Burning the Man to find the Radical Hu-man

The world is re-creating itself to find the true self.

One of my friends went to Burning man and described the freedom of expression at this event in the middle of the desert. She experienced freedom and love on levels she had never experienced. This event is about radical self expression and self reliance.

We are in a conservative society that has strict rules of behaviour, there is fear around people taking their own initiative and creating their own societies. However, it is natural for humans to seek to find their true selves. What we often term as radical is simply diverging from the norm. But is the norm normal?

Here is an overview of an alternative – Burning Man.

http://www.burningman.com/

What Is Burning Man?

Once a year, tens of thousands of participants gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever. Burning Man is also an ever-expanding year-round culture based on the Ten Principles.

Ten Principles

Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

Radical Self-reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.

Radical Self-expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

Communal Effort
Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.

Civic Responsibility
We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

Leaving No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.

Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.

Immediacy
Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience

What Isn’t Burning Man?

Burning Man isn’t your usual festival, with big acts booked to play on massive stages. In fact, it’s more of a city than a festival, wherein almost everything that happens is created entirely by its citizens, who are active participants in the event.

PARTICIPATE IN BURNING MAN!

People new to Burning Man often assume that it’s a regular “festival” as they’ve come to know them, a mostly passive experience where everything is planned, orchestrated and pre-packaged by the event producers, and attendees just come and enjoy the show. In fact, the exact opposite is true … the people who attend Burning Man are no mere “attendees,” but rather active participants in every sense of the word: they create the city, the interaction, the art, the performance and ultimately the “experience.” Participation is at the very core of Burning Man, and there are many ways to participate. In this section you can learn about the opportunities.

“Whether you make a cup of coffee for the folks camped next door or help someone you hardly know unzip the back of their costume in preparation to use the port-a-potty, you can be a participant of Burning Man. If you reach inside yourself and figure out that part of you that can be shared with others around you, chances are you will enjoy Burning Man. The only way to avoid having fun is to bring nothing of yourself to the event. If you just try to take everything in, you won’t ‘get’ anything.”

-Anonymous

THE ART OF BURNING MAN

Burning Man is much more than just a temporary community. It’s a city in the desert, dedicated to radical self reliance, radical self-expression and art. Innovative sculpture, installations, performance, theme camps, art cars and costumes all flower from the playa and spread to our communities and back again. In this section you will learn what you need to know about creating art for the playa, find out all about this year’s art installations, read essays about Burning Man and art from both staff and participants, and revisit some past off-playa art events and exhibitions.

Our mission is to promote and support interactive public art, even beyond our event. The Black Rock Arts Foundation has been established for that purpose, and focuses on community art at our regional events.