Burning Man
represents different things to different people. Throughout its introductory years, Burning
Man was a chance for people to get back in touch with nature and
spirituality. With modern consumerism
running rampant, that connection to spirituality was lost on a grand
scale. Some people began to notice this
lack of connection and wanted to do something to change it. Part of this task of attaining a reconnection
with spirituality dealt with connecting with our primal selves, which we often
cannot identify until we challenge ourselves.
Creating a mini-civilization in the middle of a vast desert with
unpredictable weather, circumstances, and people was considered a great way to
get back into this primal space.
One way
that people challenge themselves is by enduring culture shock. As discussed, Burning Man was designed to be
a huge culture clash. Being so used to
living comfortably in an urban, suburban, or rural community makes it difficult
for anyone to go to the Burning Man environment. A strong sense of community forms at Burning
Man through working together to build a miniature civilization, and also
joining each other’s company through music and other
recreational activities. The formation
of the community through hard work is in itself, very primal.
There is an
idea of “Moving too fast, but going
nowhere.”
Modern primitives allow people to return their roots and get out of
their strict cultural environments. For
instance, in urban environments, we have a created an extremely delicate,
concrete, man-made environment. If one
traffic light goes out in a city, for instance, all hell would break loose for
potentially hours on end. This
demonstrates a divorce that people have from the natural world and their
primitive sides. Burning Man is trying
to re-create those links in an atypical environment where everyone is accepted.
However,
the purpose of Burning Man has started to shift. Traditionally, there was more transition time
for cultures. Now, everything is fast
paced. If you do not adapt quickly, you
are left behind. While Burning Man was
created to get back to that slow transition, primal culture, it has started to
reflect more mainstream, fast-paced culture.
Billionaires now attend Burning Man, creating extensive camping grounds
and bars. Giant pyrotechnic displays,
fireworks, and musical performances are starting to take over the Burning Man
culture, to where it is now becoming more of a culture of a music festival that
people can escape to for a short period of time.
In essence,
Burning Man is becoming more and more about the bottom line. The exact consumer world that Burning Man was
trying to escape from is now permeating the event. This is not to say that Burning Man has
completely lost what it once was; there is still a great forming of community
through the organization and survival, and a lot of the original activities that
were a part of the festivities, such as music and drug use, are still there
today. However, Burning Man has become a
reflection of the society it was trying to change.
No comments:
Post a Comment