared by 50,000 people seems a bit unrealistic on it's face. For me the scale and beauty of human expression was humbling, joyful and magnificent. This scale and depth is unique to Burning Man.

[ViciousHillbilly]

After my first burn, and what I hope is the first of many to come, I think this article absolutely expresses what I have been having trouble articulating.

I am a theatre professor who wrote a university grant to take 2 students and myself to Burning Man this year. Our university is in very conservative, rural South Carolina (I know...). I think our experiences there allowed the students a view of what art can be, how community can function, and some great new friendship­s--exactly what I hoped for and more....

[MuthaMayI]

If you're looking for a humorous, informative and interesting perspective on the event, check out the following:

By Susan Barron - Working for the Man: The building, burning and disappearance of Black Rock City 2000
This one is all about the year-long process of getting the event together and putting it on. It's eye-opening, raw, and about 65 minutes long.
http://www.amazon.com/Working-Man-building-burning-disappearance/dp/B001PRZXKE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=digital-video&qid=1252980506&sr=8-4

By Brian Doherty - This is Burning Man
This is Brian's book all about the history of the Burning Man event.
http://www.amazon.com/This-Burning-Man-American-Underground/dp/1932100865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252980647&sr=8-1

[VocalVet]

Really, it's like a NASCAR race, but for Liberals. People camp out and drink and run around camp fires. People bring in vehicles that can transform into shelters, improvised patios, rudimentary kitchens. The only cost is the cost of admission. Everyone manages to subsist on what they bring. And the roar of thousands circled around ultrapowerful machines as they approach the start line.

This temporary erasure of societal, social, and personal boundaries is, for most Liberals, terrifying. The truth, though, is that NASCAR is an ideal place for self-reflection and self-trans­formation. But of course, if you haven't been to it then you'll never really know, so you can't judge...

[Sarah Beuhler]

Ha! Capitalize the word "liberals" and you've already gone wrong. This is seriously one of the stupidest things I've ever heard about Burning Man so believe me - NASCAR is the absolute antithesis of this event. And you sound like you should go back to the racetrack.

[SoulRepairMan]

NASCAR. I am qualified to respond. I raced NASCAR, built race cars, even ran demo-derbies. I have also been a Burner, for years. From Harleys, USAF, NSA to muscle cars, beer and cocktails, I also know churches, temples and stupas.I know a wide variety of life's micro-cosims. VocalVet has a point of view that is consistent with people who see what they see in their lives, here, there or even in Black Rock City. He could be in the Vatican, the Louvre, or in NYC and still see the things that piss him off. He is not alone. A great majority of people see reflections of things they have not overcome in their own peace of mind. I hope they, and Vocalvet, someday get over their own fears, hate and pain, and find that you can be in prison, on death row (like Geronimo Pratt) and find inner peace, love and happiness. the Burningman experience is an OPPORTUNITY to find the best of humanity, and most do- which is why it draws tens of thousands from all over the world, over and over, year after year. Let go, be the change you want to see in other less fortunate people, and forgive them for they know not what they do. Aloha, (unconditionally, even to Vocalvet)

[liltex775]

Here is the gov't view on BMan
http://www.spatial-ed.com/index.php/projects/monitoring-at-burning-man.html

[CooperG]

Are these photos publicly available anywhere? I'd like to know what the BLM and other law enforcement agencies are collecting. I know this is not an anonymous event, but I also don't like the idea of Big Brother watching our every move on the playa.

[CooperG]

I just found the link to the full report with photos:
http://www.spatial-ed.com/images/documents/final_bm08_report.pdf

Interesting stuff and certainly worth checking out if you intend to attend the burn.