Burning Man Live

“Burning Man is just like going to Las Vegas on Mars. You have to learn how to live on Mars first before you enjoy the parties. It’s survival first, party second… The Burning Man org learned we have to have toilets, roads, and support systems. NASA probably should learn from you guys.”

“The art that’s out at Burning Man, there’s no other place on the planet for it. And I tell people — this is my tagline for Burning Man — It’s the most creative place on the planet, for a week. Wouldn’t you want to go there? I think I want to go to the most creative place on the planet, and experience a planetary event like that. This is a planetary thing. This is not a San Francisco thing or an Austin thing. It’s a world wide global thing.”

As artists, the reason we build big things is to bring in the community. So for us, the community-building and making things accessible is just really at the foundation of most of our projects. We just have an interest in removing barriers for other artists. ~MJ Brovold

“Just going to Burning Man for so long, I have a very weird and interesting and funny experience at Burning Man, because you don’t have to be me to get to talk to a lot of strangers, but it certainly makes it weirder!” ~Mark Day

“You better watch out You better watch out You better watch out You better watch out…”  ~Santas at Portland SantaCon ’96

“It’s like the time of the year when everybody’s working on projects and you’re sharing information, energy, know-how, with all the other communities that are there, and with the sole intention of going out and sharing. And you get excited like, oh, so what are they building? And what are we building? And we’re part of a bigger community of people that are doing things to share with other people.” ~Michael Christian

ROOTHUB:  This place can really activate parts of you that, even as you’re going through it, you don’t realize until years later. It’s like these frequencies, these seeds that start, and grow over time, the more you show up; the more you give without expecting some sort of reciprocity; the more you lean into struggle; the more you take care of yourself as you do all of these things.  That impact of community and my…

“When you go to the playa, and you’re in this decommodified environment, all you have is how you show up. I’ve learned to approach community-building with collaboration and kindness. Whether that was building a theme camp, or founding Youngstown, or running the Office of Arts and Culture, I approach it with kindness and collaboration and a real spirit of genuine curiosity. As long as you stay curious, a lot can be possible.” ~Randy Engstrom

Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” And I believe, not think, I believe, that Descartes only gave us half of the equation. As a paradox embracer, I want to add to things.  “I think therefore I am,” I believe carried an arrogance that thinking was the highest order of human achievement. So I want to add another line.  I think, therefore I am. I care, therefore we are.  And you cannot think your way to ‘we.’ ~John Jennifer Marx