Burning Man LIVE

Explore the vibrant community of nearly 1,300 theme camps at Black Rock City, where creativity thrives and collaboration is key. Discover the evolution of these camps and the significance of the Camp Symposium in fostering sustainability. Learn about innovative waste management strategies that emphasize the 'Leave No Trace' principle and community accountability. Gain insights into environmental stewardship initiatives and hear thoughts on creating a positive cultural environment amidst challenges. Join the discussion on how these elements enhance the unique Burning Man experience!

Katie Hazard leads Art Management for Burning Man and the committee that grants more than a million dollars to artists each year to create art that’s first stop (and sometimes only stop) is Black Rock City.She shares about some of the grant recipients that align with this year’s Black Rock City art theme (ANIMALIA). She and Stuart Mangrum discuss Burning Man’s art movement in relation to, and sometimes in opposition to, “capital-A art,” and the default art world's manufactured scarcity and opaqueness. They explore how to grant accessibility and agency to artists, professional and amateur, personally and collectively.“Many people come for the art, and they stay for the community.” ~Larry HarveySlides of the Art Projects Mentioned (in the order discussed) Introducing the 2023 Black Rock City Honoraria (Burning Man Journal)Katie Hazard (Burning Man Journal)2023 Art Theme: ANIMALIAThe ARTery at Black Rock CityDesert Arts Preview: Artists of Waking Dreams (2022 podcast) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

As a founder and co-producer of one of the largest and oldest Burning Man events, Monique Shiess has a lot going on. AfrikaBurn does too. Started in 2007, it averages 10,000 participants annually in recent years. Monique shares its origins with Stuart and Andie. From the EDM scene, gallery spaces, queer community, and producers of “weird gatherings,” they birthed AfrikaBurn with roots in anarchy, trickster energy and hippie-dom. They explore how to be welcoming, not just radically inclusive, in the aftermath of Apartheid, and the context of global trends, on the land of indigenous people.Then there’s the fun part. Monique says that play is the vector for changing the world by accessing aspects of yourself that go dormant in the default world, and that all Burn movements have paradigm shifting potential while also having a ton of fun with “the best humans that exist.”www.afrikaburn.orgAfrikaBurn (Wikipedia)Practising Imagining (TEDx Cape Town)Events Change Lives: AfrikaBurn Legacy Case Study LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Athena is a wanderer, an adventurer, a muse. She is Regional Contact emerita from Los Angeles, founder of their nonprofit The LA League of Arts, and a founder of BRCvr — a crown jewel in the tiara of our multiversal experiences online.Athena talks with Stuart about how Radical Inclusion and Immediacy foster human connection, and about how a balance of decommodified spaces and commercial spaces can lead to true Gifting. She says that BRCvr conjured a tight-knit community of creators who love helping each other. See for yourself while you still can. BRCvr co-creates events (like RE-BURN-23) on AltspaceVR, the social VR platform that’s about to have its plug pulled. Hear her adventures from Black Rock City to South Central LA, and heed the call to infuse Burning Man's Principles into the fabric of gatherings IRL and in VR.BRCvrRE-BURN-23The 10 Principles of Burning ManLos Angeles League of Arts (LALA)Burning Man LIVE: The 10 Principles in Modern Times IRL and in VRBurning Man LIVE: Mike Zuckerman: Culture Hacking and Gonzo HumanitarianismThe MutaytorNiNo’s ATABEY LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

How are films shot in Black Rock City? Why? And really, HOW? "Profiles in Dust" is the most prolific video troupe that dares to document the dynamic Burning Man events. Since 2011 they have produced 50 mini-documentaries, profiling the inspirational creators in the scene, and behind the scenes. Terry Pratt is their nominal leader. He talks with Stuart about the joy and the turmoil, and adventures had everywhere from Egypt to Ukraine. and with Crimson Rose, Larry Harvey, Pablo González Vargas, and Smoke Daddy.Listen to this conversation about these documentaries:Everyone’s an ArtistGoing Solar (rough cut intro)Kids at Burning ManLarry: A Burning Man StoryThe Great Disappearing CityThe Mayan WarriorThe Man’s Tailorprofilesindust.netvimeo.com/profilesindustterenceprattdop.netBurning Man Project’s Youtube Channel of Profiles in DustBurning Man Journal: The Colors of the Man LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

What happened at BRC? What didn’t happen? Why did it seem that we couldn’t get back to interdependence? After the traumas of the pandemic and political vilification, we somehow didn’t trust each other at BRC. Or if we did, we didn’t seem to know it, or feel it, or enjoy it. Andie Grace swaps stories with Buck Down, a 25-year Burner, Gate Manager, musician, and author of the wildly popular article “What the Fuck Just Happened at Burning Man?”They spitball on how to encourage more play, work, and random participation, and how to split the event into two.Black Rock City changed underneath us. As stewards of this culture, let’s remember the parts of the culture that had us commit to it. Let’s make this ‘cult that joins you’ worth it.FYI: This episode is fun and full of curse words. And as always, the last part is the best.https://buckdown.medium.com/what-the-fuck-just-happened-at-burning-manhttps://buckaedown.bandcamp.comhttps://journal.burningman.org/author/buckdownhttp://brcweekly.com/BRCWeekly2021.pdf LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

The kids ask the questions this time. These longtime Burners have participated in BRC most of their young lives. 6-year-old Teapot offers sage advice on the radio. Teen brothers Atticus and Colby interview deep-rooted DPW adults:     Coyote is the city superintendent of BRC, and author of the book, Built to Burn: Tales of the Desert Carnies of Burning Man.     Melissa Waters is an office administrator and a wellness educator for Burning Man Project.Atticus and Colby are their sons. Who better to ask about families at BRC. We also hear from       Abby Ehmann, aka StAbby, a longtime DPW Manager      and       Tamsin Hull, a DPW Volunteer and creative ceramics artist.They talk about interactive art, smart art, playa names, and serendipity. It’s cool. The episode ends strong with little kids on the radio at BRC. They share stories of Kidsville, a lemonade stand, and choosing to be an angel, not a dragon. Hear the curiosity and the cuteness, and the occasional awkward transition… like childhood… BRC is for everyone. Related links:The Front PorchSpace WhaleWings of Glory (“The Pegasus”)Facing the FearBeastParadisiumThe 360live@burningman.org LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

More and more studies are happening at transformative events around the world. This summer a research paper was published about how transformative effects of these gatherings are lasting. This 5-year experiment compared findings from a half-dozen mass gatherings. The results explore generosity and altruism, describe collective effervescence, and consider the biases of self-selection and psychedelic substances. People report that transformative experiences are common, increase over time, and include new perceptions of each other… and universal connectedness… and lasting changes in moral orientation.How did they do it? What did they find, and how does it relate to you, and to me, and to BRC?If you like science, or psychology, or transformation, or if you want to like them, listen as social scientists share stories with Stuart about the pleasure, the pain, and the process.Molly Crockett, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale UniversityDaniel Yudkin, postdoctoral fellow at the University of PennsylvaniaProsocial correlates of transformative experiences at secular multi-day mass gatherings | NatureResearchers Share First Findings on Burners’ Transformative Experiences | Burning Man JournalCollective effervescence - WikipediaFOOTNOTES:S. Megan Heller (The Countess of The BRC Census)L.A. PaulMartha NewsonHarvey WhitehouseDominic Beaulieu-PrévostRitual, Dimitris XygalatasBurning Progeny | 2018 Symposium in FribourgBURNING MAN LIVE: THE SCIENCE OF GENEROSITY LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

We’re back from Black Rock City, and we miss it already. If you miss it too, or you missed it altogether, here are some sounds and sentiments of being there. BRC is filled with amateurs, people doing it as a labor of love. When things go wrong, we celebrate it as a glorious opportunity to adapt, or simply as things going the way they go. When the going gets tough, and it’s tough going in the world these days, spaces like BRC allow for joy, mourning and reflection. Spaces like BRC are practice grounds of possibility for doing things together, and things going wrong — sometimes wonderfully, sometimes devastatingly, often whimsically wrong.Caveat Magister is the resident philosopher of Burning Man. From his work with founder Larry Harvey and the underground art scene, he writes books, hosts adventures, and refutes reality.Motorbike Matt produces Burning Man's webcast, and helped create the Mars Rover Art Car and the Black Rock Observatory. He works in deserts around the world, and works it in the Black Rock Desert.Kbot is a strategist on Burning Man Project's Communications team. She develops stories about culture and community, writes her own, and shares the mic on this podcast.Brooke LaValley is a longtime Burner and photojournalist, and a maven at Media Mecca (the media relations station in BRC).Michael Vav is a longtime organizer, sordid artist of sorts, and behind-the-scenester, and a producer in Burning Man Project’s Philosophical Center.This conversation is silly and serious, profound and profane. Listen between the jokes for the truth bombs… and the jokes that bomb.Oh, and see this too: burningman.org/feedback-loopAnd this: census.burningman.orgBurning Man Live: The Gift of Things Going Wrong LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

When Candace found Burning Man in 1996, she jumped right in to help the media tell the whole story of Black Rock City, not just the sensationalism. She also jumped right into culture jamming, twisting iconic characters, from Cacophony Society’s santas to public pranking as porn clowns, and playfully pushing people in immediate theater. She also brings the transformative power of interactive art to public spaces around the world, as part of a non-profit We Are From Dust, and she’s working to have all people feel welcome at Black Rock City. Hear the old and the new, the sacred and the profane, and the fat beats of EDM DJs spinning Playa Tech.https://www.blackburnerproject.comhttps://www.instagram.com/blackburnerprojecthttps://www.instagram.com/blackasearthttps://www.villagevoice.com/2001/09/11/burning-mans-dotcom-hangoverhttps://journal.burningman.org/2012/05/philosophical-center/tenprinciples/how-not-to-burn-commodifying-burning-manhttps://burningman.org/podcast/yomi-ayeni-and-the-stories-of-we-are-from-dust LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG