Tens of thousands of people gather in the Nevada desert to connect under its harsh sun and dance their days away in dust. This is Burning Man, and it’s where for one week a year artists and dreamers come together to build a temporary utopia. The festival has become a beacon of counterculture and creativity and after two years of going virtual, came back with a bang in 2022.
- 80, 000 people attended Burning Man in 2022.
- 70% of regional Burning Man events from 2019 returned, reaching 73 gatherings worldwide.
- There will be 73 regional Burning Man events in 2023.
- 7, 000 Burners donated to the project in 2022.
- 25% of participants were first timers in 2022, with the remaining 75% being regulars.
- 80% of participants were from the U.S. in 2022.
- There were 15 Honoraria projects for 2022, which represented 17% of all of the art installations.
- 20% of the projects funded in 2022 had a lead artist of colour.
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Getting The Man To Burn
Before Burning Man was one of the largest festivals in the world, it was celebrated by a few friends on the sands of a beach.
Larry Harvey and his friend Jerry James celebrated the summer solstice of 1986 on Baker Beach in San Francisco. They gathered 20 friends, constructed an 8 foot wooden effigy in the shape of a man, and watched as it burnt to the ground. Onlookers were drawn by the flames, and the crowd climbed to 35.
Like wildfire, the event has expanded like crazy since its beach days, reaching 80, 000 participants in 2022. Their census team found that only 25% of attendees in 2022 were there for the first time. The remaining 75% had been tugged more than once back to the desert by an irresistible pull.
But Black Rock City’s size was not the only thing to change in 2022.
The Art Installations
Black Rock City is governed by 10 guiding principles, and while these have remained the same over the years, some were paid more mind in 2022.
For the first time in Burning Man history, they asked each artist who applied to have their installation featured to reflect and share how they think their project advances the principle of radical inclusion.
Burning Man says that having this kind of thoughtful selection can help to create a more multicultural and inclusive community in Black Rock City.
To this end, 20% of the projects funded in 2022 had a lead artist of colour. Some of the works chosen included the following:
- The Solar Shrine by Antwane Lee. Inspired by the magic realism of Ancient Egypt and Nubia, this Afrofuturist artwork was one of the biggest pieces to be burned in 2022.
- Behold… From the Dust by Erin Douglas and the Black Burner Project is a large installation which incorporated three commemorative portraits of BIPOC burners.
- Build a Seat by Mo Osunbor is described as a “philosophical and physical invitation to Black creatives to join and contribute to the incredible experience of Black Rock City”.
2022 was also a year that continued to expand on Burning Man’s tradition of having female artists. These were some notable installations:
- The Resurrection of the Clothes Peg by Usha Seejarim was a metaphor for the desire of the marginalised to be heard, and the rise of female voices.
- What to Expect When Expecting and I Heart Mom are two installations which celebrated motherhood.
Principles which related to the environment were also taken to a new level in 2022.
Burning Man released their 2030 Environment Sustainability Roadmap in 2019. This is their open-source approach to become more ecologically regenerative, carbon negative, and to sustainably manage waste by 2030.
It is within this context that in 2022, for the first time, they asked applicants to consider how their installations will address challenges and opportunities around sustainability. To this end, the following projects were funded:
- Paradisium by Dave Keane and The Folly Builders is an interactive group of geometric shaped trees. The artists incorporated reclaimed lumber into their design. They also planted trees, and instead of burning the installation as is tradition with large wooden projects, the trees were to be rehomed.
- The Apocalypse is Breathtaking: Flame of the Forest by Lekha Washington is a tree with detailed metal filigree, inspired by a Japanese tree. The piece comments on the climate crisis and reflects that even in disaster, beauty can still be found in the world.
- Charismatic Metafauna by Gray Davidson and Majorelle Arts highlighted endangered animals.
- Consumption by Tom Boughner and the Desert Propaganda Collective was made from reclaimed home appliances and steel which they took from landfills. The installation comments on overconsumption and consumerism.
Sustainability Initiatives At Burning Man
Burning Man’s commitment to sustainability could be seen far beyond their art installations in 2022.
The very premise from which Burning Man and its Black Rock City operate is to be environmentally conscious. This can be witnessed in their ‘leave no trace’ policy, and their various teams like Earth Guardians which teach participants about the environment and how to green the space.
But they still have a long way to go to reduce their carbon footprint. Many fossil fuels are burned when participants arrive by car or plane, and mass-produced goods which are only used for one week tend to create garbage and the generators used to power the projects contribute to this.
Their 2021 detailed emissions inventory revealed that the baseline of Black Rock City’s CO2 emissions reached more than 54, 000 metric tons.
2022 was the first event after they released their 10-year Environment Sustainability Roadmap, in which their goals to reduce their carbon footprint are the following:
- No Matter Out of Place: “Handle waste ecologically”.
- Be Regenerative: “Create a net positive ecological and environmental impact”.
- Be Carbon Negative: “Remove more carbon from the environment than we put into it”
Their goal for 2022 was to reduce the liquid fuel consumption of Black Rock City’s infrastructure down to 10%. They planned to do this by shifting to solar power and battery technologies as well as upgrading electric equipment. To do this, they hired their first year-round solar team which was led by Matthew ‘Starchild’ Deluge.
These goals were tracked by Burning Man’s Sustainability team. To incentivise participants to be equally committed to this goal, Burning Man dedicated several thousand tickets in 2022 to support work in areas of community diversification and environmental sustainability.
Burning Man’s 2022 Theme
Burning Man began having a theme every year from 1995, with their first one being ‘good and evil’. The entire festival is then constructed to reflect different aspects of the theme in not only the art installations but also in the food and learning disciplines.
In 2020 and 2021, Burning Man went virtual as Covid-19 went viral. The installations were still constructed and burnt, but many watched the flames through different multiverses in 2020. In 2021, there was a smaller unofficial Burning Man.
But in 2022 it was back in full swing. The theme that year was ‘Waking Dreams’, which was all about exploring the literal and figurative transformative powers of dreams and celebrating those who channel this kind of energy into something life-changing.
The ones who channel this energy of course involved artists, and the installations that year reflected ideas of the supernatural, of dreams, and of meta-reality. Most of the installations are new every year, but one remains a constant: the Man.
The Man is inspired by the initial effigy burnt back in 1986, and although its overall design remains the same, its details vary depending on the theme. Notably, 2022 was the first time in Burning Man history that the Man was 100% powered using solar energy.
The Man reflected ‘Waking Dreams’ through two embellishments on either side; one was on the sleeping side, which was positioned at 6:00 and faced the city of Burning Man. The other was on the waking side, which was positioned at 12:00 and faced the deep playa. This version of the Man was greatly inspired by a Zhuang Zi quote, which says: “I dreamed I was a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?” and it reflects this question in its design.
The waking side incorporated a miniature design of the same butterfly taking flight which was found on the sleeping side of the Man. The smaller butterfly was inside the pupil of an eye on an open palm. The familiar outline of the butterfly, which mirrored its larger waking life counterpart, was meant to echo Zhuangzi’s question about dreaming.
Other installations that embodied the Waking Dreams theme included:
- Circle of Doors Tarot by Anne Staveley and Jill Sutherland is an installation of a tarot deck that has come to life. It has 22 doors, with books explaining the chosen tarot cards behind two of the doors. It is meant to represent shared unconsciousness.
- Point of View by HYBYCOZO is an installation made up of geometric shapes inspired by mathematical, science, and natural patterns. The installation would light up at night, and out of the geometric shapes would pour intricate and dreamlike patterns.
Growth Spurts: Burning Man’s Cultural Footprint
The culture of Burning Man has grown beyond the confines of the Black Rock Desert and will have 73 regional events all over the world in 2023. Some of these include the following:
- Kiwiburn in Hunterville, New Zealand, which took place from the 25th of January to the 30th of January.
- Afrikaburn in the Tankwa Karoo, South Africa takes place between the 24th of April and the 30th of April.
- Burn in the Forest in Neilson St, Merrit, BC, Canada runs from the 26th of July to the 30th of July
- Helsinki Decompression in Helsinki, Finland, takes place on the 7th of April.
- Where the Sheep Sleep in Zeewolde, Netherlands, takes place from the 22nd of June to the 26th of June.
Growing Pains: Commercialisation
What was once a stage for hippies, self-expression, counter-culture and artistic community has now been criticised for holding space for a new class of Burners- among them being celebrities, internet influencers and billionaires.
Burning Man’s statistics revealed that the yearly personal income of 14% of Burners was listed as “$100, 000 or more” in 2006. This number has been steadily increasing and has risen to 34, 1% in 2019. The percentage of participants who earned “$300 000 or more” also increased from 2.3% to 5.2% in the same period.
These wealthier Burners sometimes interact with Black Rock City in ways that stand in direct contrast with many of Burning Man’s principles.
For the bigger bucked Burners, there are exclusive camps called Turnkey camps. These camps have luxury amenities, chefs, and cleaning staff. Many of their occupants use chartered flights to get to the camp, which has a negative impact on the environment.
In 2019, Burning Man’s CEO, Marian Goodell, condemned the Turnkey camps and explained that influencers had been spotted using Burning Man as their location to take photos of items they had been gifted as a tactic to appeal to customers- using the City and its reputation to increase their popularity.
Goodell referred to these practices as the “commodification” and “exploitation of Black Rock City community”.
Goodell went so far as to ban one of these Turnkey camps, the Humano the Tribe camp, that reportedly charged $25k for a single tent per night which had a minibar and aircon. Prices reached $100k per night.
According to Burning Man’s data, 80% of participants in 2022 were from the US, with most being residents of California. It is no wonder, then, that the event has begun to mirror the changing demographics of the city from whence it came, San Francisco, which has become one of the most expensive U.S. cities to live in.
2023 Burning Man Theme: Animalia
As much as Burning Man has been committed to fostering an egalitarian society, the surge of the upper class has changed what participation in the event has looked like. Perhaps the recognition, and outright condemnation, of this trend is what prompted the theme for 2023: Animalia.
This year’s burning man confronts humanity through the lens of the animal, throwing any boundaries we may have thought to have had between animals and ourselves into question and thereby breaking down any presupposed pedestals.
The rocky Nevada desert where Black Rock City finds its home is teeming with animal life. There are the creatures of the sand and the ones that live in the collective imagination of Burners.
Burning Man explained that Burners have created their own animal mythologies over the years. They reference the Playa Chicken, which is said to be a knee-high dinosaur-cum-bird as well as talking bunnies that run in packs, sometimes a billion at a time. Ancient burners remember the legend of the Java Cow that would arrive at sunrise with fresh coffee and many other such myths.
Whether breathing or not, these animals are real in the minds of other animals- us humans. It is all these animals that Burning Man says they want to celebrate in 2023.
Ridding participants of human exceptionalism and prompting them to interrogate their sometimes wayward stance towards animals is necessary now more than ever, states Burning Man, as humans continue to destroy the ecosystems which sustain all of us, thereby failing to recognise and respect our interconnectivity.
Inviting Burners to bring their ‘imaginary menagerie’ with them in August, Burning Man hopes that attendees will arrive with love and respect for the real and imagined creatures that roam the desert. This is the attitude that they say belongs to truly evolved humans.
Sources:
http://blackrockcitycensus.org/highlights.html
https://www.archdaily.com/988192/first-look-at-burning-man-2022
https://www.britannica.com/art/Burning-Man
https://survival.burningman.org/leave-no-trace/
https://www.insider.com/how-burning-man-black-rock-city-rises-from-the-dust-each-year-2018-8
Nathan has always been captivated by numbers and patterns. With a Master’s degree in Statistics, he’s honed his skills to decipher complex data sets and discern market trends.
Over the past decade, Nathan has worked with various firms compiling and analyzing industry spending figures to forecast market movements.