From The Blog

Hello From Burning Man


BURNING MAN, visceral mayhem for Photographers, Video Content makers and Burners.

So for those of you who missed BM 2016, start preparing for 2017.

A few things: buy tickets in pre-sale (February) or sale (March). Due to the big demand, they vanish in seconds so make sure you have your finger on the mouse the exact second the sale starts. Decide the way you want to experience it: bare minimum (some people just show up with nothing relying on the gifts they will receive from other participants, including a shelter, some others prefer the “closed camps” with fees above 10 000. I had a tent, some water, few cans of tuna and Pringles – more than enough. Burning Man is a territory of diversity: whatever madness the human mind could imagine, there it is. The greatest circus, show, breathtaking religious-like ceremonies, greatest electronic music djs, hippie enclave and lavish Arabian night closed areas. This last chapter requires some detailing as this year one of these camps was sabotaged by some people.

It’s true that while most of the camps are open to the community and have various programs of participating (like giving food, fresh juices, coffee, etc. for free to all passers by), the closed camps don’t. They only cater to “tourists” that basically come to show off for the weekend. On the other hand, the “rich” camps sometimes contribute huge amounts of money to the construction of state of the art stages and installations; bring the best djs, etc. But, of course, you won’t see Silicone Valley CEO’s giving lemonade on the street, nor inviting random hippies into their tent.

As said, BM is a territory of diversity: Some hippie die-hards would like to swipe the “plug and play” camps away. For the moment they have to coexist with the rich kids. And it’s part of the fun seeing them all mesmerized by the ceremonies under the same harsh heat and dust storms. BM is not a music festival or at least it wasn’t intended to be. Some people hate it as now one cannot find silence no matter how far deep in the Playa: there will always be some loud music playing nearby. Our neighbors had the idea to build the biggest sub woofer ever made (as big as two trucks) and played it 24/7. My inflatable mattress vibrated together with my chest but by the second night it became my lullaby. But by then Skrillex was live at the other neighbors … For EDM fans, BM is paradise, for all tastes: check the DISTRIKT party, Robot Heart, Mayan Warrior, Disco Knights and, best sound and line-up: White Ocean, to mention only a few.

The blogs are filled with info on how to prepare (what kind of dust mask, bike, what goggles, how to shower, how to cook, how to fix your tent, etc.). My one conclusion is that no matter how well prepared one goes, the discomfort of the Playa is about the same. Just don’t underestimate the cold in the night or you won’t be able to enjoy it. At times my ship skin and wool were not enough. Same for the heat during the day: it explains partially why so many choose to go nude. Rental companies forbid taking the car to BM so just say you go anywhere else (even though after so many years, they see from a distance who’s a burner) and then just pay the fine when returning. Or have it detailed, but I lost half a day with this.

The amplitude crowd empathy is overwhelming. It is the closest thing to magic I’ve lived and, as someone said, photos and words cannot explain it: it is like explaining to someone who never had sex how it feels. So, go see for yourselves! :)

Corvin Cristian Architect

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Check out http://blackrockyearbook.com where many of the burners are portrayed but for me, it’s not very useful, as they are posing in a booth while the whole charm is to get them “in the wild”.