The Effort To Drive Barbie Death Camp Out of Burning Man

9/11/2019

Edit: Sorry, turned off the comments as I don't have the time to monitor them and people are starting to attack each other.

You may or may not be aware already that venerable Burning Man camp Barbie Death Camp/Village and Wine Bistro ("BDC") was attacked this year by a group of people who were upset with BDC's art. It's gotten a lot of coverage in the mainstream media last week. (To be clear, I didn't know any of them before this incident, and I'm not part of their camp.)

Photo by Toby Prosser.

I didn't find the accounts in the media to be comprehensive enough to understand what happened, so I reached out to several camp members from BDC to get their views on what happened. That includes the camp lead/founder, a co-lead, and someone who was present for the entire assault and who himself was assaulted by the attackers. Because of the threats that were delivered to the camp, the only person whose real name I'll use is the camp lead - Jim "Doc Pyro" Jacoby. His name is already out there regarding this incident and he has no problem with that.

I would have loved to talk to the attackers to understand first-hand why they did what they did and how they perceived what happened, but I couldn't identify them, and while I reached out to someone who was in loosely involved in organizing the attack, he didn't respond and doesn't appear to be one of the actual attackers.

What is Barbie Death Camp?

For those who haven't visited them or didn't pay enough attention when you did, BDC is a camp full of over a thousand fucked-up Barbie dolls. There are crucified Barbies, Barbies baked in ovens, Barbies' heads on stakes, Barbies used in a foosball game, and so on. There's also a provocative sign, above, that is, certainly, going to push some peoples' buttons. That phrase at the bottom is a paraphrase of "Work Makes You Free", which famously was on the gate over the entrance to Auschwitz.

They started out in the year 2000 when the camp lead, Jim "Doc Pyro" Jacoby, himself Jewish, brought a 11 Barbies to the playa and set them up in and next to an old-school Easy Bake Oven. The next year, a buddy of his from the Jewish fraternity he'd been in during college proposed serving wine as well. They brought 50 Barbies, but people kept showing up and gifting them fucked-up Barbies, and they left with 100 of them.

It just kind of grew from there, and as Jim said, "We realized that almost every American woman has a Barbie story." Today, they have 1400 Barbies (and don't need more!) and their village has over 200 campers in it.

What Happened Leading Up To The Attack?

I wasn't there, but I've got a very comprehensive report from one of their campers - Beagle (he prefers his playa name be used) - as well as the description that Jim Jacoby/Doc Pyro (camp lead) gave me on the phone.

Photo by Clément Baudet.

Sometime on Tuesday of Burn week, a group of disgruntled, possibly Jewish people, that included Australians, came by camp and confronted Doc Pyro. He told me they were screaming insults at him, including calling him a "Jew-hating white supremacist." (Again, Doc Pyro is Jewish, and tells me he lost relatives in the Treblinka death camp during the Holocaust.) They accused him of being a Trump supporter, to which he responded that he'd been doing this since Bill Clinton was President, but they were apparently not swayed by any sort of reasoning, and left angry.

On Friday of Burn week, the group came back. Doc Pyro only caught the tail end of it, but apparently this group came back and started yelling at a camp member sitting out front of the camp. He talked to her after, and she was very shaken, claiming that the group was dangerous and made her nervous. Doc Pyro himself said he poo-poo'd her warning, but admitted he was clearly wrong.

How The Attack Went Down

The next day, Saturday - Man burn day - the group of aggressive Australians and others came by BDC right around 1 pm, yurts on the roof, driving towards the Man, rather than away, which likely signals their intent to search out BDC, since during Exodus there's no reason to drive towards the Man. The exit is the other way.

BDC campmate Beagle provided a detailed summary of what he saw, including drawings showing where people were in relation to each other and the camp as it all went down, and Jim/Doc Pyro provided some details as well.

Beagle, incidentally, asked me to mention that he's Jewish and that his grandfather was a Nazi POW that escaped from a prisoner transport train.

In summary:

The attackers drove up right around 1 pm on Saturday, and were on their apparent way out of BRC, on Man burn Saturday.
The attackers, somewhere between 3 and 6 (sounds like it was difficult to tell if all the occupants of the vehicle were really involved, or if some were just spectating), were loudly confronting a group of about 10 BDC members, who were trying to de-escalate the situation. The male (surprise) SUV driver appeared to be the primary aggressor, but a couple of females and perhaps one other male were aggressive as well.
The attackers threatened to murder BDC members, called them Nazis, etc for 10-15 minutes.
The lead aggressor (Aussie SUV driver) started to vandalize the BDC art, throwing some sawhorses around and then kicking Barbies around.
He kicked a metal crucifix at Beagle, and would have hit him in the eye - possibly blinding him - with the pointy end (pointy so that it can stick into the playa) but for Beagle's sunglasses.
Now entered Wildman (playa name, obviously), the BDC member who went to jail over this. He made what Beagle calls a "half-hearted (i.e. not aggressive) attempt to prevent the main aggressor from lifting up and throwing pieces of the art exhibit".
The aggressors got in their SUV, raised the windows aside from a slit at top, and continued to yell at BDC campers. BDC campers continued to request they leave.
Wildman apparently approached the SUV and hit its left taillight 2-3 times with a mallet to break the glass, then walked away as if nothing happened, holding the mallet behind his back.
The SUV driver/primary aggressor got out of his SUV, yelled, "Who hit my car?!" and then ran towards and tackled Wildman to the ground.
The primary aggressor started screaming over and over that he was going to "slit your fucking throat."
Just then, one of the Black Rock Rangers in BDC approached, thinking it was a medical emergency. Beagle let her know it's a violent confrontation and that police assistance was needed.
Apparently around now, Wildman may have raised the mallet towards the aggressors in a menacing way.
Said Ranger called for law enforcement on her radio and moved into the crowd to separate folks so that the situation can be de-escalated.
The aggressors continued to be menacing and tried to hit another BDC member, but managed to miss and hit the Ranger instead.
After this, they apparently knew they had really gone too far, and stopped getting physical, though kept up the verbal abuse.
Soon thereafter, more BRC rangers arrive, then the BRC security crew, then the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), then the Pershing County Sheriffs.
Wildman is taken to the medical facility, where he was subsequently arrested and taken to Lovelock Correctional Facility, in Lovelock, NV and To the people who attacked Barbie Death Camp
Meanwhile, the aggressors were somehow allowed to drive off. I guess there was no video/photos of them attacking the camp, whereas Doc Pyro says there was some sort of picture or video involving Wildman and the mallet that the attackers had taken.
Doc Pyro and Wildman's girlfriend drove to Lovelock and bailed out Wildman for $3221.

Photo by Ervan.

Here's a long quote from Beagle describing what he saw up until the physical assault on him:
"I arrived at the scene of the aggression while on my way to the BDC piano for a morning musical finger exercise. As I approached the BDC art piece from the camp next door, I noticed that there was an extremely agitated group hurling insults and threats at calm, collected, and BDC campers fruitlessly attempting situational deescalation.

I stopped about 15 feet away and moved closer after about 5 to better position myself to aid in the deescalation. It was shortly after this point that the primary aggressor, an Australian-accented man in his mid-20s, began picking up the art piece perimeter components - wooden ~3 foot sawhorses - and throwing them into the center of the art piece. After throwing a few, he used the new access to the interior of the art piece to kick as many pieces, and as far in as he could. From the far corner of the art piece, he kicked his way towards where I was standing, throwing additional wooden sawhorses through the entire path of destruction. I was unfortunately standing in the path of his rampage which placed me downstream of the art pieces that he was aggressively kicking. His aggression resulted in one of the metal uprights for the Barbie - a thick rod of aluminum about 10 inches long - being launched directly into my face. I happened to be wearing my sun glasses at the time, and so the rod simply bounced off the glasses and onto the ground behind me.

It was then that I decided to step back a few feet - this man was more than just a vandal. He clearly didn't have respect for the bodily harm of others and was well on his way to instigating violence. "

Beagle helpfully provided these diagrams below of how things went down. You should be able to figure out who the *redacteds* refer to based on the above summary. Click to bring up larger versions.

The Aftermath

Wildman's first concern, according to Doc Pyro, was his job. He's got a sensitive job (I'll decline to specify what) for which he would, by law, lose his job if convicted of a felony. He's also out $8500 thus far in legal fees, plus the bail money that Doc put up, ironically because he decided to stick around to wait for law enforcement, assuming that the aggressors would be arrested for vandalizing his camp's art and physically attacking his campmate's, plus physically assaulting a BRC Ranger.

I have sympathy for the guy (whom I don't know, to be clear), because I think smashing these folks' taillights was the least they had coming. Don't get me wrong, I don't condone violence on the playa, but if people were attacking my camp's art and campmates I might choose to act quite inappropriately back at them in the heat of the moment, potentially regretting it later.

Doc Pyro tells me that because it's for criminal defense, platforms like GoFundMe won't work for them, but if you wanted to contribute to offsetting Wildman's costs, you can paypal Doc Pyro at jimdrpyro@aol.com.

Please use the friends + family option/trusted sender so fees aren't charged. Fwiw, after speaking to Doc I trust him to use the money for its intended purpose, and I donated in the name of radical self-expression. As of the day before this publishing, they'd raised about $5500 for him so far, which is great!

My Thoughts

I want to get this out of the way: Barbie Death Camp's art makes me uncomfortable. It's not art I would personally choose to be part of. For me, some kind of invisible line in my head is crossed by the Auschwitz banner. I don't like it.

But you know what? That's ok. It's ok that it makes me uncomfortable. It's ok that it makes other people uncomfortable. Sometimes art does that. Burning Man doesn't owe you a safe space and, in fact, you should expect to be uncomfortable sometimes, physically and emotionally, while there.

If their camp was actually anti-Semitic, they'd deserve to be run off the playa. Radical inclusion may be a principle, but bigots can stay away.

It's not, however. Aside from the fact that the camp founder is a Jew who lost relatives at Treblinka (and that multiple other camp members are Jewish), this camp is engaging in the long tradition of parodying the unimaginably horrible. Think of the musical "Springtime for Hitler" in The Producers, which Doc Pyro cited, or even Roberto Benigni's "Life is Beautiful".

Springtime for Hitler, from The Producers.

Long-time Burner Terry Grossman said something which I thought was quite apt:

"As someone who had relatives who died in Auschwitz, I have to say that it always struck me as the only way to cope with absurdist inhumanity: with absurdist humor."

I get it - that's not everyone's cup of tea. Some people prefer to deal with tragedy by elevating it and treating it with reverence. Others do it with humor. The former are often offended by the latter, and the latter often feel like the former create an oppressive atmosphere. (You can find that dichotomy of viewpoints at Temple burns in fact. Think of the controversy of the Freebird incident at the '12 Temple burn.)

I salute Doc Pyro and his campmates for running a camp that is completely in keeping with Burning Man's founding Cacophony Society spirit. This is not a PLUR festival, people.

I fear, however, that camps that push boundaries like Barbie Death Camp are not long for the playa. As Burning Man has become more mainstream, the culture that birthed it is dying away, to be replaced by a more social media-ready one, and there is nowhere where dissent is less tolerated than social media today, whatever cultural or political 'side' you're on. Whether it's Trump supporters and their complete intolerance for criticism of him, or liberals screaming at each other over perceived insufficient ideological purity, social media brings out the worst in us in terms of tolerating viewpoints that aren't ours.

That social media sphere is where the larger discussion around Burning Man happens today, and unfortunately that same intolerance of dissent seems likely to end up creating a lot of pressure on the few camps left like BDC that really upset people.

Indeed, the reason Beagle (the guy who provided the detailed description of the attacks above) didn't want his real name used is that he's uncomfortable with the accusations of anti-Semitism the camp's getting.

Further, Doc Pyro tells me he's not sure he'll be back to the playa, and if he does, it'll be for one more time only, citing the attacks as one of (but not the only) reason.

To The Shitty People Who Attacked Barbie Death Camp

First, you suck.

Second, there were something like 1500+ placed theme camps this year. If you don't like theirs, go to another one. Hell, if you really don't like theirs, grab yourself some megaphones and stand outside their camp letting them know what you think, loudly and at length. Self-expression works both ways!

But vandalizing their art and physically assaulting people? No. You have no right to do that, morally or legally. You were in the wrong. You're just lucky Burners tend to be peaceful out there and that nobody had video of your actions. I don't know who you are, but I'd imagine you're newcomers to Burning Man. While I mostly hope you'll be charged somehow, that seems unlikely at this point, so I'll stick to hoping you won't return to the playa.

Subversion (playa name)

9/12/2019 04:20:29 pm

It seems to me that the Aussie's blanked out when it came to several of the Burn's central principles: Radical Inclusion, Radical Self-Expression and Gifting. Bringing Violence to the Burn is NOT Gifting. Sad, that there will always be a small number of folks that ruin things for the rest of the Contributing Burners.

Aaron

9/12/2019 04:48:51 pm

I've been Burning since 1999. I camped near the BDC people for many of those years. They've always been nice and pleasant. Sickens me to read about judgmental people storming in and demanding the Burn (the World) bend to their will and not listen to the facts. Hopefully the angry people in this event never come back.

Chaim link

9/12/2019 04:51:17 pm

As a Proud Playa Practicing Jew, I mirror your sentiments. What a wonderful distillation! I'm also uncomfortable with their art.... and I LOVE IT. I know the intention is to put a whoopie cushion under the ass of genocide, and I appreciate it. I NEED it. Lots of us do. Art, comedy, music, etc.. has the unique capacity to let the dirty air out of the worst parts of the human experience, and BDC are experts. I thank them for their service, and you for your important article.

Stay up BDC.

Shalom MotherFuckers

upful life

9/12/2019 05:04:50 pm

well stated. i agree 100%

crazy gypsy

9/13/2019 10:27:34 am

very well stated. i agree 100%
it also makes me uncomfortable and therefore should remain.

Stow

9/12/2019 04:54:32 pm

I wasn't there this year, but was in '12 and was both irritated and touched by Freebird invading everyones' Temple burn. I assumed it was an homage, which was later confirmed. As an anomaly, that incident belongs in Burner Lore alongside so many other Cacophony-esque hijinks throug the years. My fear then was that we had a new precedent and that Temple Burns would lose the super power of mass silence. That didn't happen, but change is inevitable. And sometimes that's good, sometimes not.
Some changes though hollow out what makes Burning Man Burning Man. To me, BDC and their Irreverent ilk FUCK YOUing everyone are one of the main ingredients in the magic brew. Without them, we're Coachella. If we let BDC or Doc get run off by a few obtuse self righteous pip squeaks who can't channel their rage toward the million REAL problems 21st century humans are facing, maybe we deserve to be Coachella.

Jack

9/13/2019 03:08:35 am

Agreed 100%. Temple burns haven't been silent in half a decade. It's so sad.

CapnJoe

9/12/2019 05:28:26 pm

I came up right after the confrontation, so I didn't see what happened. The guy was in his Suburban still cursing though. After Wildman was taken away supposedly to the Med facility, the Pershing Co. police and BLM Rangers just let them drive away! Found out a short time later that they arrested Wildman. I know him pretty well as I have been in BDC for 10 years. In that time I haven't seen any violence from anyone, especially him. The whole thing is a miscarriage of justice I think. Wonder if they got the other peoples names and addresses? Woops, they don't live in the US. They are gone! Hope this mess goes away soon. No matter if it is dismissed, it will still cost Wildman a lot of money. The police more or less convicted him on the spot!

adam cram link

9/12/2019 06:31:21 pm

this is sad..but not surprising to hear. You made great art & people were clearly moved by it. Good job!!! keep it up & fuck comfort zones. Nature evolves when stressed.

Anti M

9/12/2019 07:06:17 pm

I remember the early days of BDC, and knew the art for what it was, wringing out the absurdity of humanity. Yes, it is uncomfortable, but also, important.

I have camped with BDV once. I may have contributed an Ozzy doll one year. This attack is heinous, nearly incomprehensible. Don't like the art? Discuss it, make your own art, do a cacophonic performance in protest, but keep your damn hands to yourself.

Fez

9/12/2019 07:06:48 pm

As a wise person, perhaps it was my Mom, once said: "two wrongs don't make a right." Don't want to get arrested and jeopardize your job? Don't take a blunt object and smash the lights off a car.

Texas Jesus

9/12/2019 07:59:31 pm

I'm sure knows that principle. Its not quite a "two wrongs making a right" situation.

Your Mom

9/13/2019 10:15:15 am

Yup. This write up has so much spin. The guy took a malot and smashed light on their car, and then was brandishing the malot when rangers and cops were around, apparently.

You want to make "provocative" "art" that pieces people off, and they come and yell at you? The kick over some of your Barbie dolls? Cry me a fucking river.

Monday

9/13/2019 10:15:53 am

Of all the complexity that was painstakingly included in this article by the author, your comment added so much value.

Too bad the author didn't think of it himself and save himself all the time he spent not making this a over-simplistic idiom.

Catnip

9/12/2019 08:01:25 pm

Thank you for your thoroughness in writing your article. Everything else I have seen skewed the facts towards sensationalism. I am a member of BDC and appreciate all the support from the Burner community and hope that the aggressors in this confrontation will be identified and properly dealt with. Vandalism and physical attacks are not tolerated EVER. BDV has some of the most positive, friendly and inclusive interactive events on playa. Whenever I tell people I am with this camp all I’ve ever heard is “I love that camp”. We are a family of burners and will persevere.

Mosquito

9/12/2019 08:11:28 pm

I'm a long-time burner and also third generation holocaust survivor actively healing from intergenerational trauma. I generally get extremely triggered by anything with even the slightest hint of anti-semitism. I've NEVER experienced BDC as anti-semitic, and that was before all this happened and I learned that the founders of the camp were Jewish and also affected by the holocaust.

I have yet to see a single offended person who was personally affected by the holocaust. If you weren't affected personally by the holocaust you don't get to tell people who were what's offensive.

Thanks for this piece. I found it informative and balanced.

Ninja

9/12/2019 09:11:03 pm

So I was wondering why I saw BLM officers there that day. This article is very thorough. It's an art piece made to leave people feeling uncomfortable BUT it's definitely not to support white supremacists. I hope they come next year and double in Barbe size! We have to push back against confused, uninformed, people.

Obscuro

9/12/2019 09:12:04 pm

How many people on this thread have helped propagate the, "Punch a Nazi" meme?

Anyone sense a connection between advocating violent responses to speech and what happened in this situation?

Well I certainly don't! I'm woke! This is an isolated incident perpetrated by assholes with no systemic connection to two decades of aggressively selling the idea that speech is equivalent to violence throughout western academia and four or so years of the "Punch a Nazi" meme growing in popularity.

I'm sure glad more shit like this won't be happening! Isn't it great to be one of the good people who know what is right and wrong to say and who know who really deserves to be silenced with a beat down?!

Hooray for us!

Hemmingway

9/12/2019 09:53:37 pm

I was there when this happened and saw almost the entire thing. Someone with me took a video of the people who attacked members of BDC and we provided it to the police on the spot. I cannot believe that the only person arrested was fr BDC. The aggressors were being very violent without being provoked and we're escalating physical attacks against BDC members. In desperation one of the BDC people grabbed a hammer to defend himself. He did not use it to hit the attackers, even when they physically attacked people. Instead he seemed to hit the back of their car as a warning, while they were still outside attacking people. It was the sensible thing to do in the moment. The rangers were trying to de-escalate the situation but didn't seem to have a good sense of how to handle it. When we spoke to the police they assured us the car of attackers would be stopped before they left BM. I'm really disappointed to here that didn't happen

Mick

9/13/2019 07:51:44 am

Hi there. If you were a witness to all of this chaos and not directly involved it would be very helpful to wild man if you reached out to the people from BBC and offered to make a statement supporting your version of events and wild man’s actions or lack there of.

Dana

9/12/2019 09:58:17 pm

Good God all you people get a life. You don’t like it, don’t fucking look!! That display is for personal people that choose to indulge themselves at the burning man and sign a disclosure when you buy the ticket.. this issue is not even a matter to be discussed publicly because assuming you attend the event and read the back of the ticket, You assume all responsibility for no judgment Or opinions That can be publicly stated

Mojo

9/12/2019 10:18:09 pm

Political satire via parody is a long human tradition. So is the long tradition of Burning Man being a place where that parody can be safely radically expressed. Anyone else remember Self Abortion Camp? If art makes you think hard about it, it really reaches the level of being GOOD art. Since I am disabled, should I be angry and violent about the figures on playa missing pieces? This is about people trying to stifle expression that they don't understand with violence. This coming year will be my 22nd burn, and I am devastated that we have to deal with violent bullies telling us what we can and cannot present as political parody. Those who need to meet self expression with violence need to go join Isil. There you will be welcomed, not here. You who did this, please reach out to me, I am willing to learn and try to understand. Until then, I am wary of Aussie burners.

BobC

9/12/2019 10:31:57 pm

I understand there was artist at an east coast regional burn who created an installation which include an upside down burning cross, which understandably offended some African-American participants. I don't recall hearing any violent reactions, but it certainly doesn't make people of color feel like they are welcome to the community with vestiges of lynching and the KKK.

Good art should invoke emotional responses ( both good and bad), but Burning Man does not exist free of the context of US and World history, despite how much the privileged participants would like to believe that it does. Art should also show respect for its context else it is not really art; but only noise for the sake of shock value.

Artists need to be responsible for their art and should have some empathy for other fellow human beings that are supposedly part of the common Burner community. What is the good of a community if we don't look out for one another and just because one person is not affected by visual cues does not mean that others are not. People have feelings and to ignore that is simply arrogant, selfish and privileged.

Tswanda

9/13/2019 03:15:28 am

Fuck your feelings. This is Burning Man and it isn't for pussies.

oldgrumpyburner

9/13/2019 08:23:57 am

So if an artist wants to bring a piece to the playa they should first check to make sure that it doesn't offend ANYONE? and if it does they shouldn't bring it? The man offends me, so we're good to ban it going forward?

M Rogers

9/13/2019 11:32:35 am

No, the camp organizers should use common sense and not try to marginalize groups that suffer from hate crimes on a daily basis.

szebra

9/13/2019 11:13:57 am

who gets to decide what's "responsible art" vs "disrespectful art" ?

you?

Dream Queen

9/12/2019 11:45:55 pm

Wow. If this is what Burning Man's become, I'm glad I only went once in 2010 (a year in which nobody was offended by this camp, and if they were they certainly didn't throw a hissy fit about it). If you can't handle someone's camp theme without becoming violent, you are the problem...not just with this festival but with society in general. Radical self expression is one of the tenets of Burning Man, bitches.

Oh, and the leader of BDC is Jewish himself so your stupid claims are based on nothing. "Art should comfort the disturbed & disturb the comfortable." Ever hear that cliche quote, douchebags? Sounds like BDC did its job as everyone's talking (whining) about it weeks after the fact.

Bottom line: You have no right to smash up someone's belongings with a baseball bat or demand that they take something down that they have every right to display. If you don't like it, change the channel or keep walking. Better yet, come up with something more creative & provocative next year for your own camp. Maybe a Ken doll is life camp?

Magic Doc

9/13/2019 07:10:13 am

So sad to hear of this. We've enjoyed the hospitality of BDC since 2012 and appreciated its parody. I'm had Jewish as well and never once thought of it as being anti-Semitic. I hope that they return bigger and stronger next year.

salt

9/13/2019 08:32:53 am

Art is supposed to get a reaction out of people, instill and inspire consciousness. it's supposed to be felt, and hopefully that feeling causes change and growth that furthers our species.....BDC did all of that and more. BDC has been on the playa longer than 95% of the newbies aimlessly wandering around BRC today, which says a lot more than the invasive SJW's that inflict their horrible judgement and "i'm offended" entitled derangement syndrome on every poor burner they can.... calling BDC "TRUMP SUPPORTERS" is the height of insanity....these people need to be exposed, outed, and taken into custody in the least, as well as permanently BANNED from ever going to BRC again....

James Juletid

9/13/2019 08:40:04 am

Invoking Nazi symbolism (irrespective of the backgrounds of the people who did it), is the last thing that the playa needs, and it immediately removes Jewish burners from the context of Burning Man and places them squarely back in the default world where their relatives were murdered for being different.

If Burning Man benefits from Nazi symbolism, then why stop there? Why not have an exhibit with black dolls picking cotton and being whipped by white slave masters? How about a Nanjing exhibit with Chinese dolls being raped and murdered by Japanese soldier dolls? What about a a Ku Klux Klan exhibit with robes and cross burnings? The religion/race of the creators is irrelevant. What is relevant is that this would be absolutely be considered hate speech in the default (http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/hate) insofar as it harasses, threatens, and creates a hostile environment for a minority group.

For the people on this thread who can't understand that, you don't get to tell someone whose family has been impacted by these events how they should feel in the presence Nazi imagery. You don't control this narrative and your comments are hurtful and misguided.

I strongly condemn the attacks that occurred, but if you take them at face value, this is exactly why Nazi imagery isn't appropriate at Burning Man – it drove people whose families were (presumably) impacted by these events to physical violence. For the people on this thread who can't understand why this is an issue, I'd pose the following question: have you ever felt so threatened or harassed by an exhibit at Burning Man that it drove you to physical violence? I think not. When a Burner runs into the fire to kill himself, BMOrg changed its Man Watch strategies and policies. The same should hold true here.

Step back for a moment and imagine a situation in your life that would drive you to physical violence, and then imagine that situation being transported to the playa. How would you respond? The point at which "art" drives people to commit violence or harm themselves is a threshold that Burning Man has no business crossing, and it's one that BMOrg and others ought to be more mindful of going forward.

Jackalope

9/13/2019 10:11:01 am

"the last thing the plays needs"

Spare me. Please get over yourself. You obviously have no clue "what the plays needs." Do the rest of us a favor and next year go to LIB and take some of your sparkle pony friends with you.

9/13/2019 10:43:32 am

I've always found that the most intelligent people respond with ad hominem attacks rather than critiques based on the substance of an argument. Congratulations, you've won the debate.

I've been attending BM for the past 12 years, which is probably 12 more than you. If you think Burning Man needs more Nazism and white power exhibits, then you're welcome to create them and see how they fare. My guess is that they'll do about as well as White Ocean.

Adrenaline

9/13/2019 10:43:40 am

"next year go to LIB and take some of your sparkle pony friends with you."

Ah yes, Burning Man, where we're radically inclusive, unless you voice an opinion that makes me feel uncomfortable, and then you need to get the fuck out.

And that's how "real Burners" value radical self-expression. Maybe you should be the one getting tickets to LIB, eh?

MAGA

9/13/2019 11:13:20 am

James Juletid, the only thing that needs to be removed from BM is you, and your shitty attitude....YOU don't get to decide what is ART.....if YOU don't like it, that is 100% completely YOUR FAULT...and YOUR RESPONSIBILITY....(.) YOU have NO RIGHT to NOT be offended.....in fact, the brilliant and masterful art of BDC is made specifically for the purpose of OFFENDING YOU! yes YOU! that is exactly what is there for....and I'm GLAD you are offended.....

9/13/2019 11:38:21 am

I bet you're going to deport him yourself, right papa Trump?

9/13/2019 11:17:14 am

By your logic, this is offensive to Arabs and should be banned. I'm sure you can find all sorts of things that someone finds offensive. WE MUST STOP ALL OF IT.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/dd/a4/dc/dda4dc38b1169c936d3c593439374c74--burning-man-costumes-burning-man-outfits.jpg

Chaos

9/13/2019 11:25:51 am

I understand your sentiment.

but...

What is more powerful, attacking another person because of your provoked feelings and inability to control your temper or see something you don't like and exercise self-control to voice a contrary opinion in a non-violent way? I submit to you the latter is more powerful.

Barbie Dolls that depict violence isn't violence.

TRUMP 2020 link

9/13/2019 11:53:18 am

"the doll made me do it" officer....REALLY ...it did.... what kind of moron blames a child's toy for their violent behavior ?!??!??!

9/13/2019 12:18:15 pm

I'm quite surprised that you can't sympathize... you worship a life-size, septuagenarian Ken doll who likes to deport Mexicans for sport.

Parker Mankey

9/13/2019 12:30:14 pm

deporting rapists, pedophiles and sex abusing criminals is the right thing to do if you actually care about the legal immigrants who went to the back of the line and asked to live here.... while your shithole sanctuary city is infested with needles, poop, typhus, black plague and homeless...while you give 14k a month to people who didn't ask permission, didn't pass a background check,didn't get checked via health screening for deadly diseases, and who committed violent crime against women and children....but glad you banned straws though...glad you got your priorities in order...just steal more money from the working class, that will solve everything and of course "orange man bad" you lil NPC twatwaffle....

9/13/2019 09:20:51 am

As homage to BDC, our camp will be displaying a lone Barbie to show our solidarity with BDC.
#ImWithBarbie

9/13/2019 09:41:46 am

This was the first I'm hearing about this incident, so thank you for writing it.

I am curious about something that you wrote though:

"The attackers, somewhere between 3 and 6 (sounds like it was difficult to tell if all the occupants of the vehicle were really involved, or if some were just spectating), were loudly confronting a group of about 10 BDC members, who are trying to de-escalate the situation. The male (surprise) SUV driver appeared to be the primary aggressor, but a couple of females and perhaps one other male were aggressive as well."

What did you mean by (surprise) after you've identified that the driver of the SUV was male?

Stardust

9/13/2019 10:13:49 am

A bigger concern to me is that the world seems to have forgotten the lessons of WWII. The BDC art is a vivid parody and works as a reminder of our recent record of being willing to support mass genocide in the spirit of nationalism. That some simplistic individuals fail to understand its nuance and are driven by their reptilian brain to respond with anger through violence in an 'altruistic' act is further evidence that we are once again preconditioned toward inhumane acts.

9/13/2019 10:16:07 am

It's very sad that this type of nonsense is starting to happen. People aren't doing a good enough job educating the virgins they bring to the playa. This isn't a love-in. It's an event DESIGNED to push your emotional/physical limits. Censorship is antithetical to the ethos of Burning Man.

9/13/2019 10:48:03 am

It's sad that you're so ready to support any type of messaging to preserve what you're calling an "uncensored" event, which it never was. Should you be able to incite violence and riots because it's uncensored?

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" –Emerson

BARBIE BABY

9/13/2019 11:49:37 am

James Juletid....wow....just wow. so fragile your lil ego is....destroyed by a lil plastic doll..... If you blame a 6' doll for 'inciting violence'....it means you are nothing but a violent trigger happy deranged lunatic looking for a reason to beat someone up....and then blame them for 'making you do it' - no one "makes" you do anything...ever.....if you are triggered by everything you see, then you are nothing but an toy for everyone to use at your expense, and good for them, they are teaching you a lesson.... time to wake up lil boy.....wakey wakey from your deep sleep...time to join the human race lil man'..... dolls don't cause riots, deranged fascists do.... go ahead and keep blaming a doll for your lack of ....well...everything.

9/13/2019 11:08:54 am

Jackalope is correct, censorship is the same as book burning (something real nazis did) If James Juletid doesn't like the ART at BM, then stay at home, and complain at the TV instead of inflicting your entitlement and your " it's your fault i'm offended at everything" piss poor attitude.....yea, stay at home, NO ONE at BM wants you there...

9/13/2019 11:29:40 am

Equating the removal of hate speech/incitement of violence at Burning Man with the book burning during the Holocaust a) shows your ignorance of history, and moreover, b) shows your incredible ignorance of Burning Man's history. The Suicide Club and the Cacophony Society were both about engaging in experiences that were risky and potentially uncomfortable, but never about making people feel excluded based on their race, religion or background. Do yourself a favor and read more about the history of the event (https://medium.com/@daniel.ed.morrison/an-anthropological-history-of-burning-man-c3b163fb4c0e).

As for attending the Burn, I'll be there every year until the apocalypse, so respectfully, FUCK YOUR BURN TO ETERNITY :)

9/13/2019 10:21:40 am

You seem to make reference to the race/religion of the camp organizers a lot – would this have been ok if the organizers hadn't been Jewish? Exactly. This is utter hypocrisy and a disgusting display of racism and hate speech.

9/13/2019 11:17:19 am

I laugh at the term "hate speech" because it is so arbitrary and it can basically encompass everything. What I define as freedom of speech you define as hate speech. The freedom to express ourselves uncensored should be a fundamental right as a human. Unfortunately, a lot of countries don't allow it but thankfully the United States of America was founded on this principal. This is despite all the efforts of people these days or thing speech that offends them should be censored.

Your right to disagree or hate the BDC doesn't trump their right to express themselves. Period. I understand why those "Aussies" were upset, but I don't think resorting to physical violence because you are "offended" is the right course of action. Be offended - it's okay.

9/13/2019 11:24:12 am

Agree, 100%. Ironically, even the author displays this hypocrisy by saying that if it was "actually anti-semitic" it would not be okay, and deserves to be run off the play - as if there's an objective definition of such a thing.

9/13/2019 10:59:08 am

"Burning Man doesn't owe you a safe space and, in fact, you should expect to be uncomfortable sometimes, physically and emotionally, while there. If their camp was actually anti-Semitic, they'd deserve to be run off the playa. Radical inclusion may be a principle, but bigots can stay away.

It's not, however. "

Well, that's problematic. The aggressors thought it was anti-Semitic. So, who gets to decide if something is "actually anti-Semitic" or not? You? It's not objective, is it?

Who gets to be the arbiter that decides what should and should not be "run off the playa?" Who gets to decide what is "actually bigoted" versus "not really bigoted" ... ?

What if YOU think something is "actually bigoted" or "really anti-semitic" and others disagree? You'll be in the exact same situation as these Aussies.

You can't have it both ways, sorry.

Rebecca Parker Mankey link

9/13/2019 12:02:01 pm

James Juletid real identity is Rebecca Parker Mankey ...... beating people up for having a doll, or a red hat...... oh, we are all VICTOR.....every dam day....

Steve Sisneros

9/13/2019 01:14:08 pm

Okay, my take on BDC from my first burn in 2011 was all about Barbie and not about a tragic historical event. My perception was that BDC was telling me that we shouldn’t worship unnatural or unattainable beauty, like the Barbie doll. And the irony for me was that there were soldiers (I believed to be Nazi) marching Barbies to their death, when part of the Nazi doctrine was to create the perfect race. BDC to me was more of an attempt to show a correction to a horrifying time in history rather than revisit it. I’ve always spoke to the message that I got from BDC to others who haven’t experienced it, that is was for me all about undoing a wrong rather the promoting it.

Phee

9/13/2019 02:58:37 pm

Barbie stays in BRC. Haters, assholes and people who assault and vandalize art must leave! Take the racist ADL with you too!

9/13/2019 03:15:11 pm

WTF were the vandals? No one got a license plate? No photos?

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