It's just a big dumb party

[juliansnail]

If you were gonna give a message to the world
about part of what Burning Man stands for,
what message would you broadcast?

Some answers suck:
- Burning shit is fun.
- Sex and more sex.
- All money should be burned.
- Party!!!!

Got any good answers?

Thanks!
-julian snail
www.supersnail.com
p.s. I'm workin on a book and trying to actually
say many things to the world with it.
More input is great!

[Isotopia]

Some answers suck:
- Burning shit is fun.

I take exception.

Burning shit is fun.

Blowing shit up is more fun.

[juliansnail]

Burning shit is fun.
Blowing shit up is more fun.

Of course it is. So is an orgasm. So is rave music and
party party party.

But is that the message you want to give the world
about what Burning Man is about?

[bgirl]

What does BM stand for or mean to me? Well ,I really don't believe that words can describe even a fraction of the event or the impact it had on me at the time.And that's not for a lack of trying to share the meaning with friends,family,etc...it 's not that people don't or can't get it or feel BM through second hand experience/photos/tales , it's just that it leaves you with the same kind of vibe you get when you are tryng to tell someone about something that was so funny,great, etc.. but they just don't get it because they had to be there. It seems to me the best way to get a feel for BM is to go, experience BM and the desert.Even so,I love looking at photos ,reading BM tales ,etc..so I wish you luck with your book!

[actiongrl]

Art is not optional. It can be in everything, every moment, gesture, word, act, object.

People together can do way more than person alone.

I will not always like what appeals to the next human.

There are no coincidences, only synchronicities.

Partying, in and of itself, is decidedly dull if life is without meaning.

Revolutionary acts can be quiet and simple, as well as grand and infamous.

Make something. You don't <i>need</i> a reason.

[juliansnail]

Thanks actiongrl. As always, I love the way you think!
This is just the kind of thing I was hoping for.
For me, each of the things you wrote is a photo assignment. Each is a story to try and tell by putting together existing photos.

[Ivy]

Radical. Self. Expression.

[bgirl]

What does BM stand for or mean to me? Well ,I really don't believe that words can describe even a fraction of the event or the impact it had on me at the time.And that's not for a lack of trying to share the meaning with friends,family,etc...it 's not that people don't or can't get it or feel BM through second hand experience/photos/tales , it's just that it leaves you with the same kind of vibe you get when you are tryng to tell someone about something that was so funny,great, etc.. but they just don't get it because they had to be there. It seems to me the best way to get a feel for BM is to go, experience BM and the desert.Even so,I love looking at photos ,reading BM tales ,etc..so I wish you luck with your book!

[Isotopia]

But is that the message you want to give the world
about what Burning Man is about?

Actually, I'm really not out there to give ANY message to the world. There's a presumptuousness in that statement that I just can't quite grab on to.

Really, I'm not trying to belittle here but assuming that people are there (or go there) with the intent of conveying some nebulous message to other's that aren't in attendence is grasping a bit I think. It sounds good in print but it ain't unlike trying to describe color to the blind person.

[Kinetic II]

Radical Self Expression. For me it was wearing drag this year. Twice. Instead of being ridiculed, I was accepted, even helped in my efforts.

BM is much more than the event itself. BM for me begins with planning. I buy the raw stuff I need to make things. People ask what I'm doing and I get to tell them about BM. I also get to create things. Until BM I hadn't picked up a welder in 13 years. Now I can weld again.

It is also about recycling. Some things I buy, but I try to enhance or finish them with recyclables. It's about alternative power. Thanks to BM and the desire to stay quiet and keep the peace with other campers I started looking into solar and wind power. Now I have solar panels ready for home use. The stuff I create specifically for the playa helps me year round.

It's also about community. I get to see the full spectrum of people, and BRC breaks down barriers. People I would never talk to in real life I talk to out there. Now my g/f says I can talk to almost anybody. It's helped me break down shyness and other barriers.

It's about the trip. I drive 1850 miles from KC to the gate of BRC. I love the trip. It's beautiful, it's relaxing, and it's also challenging. This year I added teaching a 15 year old with her permit how to drive in the mountains. Without BM who knows when she would have been given that opportunity.

I could go on but those are my key points. BM has radically changed my life forever. And I am thankful for it.

[Iago]

I like it being A-political event. For one fucking week I don't have to give a shit if the world is going to Hell in a hand basket. I don't have to give shit how much depleted uranium has seeped into my refried beans. I don't have to give a shit if the greeters like me or not. I don't have to give a shit if my neighbors like me or not. I don't have to give a shit if larry likes me or not. I don't have to give a shit about even giving a shit....

[Guest]

I actually wrote this several years ago, and I'm exposing part of my inner hippie here, but...
Burning Man is a truly bizarre art festival in the middle of the desert
with lots of people wearing strange costumes, and lots of people wearing
nothing but body paint or jewelry. Generally everyone has adornment of
some kind, because people in jeans and a tee-shirt stick out like a sore
thumb. As you walk around, its common to see a large upholstered couch
(or other self-powered living room furniture) whoosh by covered in happy
people expressing well (ed. or not) wishes towards all around them.
It's held Labor Day weekend and the festivities build toward the burning
of a very large wooden man on Sunday night. Lots of hay bales and fireworks contribute to his combustibility.
One of the central tenets of the whole thing is "no spectators" and I didn't really feel I contributed much last year. Before I go again, I want to plan some contribution.
I'm considering a large representation of the burning man done in a mosaic of jelly beans.
Many strange and creative people show up and an entire overnight community is fashioned on the plans laid out by the organizers. The temporary city is known as Black Rock City, and you can see a rather large map of the temporary 1998 village by clicking here.

The participants do a lot of silly things at Burning Man
just for the heck of it. One of my favorite weird things reminded me of
childhood trips to the Museum of Science in Boston. Remember those cylinders with cartoons stuck to the inside and slots cut in the outside?The
ones that you'd set to spinning then you'd look through the little
slot cut-outs and the cartoon images would spring to life in a sort of
strobe effect? Well, imagine one 10 feet tall with no cartoons, just a
column of light in the middle. Then put it inside an open silk parachute
tent. Next make sure the slots are aligned in some weirdly hypnotic fashion, so that sometimes they seem to slow down and start moving backwards, when you can plainly see for yourself that they are doing no such thing. And finally bring it hundreds of miles from civilization and set it up in the middle of the desert where you must follow one important rule - let everyone enjoy it for free.
You go out to the middle of nowhere, join a bunch of people who are into expressing themselves in some creative fashion, look at a lot of cool art, and then burn it.

[Bob]

Somebody's running short on photos captions, eh?

[PJ]

But is that the message you want to give the world about
what Burning Man is about?

It's a great place to sell last year's stale leftover Halloween candy to inexperienced raver wannabes.

"You heard of E? This is F. It's the next thing, dude."

[Kinetic II]

<SNORT!!!!>

[aforceforgood]

Not more of the usual.

Increased freedom zone.

The way the world should be.

A celebration of life.

[PJ]

I don't have to give shit how much depleted uranium has seeped into my refried beans.

I'll confess that's a brand-new worry I'd not heard of.

Traditionally, radioactive items in Mexico are contaminated by errant nuclear medicine waste. I'd like to think that all the lead in the water and food pretty much cancels it out.

[juliansnail]

Not more of the usual.
Increased freedom zone.
The way the world should be.
A celebration of life.

Thanks AForceForGood.
I've hit most of those ones (and ratical self expression) fairly well.
They're all super vital!!!!
www.supersnail.com/concept was an attempt to get
many of those photos.

Figuring out the correct ballance of positive and negative
images has been something my pals and I endlessly
try to figure out. How much should be challanging and
how much should just be sweet? Any places where it
could be both of those at once was great.

Thanks again Goodness,
-julian snail geek

[Patience]

For me, Burning Man is an opportunity to consider alternatives. As we live in a society that (to its detriment) increasingly values homogeneity of thought, appearance and action, Burning Man is a breaking of that pattern--a whole city full of people who value and celebrate diversity. The contribution of each participant comes from a personal place, and is not externally determined (apart from the "weak and idle" theme). This is the freedom people I think people are talking about--you feel more free to be who you really are at Burning Man because there is no status quo.

Burning Man challenges me to think about alternative ways of living, not only as an individual, but as a community. Based (or at least more focused) on different values than everyday society, Burning Man challenges me to think critically and creatively about use of materials and conservation, the challenges of volunteerism and participation, teaching and the communication of culture, the importance of building and sustaining relationships, and the role of individual responsibility in all of this. While I would not say that Burning Man changed my ways of thinking about these concepts, it provided the venue and the catalyst for the solidification of my approach as well as some genuine epiphanies that have led to real change in my everyday life.

Also, burning shit is a lot of fun.

[SED]

Burning Man is every holiday rolled together--If Festivus actually existed ans was observed in the world (and not on a Seinfeld episode), a journey to BRC would be like the haj to mecca for Muslims.

Seems mainly a mass display of atavistic harvest/fertility rituals and ritual sacrifice. Walks like one. Swims like one. Quacks like one.

Burning Man is a duck!

[rogue agent]

Reality is malleable.

RA

[III]

>Burning Man is a duck!

is not. it's an elephant.

[Patience]

It's a duck-billed elephant.

[Rob the Wop]

Burning Man? Yah I know of it. It's that thing, y'know. Out there in that place. With those people that do that thing- y'know the WIERD thing. Then they all do this funky little whatchacallit around a big thingymabob. They kinda dress like, well, different, y'know. Like burn stuff, and drive things around.

Oh and there are tits there.

[Flux]

"Money can't buy you happiness. But two hookers and a bottle of tequila is a great way to be sad."

Great sig line, Rob!

"It's not happiness, but an incredible simulation!"

[blyslv]

BM is dangerous.

The fun kind of dangerous.

[juliansnail]

BM is dangerous.

Ya, that's super important. You're smart.
Don't want people to think it's Disney Land.
Got that one covered fairly well thanks to some
fucked up stuff that happened.

Thanks!
-julian

[Ivy]

One of our camp's mottos this year was "BM is your fault."

I think that's pretty appropriate.