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In 2011, Burning Man tickets sold out for the first time, and for the first time, at least in theory, people who wanted and were prepared to journey to the Black Rock Desert couldn't.
Thus began the Age of Scarcity. |
2011: Rites of Passage
Population: 53,963
This year's theme could not have been better named, because in a very real way 2011 represented a new era in Burning Man's continual evolution. Demand exceeding supply (and by the present day, demand far exceeds supply) dictates that, first, getting tickets can be an emotionally harrowing journey for Burners, but more importantly I think, it forced the BMORG to think even more about how to include the folks that want to go.
And because the population of Burning Man, at least as long as it's in the Black Rock Desert, can't just grow forever (due to the traffic problems it causes on the two-lane roads that feed it), the only way to accommodate the demand is to spread it to other events, e.g.. the Regional Burns. For those who may not be familiar with them, they're loosely affiliated events held around the world that embody the spirit of Burning Man. AfrikaBurn, with around 8000 people in South Africa in 2015, is the biggest of these.
And because the population of Burning Man, at least as long as it's in the Black Rock Desert, can't just grow forever (due to the traffic problems it causes on the two-lane roads that feed it), the only way to accommodate the demand is to spread it to other events, e.g.. the Regional Burns. For those who may not be familiar with them, they're loosely affiliated events held around the world that embody the spirit of Burning Man. AfrikaBurn, with around 8000 people in South Africa in 2015, is the biggest of these.
The other thing that 2011 was notable for was the weather. It was astoundingly good. There's not much else to say. Balmy nights, days that weren't ridiculously hot, very little wind and dust. Pretty much perfect. Almost legendarily so, in fact.
The Temple of Transition, which was, in my opinion, one of the most incredible Temples ever built out there. Look at that thing. Amazing.
The Man and its base. Photo: Matt Mihály
The Trojan Horse, which burned before the week was over. Photo: James Addison
A little shoppe on the Pier installation.
Laura Kimpton and Jeff Schomberg's Love. Photo: Sarah Bartell
One of the most popular Burning Man videos ever, set to Dr. Seuss's "Oh the Places You'll Go!"
2012: Fertility 2.0
Population: 56,149
This was the year of the first ticket lottery, which pretty much everybody hated. It was a pure lottery system, where you registered for tickets and then hoped you got a chance to buy them. The unintended consequences of this were that a lot of the people who actually build Burning Man, vs. just show up, didn't get tickets, causing some real scrambling among long-time builder/art crews.
The Man in 2012. Photo: Matt Mihály
Spark - a full-blown, full-length documentary that follows three people behind different projects at Burning Man came out this year.
The Temple of Juno, from David Best.
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A guy suspended via hooks through the skin on his knee.
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The Man burns.
The Pier installation. You could go into the ship, which was fully decorated, etc. It was incredible. One of my favorite art pieces ever on the playa.
A steampunk couple. Photo: Matt Mihály
The epic Burn Wall Street installation, from Otto Von Danger. It had the Bank of Un-America, Merrily Lynched, Goldman Sucks, and Chaos Manhattan, and it was one hell of a fire when it all went up.
A theme camp running an abusive, fake office. Was hilarious. Photo: Matt Mihály
Having a great time in front of the Bureau of Intrepid Fertility (my camp in 2012). Photo: Matt Mihály
Photo: Matt Mihály
2013 - Cargo Cult
Population: 69k.
2013 saw the population of BRC rocket from 56k in 2012 to 69k in 2013.
From my perspective, the most notable thing about 2013 was the absolutely amazing base for the Man. Easily the most epic ever, and it also burned like no Man+base had ever burned before.
The much-hated lottery system for tickets from the previous two years was also replaced this year with a combination of some first-come first-serve open sales and a system of tickets available specifically to artists, theme camps, and art car crews to ensure that the people who make Burning Man what it is have an easier time getting tickets.
2013 saw the population of BRC rocket from 56k in 2012 to 69k in 2013.
From my perspective, the most notable thing about 2013 was the absolutely amazing base for the Man. Easily the most epic ever, and it also burned like no Man+base had ever burned before.
The much-hated lottery system for tickets from the previous two years was also replaced this year with a combination of some first-come first-serve open sales and a system of tickets available specifically to artists, theme camps, and art car crews to ensure that the people who make Burning Man what it is have an easier time getting tickets.
Photo: Curtis Simmons
The Temple of Whollyness - the first Temple that was built entirely without nails or metal connectors. All the wooden pieces were interlocking. Photo: Matt Mihály
Inside the Church Trap, a church set up like a giant mouse trap. Photo: Matt Mihály
Love at night. Photo: Matt Mihály
Photo: Matt Mihály
Photo: Matt Mihály
"Truth is Beauty" by Marco Cochrane. Photo: Matt Mihály
An 81-year old man with fatal cancer goes to Burning Man and discovers what an amazing place Black Rock City is.
2014 - Caravansary
Population: 66k
Man Height: 105 feet. New record!
While not trying to diminish anything else about 2014, it's likely that what it will be most-remembered for is the rainstorm on the Monday morning after gate opening. It was epic. I laid in my (totally waterproof, canvas) tent listening to thunder and the raindrops pounding down, wondering what this would mean for Burning Man. I'd been in rainstorms on the playa before, but nothing like this during the week of the event.
As it turned out, it was actually a fairly pleasant morning for those of us on the playa. I zip-tied contractor garbage bags to my feet and wandered around a quiet, artcar-less playa. Never seen it so chill during the week of the event. It was kind of a treat!
On the other hand, those who were caught outside the gate waited up to 24 hours, which ranged from tolerable to absolutely horrible based on what friends tell me.
If there was a 'controversy-of-the-year' this year, it was plug n' play camps. Specifically, a camp called Caravansicle, which was an expensive plug n' play camp that gave basically nothing back to the community and happened to be run by one Jim Tananbaum, a rich venture capitalist who was on Burning Man's board of directors. The camp was completely inexcusable, and after a widespread community outcry post-event, Mr. Tananbaum stepped down from his board position.
Unfortunately, as of this writing in October 2015, plug n' play camps are alive and well at Burning Man, and the organization even allows one of them to openly sell tours to the playa on their website. I don't understand why these camps continue to get placement and early entry passes (without which they couldn't exist), and to add insult to injury in this Age of [Ticket] Scarcity, good Burners who don't just pay money to show up and be taken care of have to compete with members of these camps for tickets, since the BMORG has been letting plug n' play camps into the Directed Group Sale.
Man Height: 105 feet. New record!
While not trying to diminish anything else about 2014, it's likely that what it will be most-remembered for is the rainstorm on the Monday morning after gate opening. It was epic. I laid in my (totally waterproof, canvas) tent listening to thunder and the raindrops pounding down, wondering what this would mean for Burning Man. I'd been in rainstorms on the playa before, but nothing like this during the week of the event.
As it turned out, it was actually a fairly pleasant morning for those of us on the playa. I zip-tied contractor garbage bags to my feet and wandered around a quiet, artcar-less playa. Never seen it so chill during the week of the event. It was kind of a treat!
On the other hand, those who were caught outside the gate waited up to 24 hours, which ranged from tolerable to absolutely horrible based on what friends tell me.
If there was a 'controversy-of-the-year' this year, it was plug n' play camps. Specifically, a camp called Caravansicle, which was an expensive plug n' play camp that gave basically nothing back to the community and happened to be run by one Jim Tananbaum, a rich venture capitalist who was on Burning Man's board of directors. The camp was completely inexcusable, and after a widespread community outcry post-event, Mr. Tananbaum stepped down from his board position.
Unfortunately, as of this writing in October 2015, plug n' play camps are alive and well at Burning Man, and the organization even allows one of them to openly sell tours to the playa on their website. I don't understand why these camps continue to get placement and early entry passes (without which they couldn't exist), and to add insult to injury in this Age of [Ticket] Scarcity, good Burners who don't just pay money to show up and be taken care of have to compete with members of these camps for tickets, since the BMORG has been letting plug n' play camps into the Directed Group Sale.
Photo: Matt Mihály
The Temple of Grace. Photo: John Curley
My main video from 2014.
2015 - Carnival of Mirrors
Population: ~70k.
Ticket Cost: $390
Vehicle Pass: $50
Ticket Cost: $390
Vehicle Pass: $50
2015 was, weather-wise, the first tough year after a string of four or five generally-good years. And of course, the bugs! The bugs afflicted the folks who were out there a couple weeks in advance building the city, and they were both epic and unprecedented. Happily, they were also gone by the time the gates opened.
None, however, were as bad as what hit the folks who were on playa the day before gate opened - the 70 mph winds forced gate to shut down, and delayed many camps and art projects from finishing setup on time. As a result, Sunday (opening day), felt much more laid back than it has the past couple years, simply due to the fact that Working Man (ie the time before the gates open, when the real work is done) was still delayed in its transition to Burning Man by the weather.
None, however, were as bad as what hit the folks who were on playa the day before gate opened - the 70 mph winds forced gate to shut down, and delayed many camps and art projects from finishing setup on time. As a result, Sunday (opening day), felt much more laid back than it has the past couple years, simply due to the fact that Working Man (ie the time before the gates open, when the real work is done) was still delayed in its transition to Burning Man by the weather.
The bugs were everywhere a couple weeks before gate opening!
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It was dusty in 2015, and it was cold. And by cold, I mean that at 4 pm on Friday I was decked out in fur and was loaning friends who came back to my camp with me some cold-weather clothing. 4 pm! I've never seen anything like that on the playa at this time of year before. This also happened to be in the middle of Friday's fairly epic dust storm, which followed in the footsteps of multiple hardcore duststorms in the previous week.
And despite it all, it was an amazing year for art in my opinion. On a personal level, I became a core part of the Temple team, and Burn.Life readers raised a lot of money for it. In fact, Burn.Life was responsible for more donations to the Temple than any other site, including the official Burning Man site/blog. It was immensely satisfying, and I thought the Temple was stunning. Michael Garlington's Totem of Confessions was another standout piece this year, as was LOVE, and, of course, Marco Cochrane's Re-at. All are shown below. Burning Man 2015 also featured a very unfortunate bit of censorship by the BMORG. This Vice article runs down what happened, but briefly, the wonderful Totem of Confessions featured, among many other pieces of art, a nun masturbating with a cross inside it. The nun's lower body was in a cabinet (with her upper body poking out) and Burning Man requested, ahead of time, that a lock be placed on the cabinet to stop people from opening it. They did, but they didn't lock it. Jonny Poynton, lead carpenter for the Totem, said, "You are joking me," Poynton remembered reacting to the news. "I mean, radical free expression?" Reportedly, this censorship is a result of the Burning Man org feeling pressured by Pershing County law enforcement. I have no insight into their relationship and the ability of the Org to push back, but I personally find the censorship to be very disappointing. It's not the first time that's happened unfortunately. Remember that Jiffy Lube camp had their art of two men having sex effectively censored in 2001. |
The Temple of Promise. This was the first big art project I was a part of.
My 2015 Burning Man video. I'm pretty happy with this one. Hope you like it!
A Lamplighter at work.
Part of the inside of camp Cirque Gitane.
The third in Marco Cochrane's series, entitled, "R-Evolution". Photo: Matt Mihály
Michael Garlington's "Totem of Confessions." The Burning Man organization censored a piece of art inside of it this year, which was fairly controversial. It featured a nun whose upper body was visible, and a lower body hidden inside a box you could open, to discover that the nun was masturbating with a cross. Reportedly, the art was censored out of fear that the Pershing County law enforcement folks would object to the potential for children to be exposed to it. My take? Kind of bullshit. If law enforcement wants to shutter our freedom of expression, then let them do it. We shouldn't lie down and do it for them.
"Love" by Alexander Milov.