The gates of Black Rock City have opened, and BMOrg are still selling tickets on their web site. You can choose to buy a $575 $653 one or a $1500 $1696 one, whichever takes your fancy.
Catch the live video stream here and the BMIR radio stream here.
Burning Man has already been marred by its first death for this year, a 39-year old woman named Kendra Fraser who was found unresponsive – police are investigating. Let’s hope this one is the last. There was a time when deaths at Burning Man were unusual enough that we could write posts recalling them all, such as 2013’s 9 Ways to Die at Burning Man. In 2018 Salon pointed out that “Black Rock City’s staff are 13 times more likely to kill themselves in the off-season than veterans returning from active combat duty.”
Is there any other festival in the United States were people die every year and it’s allowed to keep going?
Are these all accidents, or is there some element of occult sacrifice going on?
In our last post Burning Man and the Gaza War we showed statements from the official Burning Man web site that politics definitely belong on the Playa.
Well, it seems that SOME politics are allowed. Woke politics.
This is the Sigil of Moloch coat of arms of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Although Reuters acknowledges use of the symbol by Ukraine’s Nazis Far Right Nationalists, they claim that’s OK because the symbol is ancient.
Perhaps predictably, the ADL claims any connection between Ukraine and Khazaria is an Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory. They are probably referring to this Veterans Today article which has 100 million+ views: The Hidden History of the Incredibly Evil Khazarian Mafia. In 2014 The Times of Israel claimed Jews Are In Fact Khazars, then just days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine they updated this 8 year old story in their archives to clarify it was just some Purim humor. #YMMV. Some claim even Purim humor itself originated in Ukraine. You can read about The Khazar Origin of Ancient Kiev on JSTOR. The Khazarian use of the symbol is in the Wikipedia page for the Ukrainian Coat of Arms. The mass religious conversion even gets a mention in Encylcopedia Britannica.
What’s the problem? It’s Radical Self Expression! If people want to make giant statues of Moloch Sigils on the Playa, more power to them! After all, the Temple theme for 2024 is Togetherness: “In this time of global challenge and conflict, we are invited to find strength in unity, and to be seen, loved, and inspired” [Source: Burning Man web site]
This argument would carry more weight if giant statues of Jesus or Trump were also welcomed. We point to the recent case of the 14-ft Watermelon as evidence that this Tin Principle should be renamed Radical Woke Expression. Say anything you want, provided it is politically correct and aligned to the Progressive narratives that dominate the San Francisco Bay Area.
[Source: LA Times]
The piece was removed after an online petition gathered nearly 2000 signatures.
“Burning Man should not be allowing an installation of a watermelon representing political statements against another group,” one person wrote…“This is just crazy that this art was approved after what’s going on in the world after Oct. 7, it needs to be removed ASAP,” another wrote. [Source: LA Times]
Thanks to the work of Elaine Velie at Hyperallergic, a screenshot of the original listing in the 2024 Art Installations was found at the Wayback Machine.
Here’s the official statement from the Org:
Burning Man Project has removed a listing for a 2024 Black Rock City art piece from burningman.org. The listing was made using an anonymous Burner Profile – this violates the terms of our art placement submission process. Additionally, the listing’s content contained language understood by some to be hate speech.
We do not tolerate the use of violent, hateful, or incendiary language on our platforms.
It is customary for the Burning Man website to feature previews of art which Burning Man Project funds – this is called Honoraria art – as well as art that is self-funded and has applied for placement in Black Rock City. The listing was not an Honoraria art project and did not receive funding from Burning Man Project. We have a curation process for placement of all art which is functionally for operational purposes to ensure that height, fire safety, and location-related variables are applied.
Art is a very important form of self-expression, and Black Rock City is a very important venue for self-expression. We do not curate self-expression.
Should the artists want to contact the organization and appeal this decision, they can reach out to the art department using the normal means. Based on the circumstances around the way the listing was submitted, we believe that this is likely not an actual art piece coming to Black Rock City, but that the listing was instead intended to stir an emotional response within the Burning Man community.
We apologize for publishing something that should not have made it onto our website.
Burning Man culture is at its best when we build bridges across differences to make a better world. We are committed to this work.
Is a giant watermelon really more politically offensive than a shade structure under which people were murdered? This piece doesn’t seem like it would need round the clock security from Guardians working in 6 hour shifts.
Political statements for me, but not for thee…
[Source: Avi Katz, Jerusalem Post, via Tony Greenstein]
