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Burning Man allows green companies to exhibit inside the city, (open that interface then turn to page 66 to read the article.) This is a response I wrote to that article on another list, it captures 80% of my feelings on the subject.


I don't know about this companies at burning man thing, although I think it's the right thing to do. Not necessarily right from the standpoint of burning man the event, but the right thing for burning man the corporation. I don't presume to (and have for that matter no basis to) speak for burning man the corporation, though, so I'll tell you my viewpoint on things.

Perhaps violence, like pornography, is some kind
of an evolutionary standby system, a last-resort
device for throwing a wild joker into the game?
— J.G. Ballard, Myths of the Near Future


Like most of you reading this know[1], I'm on the board of a local arts organization that funds participatory art and throws community events and fundraisers in support of the participatory art concept. I'm not speaking for that group either, but I will speak about it.

When telling people about that group or for that matter, it's easy to describe participatory art. I don't tend to go in for abstract concepts[2] like those found in the 10 principles of burning man. I want to go right for the selling point: 'we participate in the process of creating and experiencing art.' This is the 'no spectators' part of the burning man ethos, and it's easy to describe. The 'we are all artists' thing that people throw out from time to time I think is a huge load of crap. We're not all artists, but we can all actively participate in the creation of experience surrounding art.

It's a winning idea. People in general are not adverse to the idea that people should experience things actively and not passively. Those people who are adverse to that idea generally have A Plan that pops into their head immediately when they hear this. Usually about selling stuff, because that's what they were thinking about before this. So, not a commercial event is a useful idea in a commercial age. It's radical, dangerous, and sort of boring.

It's radical and dangerous because it's a different experience for a lot of people. It's new, and fresh, and a radical departure from the way you probably live life if you have ready access to currency, consumer goods, and other crap like that. It's boring because you bought a lot of crap on the way to the playa. It's also boring because the previous sentence is so trite it ought to be printed on the back of your ticket. Welcome to 'civilization,' to further the exchange of goods and services we've created a system called money to facilitate exchange. We've also created 'governments' that have a practical monopoly on the creation of money, and entire systems of commerce, finance, and debt devoted to keeping the whole system running. And in general, since I'm incapable of turning plants into pants and no one else around me seems to be either, I'm a big supporter of this sort of system.

But yeah, trite but revolutionary: it's possible to exchange experience rather than product. It's possible to give this all away and receive more in exchange without even considering the economics behind it all, so long as you paid cash up front. It's a challenge to the system we live in.

But what if the point of Burning Man wasn't to have a commerce-free event, but to teach people what is possible when you step outside the system you exist in every day. We have this fundamental system of the world, but for a time you can wave the black flag[3] and step outside the system. What do you see when you're outside the system? How does it change how you participate in the system? Can you while you stand on the outside of the system picture yourself still being inside it? Is that what it's about?

What else can we step outside of? We can step outside the system of consumption. The system of consumption is rails, trains, and motorcars, but it's also garnering all the things that make that possible. So, that's what BM (the company) seems to be stepping outside now -- step outside the consumption of resources in the way that you once stepped outside the system of mediated exchange of goods-and-services. give a gift.

This system is harder, because it's the invisible tide that pulls society along. It isn't the sort of thing that can be solved by not buying and selling for a week. It's the sort of system that can't even be opted out of on a mass scale (but it can be improved) by buying less over the whole year. Merely getting to burning man (the event) puts you inside that system, and while not driving for a week is a start, there's more that can be done. This system is harder because it requires engineering and years of research instead of more readily accessible and appreciate-able skills. But burning man (the company) is going to help you step outside it, which is good because this system isn't necessarily the right thing for the planet.

But that's fine, because what I argue is that burning man isn't really about non-commerce, it's about stepping outside the system you live in. It's about being the fish that leaps out of water and sometimes breathes a little on land. Experiencing lack of commerce isn't a destination, it's a path along a route. It's a popular response to the way that life goes on around us, and that's good. So, we all jump outside the system. Whee.

But burning man isn't just about being outside the system, it's about participating actively in the experience. it's about art, creating and sharing. So what can you do to participate in this environment? Participate and interact with the technology. Talk to the people who have this training, share what you can with other folks. Make it your personal experience, and make it your personal art.

Burning Man (the corporation) has created a framework where we can experience these technologies without being beholden to any particular company. You might as well experience them at Burning Man (the event), while we step outside of our usual systems and think. I'm making it my art project this year to participate in these technologies by interacting with them and the people who brought them.

You're welcome to join the art project. We need as large a team as we can get.

Thanks,

Corprew Reed
addr200707@corprew.org

[1] our local llc-like thing: http://www.ignitionnw.org/
[2] untrue in general. i like the abstract concepts.
[3] HL Mencken's flag of anarchic pirate utopias, not Henry Rollins or the insecticide.
[4] if you want to share this, you can. leave my name attached so i can get responses, if any.

YES

Date: 2007-06-28 05:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deeptape.livejournal.com
This is what excites me about Burning Man (the experience). I am also really interested in the engineering and organizational problem of making that go. This is how it's more than 'just a party'.

It also promotes a joyous and dynamic attitude towards planetary social hacking, which is so much more energetic and self reinforcing than the traditional dour "save the whales" alternatives.

Have I mentioned lately that I'm really glad to know you? Well, I am.

Date: 2007-06-28 06:00 pm (UTC)

Date: 2007-06-28 07:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] glaucon.livejournal.com
I don't have opinions on BM policies or politics, but I thought this was a really good piece of writing nevertheless.

Date: 2007-06-28 07:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] safetybitch.livejournal.com
Nicely written. You might share this with Ladybee, in fact.

And something the article didn't really stress is that those companies are bringing out their product, but still aren't allowed to have product placement or advertising. So everyone gets to play with the new and cool, and then has to go home and search to find it for themselves. I like the balance.

And how many new technologies have at the least been influenced by Burners, if not straight out invented by them, anyway!

Date: 2007-06-28 08:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ziptie.livejournal.com
Very well reasoned and written. I'll be sharing the link to this post.

Date: 2007-06-29 01:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kaiball.livejournal.com
You say a few interesting things here, which I like. What I still don't understand after reading it, (perhaps at web-speed) is how you feel about corporations exhibiting at Burning Man?

By attaching my own opinions to your words, I might guess or imply that having corporations themselves explicity representing at BM more blatantly brings to life the "system" inside of this place trying momentarily to be outside of it. This sounds, to me, like a jarring break in practice and a misstep in the mission, despite the relative goodness/badness of any given corporate entity.

And maybe that's where BM is going, more of an advocacy group or a taller soapbox for ideas the paid members of burning man (the corporation) would like to see disseminated. Many of them are very good people I love dearly, but I also agree that it is "quite a change from the old place".

Is this at all what you were getting at?


Date: 2007-06-29 08:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ziptie.livejournal.com
> having corporations themselves explicity representing at BM

But they're not. Everyone who's in a tizzy about it doesn't understand what's actually happening. From the article, the corps are submitting unbranded tech. No logos, no marketing, no proselytizing. Just tech which the org will deploy/display. Seems a pretty good compromise to me.

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