Burning Man LIVE

“While there are many beloved mutant vehicles out there, El Pulpo, in both of its incarnations, is the most ‘beloved.’” ~Chef Juke, Communications lead for the Department of Mutant VehiclesEl Pulpo Magnífico is a 28-foot tall giant octopus, a demented windup toy, a mobile kinetic sculpture with articulating legs, eyes, and mouths. It spews fire from its extremities and has been stealing the limelight for a decade now, first at Black Rock City, then everywhere from LoveBurn to EDC.It’s merely the newest and largest expression of artist Duane Flatmo and his team of engineer artists. Years ago, he gave up music to pursue art and pursued it from New York to London, China, and back again. Duane shares how his influences inspired his innovations and how his resourceful team creates surprises for people worldwide.Hear the stories of El Pulpo’s predecessors, origins, and adventures!www.elpulpomecanico.comkineticgrandchampionship.comBurning Man LIVE: Chef Juke’s Wild Art Car R.I.D.E. LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Back by popular demand, more stories from Burning Man's oral history project, an ambitious endeavor to track down and talk with people who helped shape the culture as we now know it.Stuart and Andie remember to remember the most memorable parts. Here’s a fresh batch:Chris Radcliffe, artist, con artist, prankster, and shadow founder of Burning Man (perhaps), shares stories of how the Cacophony Society would prank the media and how the Black Rock Desert drove up his fears, then dispelled them. He also hints at the larger-than-life impact of the Billboard Liberation Front.Candace Locklear, aka Evil Pippi, a perturber and social experimenteer (new word) shares how she helped Burning Man manage the mainstream media in the late ‘90s. She also talks about cutesy culture jamming as a scary clown.Summer Burkes was the DPW's media liaison. She sees the early days of Black Rock City as the love child of comically aggressive punk rockers and air-kissy techno industrialists, and she embraces their uneasy peace.Steve Heck brought 88 pianos to Burning Man in 1996, stacked them in a tall circular “piano bell.” People beat it into a cacophonous soundscape until he burned it. That was after he almost died wandering the desert. Then he cleaned it up, and did it the next year, and the next year, and taught the BRC teams the art of packing and moving big stuff.Dr. Hal Robins is a beloved Renaissance Man of stage and story, a Cacophonist, an Uber Pope of the Church of the Subgenius, and a mellifluous philosopher of sesquipedalians. He shares about the inventiveness and serendipity of Burning Man and why it matters in the world.Part 1 of this series: burningman.org/podcast/a-peoples-history-of-burning-manjournal.burningman.org/category/philosophical-centerburningman.org/programs/philosophical-centerwww.cacophony.orgThe What Where When Guide is here.The 1996 Helco commercial is here. LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Burners from around Europe gather to teach and learn and to conjure ideas for the future. Burning Man’s 7th European Leadership Summit just happened, and we recorded some conversations for you.Passionate people from the corners of Europe share with Stuart and kbot what they get from Burning Man culture and what they gift back to it. Hear a cultural spice drawer of stories about how they persevere through politics and pandemics to bring their flavor of Burning Man to their homeland. Baroch - IsraelErin Kiez - GermanyGabriel Muscalu - RomaniaLinus Höök, Caroline Bergmann, and Britta Kronacher - SwedenPille Heido - EstoniaVinegar Joe - Portugal“Burning Man started with the fire. For me, that is a strong ritual. And it’s a harmonious ritual. And it’s true. And then you have the gifting, because someone built that fire, someone made it with no expectations. Someone made that fire only to warm up other people. From this idea, everything grew exponentially, but that’s the essence. Creating something for you and for others and expressing yourself through your creation. And that can be in all the directions magnified. It’s something that creates you. It’s a thing that you create and creates you. It’s like this beautiful spin.”~Gabriel Muscalu - Romaniahttps://regionals.burningman.org/european-leadership-summithttps://regionals.burningman.org/regionals LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

There are a whole lot of military veterans in Burning Man’s history and Black Rock City’s neighborhoods. Combat veterans Dr Raymond Christian (Army) and Samuel Williams (Marines) share stories with Stuart Mangrum (Air Force) about transitioning into civilian life, bringing survival skills and leadership chops to BRC, and finding tribal camaraderie… and a party.They explore how hackneyed clichés of the military can wither in an environment of love and authenticity. PTSD, though, that’s still a thing. BRC can be like a military operation: the sights, the sounds, the smells... meeting interesting people, and finding forever friendships.“Being in combat, you experience the worst of humanity… It pulls the veil off and you no longer care about the facade. You get raw about it because you've seen the extreme. Burning Man is the opposite of that. It is also extreme, but it is the very best that humanity has to offer. You're not going to experience anything more stimulating, more accepting, more exciting than Burning Man, because everybody there has coalesced and converged on this area to express their art and their love for the celebration of the human experience.” ~Samuel WilliamsLinktr.ee/RaymondChristian LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Join Gary Mueller, President of the Robot Heart Foundation, along with board members Justin Shaffer and Clare Laverty, as they share the fascinating journey of Robot Heart. From its humble beginnings on a vintage double-decker bus at Burning Man to a thriving community that supports arts in cities like Oakland and New York, their stories reveal the magic behind collaborative creativity. Hear about unique challenges, like bus troubles in the DMV line, and inspiring tales of resilience that transformed simple obstacles into memorable artistic experiences.

Moshe Kasher has lived many lives as a subculture vulture - a hearing child of deaf parents, an addict at 15, in recovery at 16, a raver, a culturally Jewish standup comedian, an old school Burner and a longtime Gate volunteer. With Andie Grace and Stuart Mangrum he explores how Burning Man is a waterboard of wonder where weirdos go to feel normal, and norms go to feel weird, and that the sweet spot is when you experience something that makes you say “Wait, What?!?”They talk through how Black Rock City has evolved, from subcultures like the rave scene and AA meetings, to the transitional realm from the default world, the infamous Gate. Listen in on their playful tales of culture-jamming and utopia-tizing. Moshe Kasher (wikipedia)Gate, Perimeter & Exodus (burningman.org)Subculture Vulture: Penguin Random HouseSubculture Vulture: New York Times Book Reviewwww.cacophony.orgThe Endless Honeymoon Podcast LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

This is one of those full-circle stories that makes our dusty hearts glow a little brighter. It’s the tale of big art that emerged from a fossil-filled trash heap, came to life in Black Rock City, then returned to its source as a proud symbol of what a community can accomplish together.Tahoe Mack, a Las Vegas artist, tells the story of the Black Rock City Honoraria art piece she started when she was 15 years old. Her final Girl Scouts project became, oh, so much more. Over a few years, she learned to weld, fundraise, and work with acclaimed artists Dana Albany and Luis Varelo-Rico.Her vision drew attention to an urban park with a rich archaeological history. Built from metal detritus that had accumulated there, “The Monumental Mammoth” dazzled Burners in Black Rock City 2019, and is now a permanent installation at a trailhead near the fossil field that inspired it all, and forged new connections between dozens of people.https://www.tahoemariemack.com/themounumentalmammothhttps://protectorsoftulesprings.org/monumental-mammoth-projecthttps://www.danaalbanyart.com/mammothhttps://burningman.org/podcast/dana-albany-dreaming-in-metal-and-glass LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Dive into the world of Clit-Henge, a monumental clitoris sculpture sparking conversations at Burning Man 2023. Explore the journey of artist Syn and her creative projects promoting sustainability and gender equality. Delve into the re-thinking of pleasure inequities, wisdom of aging, and radical reciprocity. Discover the symbolic significance of the Tip of the Iceberg and the aerialist performance involving Burning Man and birth.

Explore the urban planning and organization of Burning Man, including the placement process and the challenges of creating a temporary city. Learn about the social limits of camp organization and the benefits of smaller camp sizes. Discover the logistics and operations involved in managing camps at Burning Man, as well as the concept of zoning in Black Rock City. Discuss the redesign of Center Camp and the importance of people and culture in the Burning Man experience.

It's winter where we are. What are the coldest, most teeth-chattering, brrrr-iest of all the sanctioned Burning Man events around the world?FrostBurn is one of them, and its participants make it happen in the dead of winter on purpose, annually since 2008. Subzero temperatures, rain, sleet, snow, and sometimes sunshine. Why? Because they can.When the costumes are nothing less than comfy snow pants, when everyone is on the buddy system to ensure they survive the weather, no energy is wasted on facades and FOMO. People collaborate on Radical Self-reliance, Communal Effort, and all those cultural practices that got us where we are today.Bexx is an event lead at FrostBurn, plays music in the Black Rock Philharmonic Orchestra, and writes academic papers about Black Rock City. She tells tales to kbot and Stuart of a winter wonderland happily crafted by hearty Burners. www.frostburn.orgBurningMan.org: Programs: Philosophical Center: AcademicsAural Substance: An Ethnographic Exploration of Regional Burn Soundscapes (ACADEMIA) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG