Burning Man

Actually, that comment is from a friend of mine who goes to Burning Man every year (translation: he' s serious)

a) like with anything else some of it is crap and some of it is really cool
b) everything gets set on fire so if you didn't like some of the art that's ok, it'll all be up in flames at the end

DUN NUH-NUH-NUH NUH-NUH-NUH NUH NUH NUH-NUH!

Granted, I think part of me dies any time someone says they "feel like an artist." That's me. But the rest is actually supposed to make it sound good?

Is it called "Bill Graham Presents©: Mountain Dew eXtreme™'s Burning Man 2003" yet?

i should become a professor or something

The people I know who go aren't hippies, they are artists/designers/musicians/etc.

http://www.thespoon.com/costco/

If you're looking for scary scraggly creepy people on lots of drugs there, you will find them. If you're looking for amazing unusual fascinating people, you will also find them. There is a lot of really bad art, and more than a bit of incredibly good art. And the idea of spending 2% or so of my year in a culture that's pretty much entirely based on creativity and kindness really appeals to me.

Also, Gygax, it's a little hard for something to go all commecial when you're not allowed to use money there...

I mean, if the haters stay home, so much the better (it's not like "no no, you just have to GO there, then you'll SEE"--if you're predisposed to hate it, you will anyway), but it's kind of disconcerting to see the knives coming out.

Not that I'd ever go, but if I did I'd have to make myself a Christopher Lee costume.

Is there a lot of crossover between BM and all those Survival Research Labs / Re/Search San Francisco types from the 80s? Seems like the one could have grown out of the other to some extent but I don't know if any of the same people have been involved.

xp Yeah, one of my closest friends grew up in Palos Verdes, they used to go out to Joshua Tree and do shrooms.

xp yes

"the high desert"

Most of my distaste for BM comes from

1) having to work on an Art of Burning Man museum show. The art was terrible and most of the artists were incredibly disrespectful assholes high on their own supply. I realize this is a common criticism of artists but ime it's usually around 30%, not the 95% that the burners were and the art is rarely so empty as theirs.

2) maybe social media posts aren't representative of the BM "culture" as a whole but I've seen so much gross cultural appropriation in burner fashion (white dreads, warbonnets, etc) and events (white people leading a kecak dance) that are enough to put me off the event entirely.

That said, I know a few perfectly nice people who go regularly and don't pull that shit.

Octo, I'd love to check out your sound installations if they ever happen somewhere other than the playa! An old coworker of mine used to throw a desert sound art festival down near Joshua Tree, though not sure if he's brought it back since COVID hit.

Whoa that's cool! - I'm currently working on some synesthetic stuff with LEDs but I'm actually getting paid for it, so won't be out on the playa or at an art exhibit per se, but next time I get some more time for personal projects I would love to revisit the ideas I had pre-pandemic or expand on them in a different way using more creative visualizations.

xp Yeah, one of my closest friends grew up in Palos Verdes, they used to go out to Joshua Tree and do shrooms.

What year are we talking about here? One of my friends from high school was from Palos Verdes, shroomed, and rock climbed all over Joshua Tree (and the southwest)

Early 80s.

The date tracks... maybe we have mutual friends? I knew a guy named Rick S.: he played bass in a punk band that I played guitar in. One of our better gigs was when we crashed a giant RPV/Palos Verdes Estates graduation party with all our instruments "hi we're the band" "oh cool, set up over there - beer kegs are in the back"

Is there a lot of crossover between BM and all those Survival Research Labs / Re/Search San Francisco types from the 80s? Seems like the one could have grown out of the other to some extent but I don't know if any of the same people have been involved.

when I first became aware of burning man in the mid-late 90's that exactly who was associated with it.

yeah, I think I almost assumed the BM was an offshoot or somehow related to SRL, they used to blow shit up in the desert all the time back then

I saw Vale from ReSearch fairly recently, at a festival.. someone told me he's 79 or something like that!

^^^^ He IS 79 and played keys in Blue Cheer before they went power trio

Found an old web site for the Tales Of San Francisco Cacophony book, and the link list is a who's who of early pre-playa BM

http://talesofsfcacophony.com

I'm neither a burner nor an electrician, but for some reason, Facebook just gave me Burning Man Generators and Electrical Systems as a recommended group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627137627565692/?ref=share&mibextid=Na33Lf

The comments in that group read like NextDoor Burning Man

Irina Krapiva
worst neighbors ever!!! invest in your generator! it was 90 dc at the end of our camp and we were across from you!

this is stupid to drive electric vehicle and then use old generator with tons of exhaust and super loud to charge your truck and the suck energy from it. You got feedback from other neighbors as well, hope you reconsider for next time and I hope you won't be my neighbors.

Sandra Jurado
@Irina Krapiva As first-time burners, we definitely learned a lot and have lots to reconsider for next time. We are hoping to share what we learned so other first-timers will have a smoother (and quieter) experience than we did.
- Your Sincerely Apologetic Loud-Ass Neighbors

Nick Radell
@Irina Krapiva speaking as an old school type of player, I can only point out that one unattended moment with the offending genny and a sugar cube, will cure all problems for everyone.

Irina Krapiva
@Nick Radell at some moment I was seriously considering sugar cubes 😜 but this year was pain enough to cause even more.

Thanks God other neighbors also complained about loud generator and guys turned it off for a few hours. The first night they run it all day and night as well, which was insane. Later they switched to day hours 🤨 (5-6 hours every single day!) which was still too much.

If I were at their place I would move out of that area to a place with less people and run generator as much as they want.

It was obviously not very pleasant for them as well to get dirty looks from all sides.

Ernie Workman
@Nick Radell Sugar isn't soluble in gasoline. It's a myth that it causes serious engine damage. Especially for non fuel-injected engines, it would at most clog a fuel filter or land in the float bowl, which would be an easy fix. I appreciate the sentiment though, attempting to destroy someone's means of leaving the playa instead of simply chatting with your neighbors is sure in the spirit of Burning Man.

China Wilson
@Nick Radell vandalism definitely the way to resolve problems🙄

I met someone on Friday night who went there this year for the first time and had a great time.
Heard a podcast a couple of days earlier that talked about the rich glomming onto a successful festival over teh years and it largely being them who had had trouble this year and had the wrong attitude to the thing anyway.
Also talked about the expectation that people went to Burning man for the bands which I hadn't been aware of the festival enough not to think.

I gotta mention too that there’s some seriously impressive portable solar rigs in that Facebook group.

Your points are literally unhinged subjective biases (the music and art sucks boo!)

Lol

glad to be of some use around here