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Upcoming Series – The Movement of Burning Man

By stache at 12:39 pm on Tuesday, January 30, 2007

I was thinking about the recent court proceedings between early BM founder John Law and the Burning Man organization. He said something interesting when he wondered whether BM was a movement for everyone to take and use in an open community or more of a business to control and exploit.

This seems a relevant subject to ponder as Burning Man has grown (groan?) beyond a tiny group of outsiders with a small effigy of a man for burning to over 40,000 attendees and a true “city” to erect and manage. What does BM do for us intellectually, spiritually, and bodily in today’s culture? Where will it take us into the future? Inquiring burners want to know!

Of course, many veterans would emphatically NOT want to explore the issue. I respect that part of BM is to avoid such lofty musings as it undermines the radical and creative freewheeling the festival is supposed to be about. To those folks, philosophizing on BM as a movement is a telling symptom of how big and overwrought the Burn has become. I hope to maintain the irrelevant style and scowl on any “isms” toward BM while still poking about at its greater meaning for us too.

I plan on exploring the web a bit to find the sagely words of others on the subject. Our good pal Lance is currently working on a large and interesting piece. Stay tuned for more on Burning Man as a movement for our time and culture…

As always, wise comments and contributions are welcomed.

Filed under: Movement —

2 Comments »

1

Comment by Marcy

February 1, 2007 @ 3:54 pm

Huh? I could get sarcastic and say “BurningMan was better before you heard of it”… but I won’t. Wait, I just did!

Our culture is so accelerated that it is unwilling to wait a few generations before analyzing something. We are eager to become an -ism… a movement… a SOMETHING.

The Burn gives us that ego stroke. But also the Burn.. and the Black Rock Desert specifically… gives us the ability to live in the present.

Generally that is something we westerners suck at.

Now… I pose this question to you… IF BurningMan were not held on the Playa, would you be as inspired and changed?

For me the answer is NO. I’ve heard the Planet X Pottery people (right off the 447 junction past Gerlach) were hosting art and sculpture gatherings out there in late 80s…

2

Comment by Stache

February 2, 2007 @ 2:53 pm

Good points, M. As always, thanks for your interest and brains!

I think you’re responding to the negative elements of poplarity. Still, I can’t help but note that BM is neither young (having started over 20 years ago!) nor is it small enough to ignore as a cultural milestone of some sort.

There’s a lot of meaning and diversity of meaning to a wide range of folks at this point. Its relevance beyond clique-dom is apparent, for better or worse. I hope to explore those implications.

Your comment on the value of isolation to the event is important to the idea of a “movement”. The extreme conditions and alien desert location speak of a movement in both physical and figurative realms. Burners often refer to BRC as a Mecca which implies a spritual journey. So many people are making that arduous and joyful journey. I have to wonder why and who they are.

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