Unforgettable fire

Myself and my producer Aprile Blake first went to Burning Man in 2000,” Dearbhla Glynn relates. “We’d heard so much about it and really wanted to check it out. We got some money from the Irish Film Board to go and make a documentary. The first year, we had some contacts and knew some people we wanted to follow. We went out there for a week and it just blew my mind. When we left the first year, I knew we’d have to go back. In the end, it took us three years to get our documentary Highly Flammable finished.

“Essentially Burning Man is the world’s only populist arts festival and provides an annual ritual focal point for communal artistic endeavour. The founder, Larry Harvey, started it in Baker Beach in San Francisco. He burnt a huge effigy of a man in 1986 and then the following year he and about 80 people went out to the Nevada Desert and did it there – and it continued to grow from there. But it’s only in the last six years that it’s gotten really big. There were 30,000 people there last year. It’s actually the third biggest city in Nevada even though it’s only on for one week of the year. They work on it all year round though. It’s huge. You’ll never see everything.

“It’s a hostile environment and you really have to acclimatise. I’d never been in a desert before, and the dust gets everywhere – into your lungs, into the camera. It’s incredibly hot during the day and then really cold at night. You have to remember to eat and, of course, you have to keep on drinking water, otherwise you’ll get dehydrated.

“Tickets are about $200 but they go up and up the closer you get to the festival. So if you wind up paying at the gate, it’s gonna cost you about $300 or something. They want you to buy the tickets early so they can put the money back into it.

“They don’t make money out of this. I’ve had so many arguments with people about this. When you see all the artworks, you understand. It costs a fortune to do it. I know that they only cleared 14 grand last year. And Larry Harvey is not sitting on a wodge of cash. He lives in a little apartment in San Francisco. And they could’ve sold out to MTV or whoever.

“But it’s not commercial. They don’t endorse any products and there’s no sponsorship. There’s no money out there. You can only buy coffee, tea and ice. They have this whole gift economy. It used to be barter and people could trade, but now it’s evolved into a gift idea – you give something with no thought of a return and people look after each other. What it came from with Larry Harvey was total disillusionment with the marketing of the ’80s. And it actually works. People really do watch out for each other.

“Burning Man has become really sensationalised in the media over the last few years and the organisers are trying to stop that. You need permission to film and they tag all the cameras. It’s incredibly organised. There’s police out there now too. There didn’t used to be but they have to be there now because it’s just gotten so big. But they don’t really come into the camp. Burning Man kind of have their own Department of Public Works.

“There are some rules. Like, you don’t piss or drop rubbish on the playa. And the only vehicle you can drive has to be an art-car. You can’t just arrive in your car and drive straight in. They’ll take a look at it and decide if it’s good or inventive enough to be allowed in. They even have a post office out there. You can send a letter to anywhere on the playa and it’ll be delivered the same day.

“People do die out there. Essentially you enter at your own risk. I know that in ’95 two people were sleeping way out on the playa and some people were just driving out into the desert – real Mad Max stuff – and they just drove over them. Another year about four people died when they burnt the mausoleum. They just ran right in – maybe they wanted to die that way. Or maybe they were just way too high!!

“But there’s no fighting or anything like that. No bad vibes. Even though there’s people drinking and doing all kinds of drugs, I’ve never once seen any hassle. There’s an amazing feeling of openness and togetherness. It’s all about acceptance and not judging people.

“But it’s a real test of your character. Especially if you’re in a relationship. There’s all kinds of everything out there and a lot of temptation. So it’s a real challenge for a couple. You have to let go of everything. So you have to let go of them, they have to let go of you – and if you come back together, great! It’s like beyond camping. It can be your best and worst camping experience.

“Famous people do go – big bands and DJs. People like Paul Oakenfold have played out there. Julian Gough gave a reading out there last year, which is in the documentary. But it’s not really about big names. Everybody’s on the same level out there. You could be sitting next to Robert De Niro and it wouldn’t matter. It’s a real leveller. No VIP areas or anything like that.

“Burning Man has definitely opened my mind to a sense of community. And I’m less quick to judge people nowadays. Coming from Ireland, you’re almost brought up to judge people. And I’ve learnt how to let go of that. Before Burning Man I’d be talking to somebody and I’d make a judgement on them within five minutes. Now I think, go camping in the desert with them for a week. Then you can make a judgement on them. But who am I to judge anyway?”