Burning Man: Status Quo On Fire
A list by Wiser Editorial
Image credits: Jane Hu, from Burning Man 2019. Artwork: The Flybrary by Christina Sporrong
The Black Rock Desert legend Burning Man has become a symbol of tribal escapism. A call to rescue from the societal constraints under the capital mode of life. It’s not anarchy, the organisers carefully highlight; it’s an entrance to a new world built on free expression. Thus, inevitably, it’s a cultural movement. Attendees, who call themselves “Burners”, even adopt different names (dubbed as playa names), which act as a funnel for them to discover different or alternative identities. According to one of the social scientists featured in this curation, some Burners yearly change their playa names to mark the improvement in the self.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons
It’s a music festival at its core, but the human behaviour here have impressive sociological, psychological and artistic depths - the communal bond, an economy based on a trade-off of items, a sense of belonging to a middle-of-nowhere, attempts to redefine oneself. In this modern world, why and what we create out of a bunch of nothings is fascinating to uncover.
Image credits: BLM photos
Another underrated aspect of the festival is its impact on the Black Rock community. When we talk about this mythologised event, our usual scope is limited to the attendees, the line-up, the outfits, the celebrities, the drugs. We often forget there’s actually a local community residing at the festival area (called Paiute) that the organisers and attendees actively disturb. Although the festival boosts Paiute’s economy, the locals are not happy with how the party-goers intrude their land. When the pandemic caused a cancellation two years in a row, the Paiute sighed relief.
Image credits: AP
As briefly demonstrated, this curation critically studies the unsung sides to Burning Man. It includes an MIT research on Burner behaviour and gift economy, observation and analysis from a sociologist, a roundtable discussion between three Burner scientists, an abstract of a journal article explaining the patterns of “civilised tribalism”, and more. We are serving you an arguably less-tripping perspectives on this iconic event in this curation.