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[mysterious drum and flutes, ]

[drum and flutes continue, ]

[michael mikel]
I drew a line on the ground.

And I said, "On the other side
of this line, everything will

And everything has
been different.

[ "Feel the Love" by
Rudimental]

To a lot people who aren't here,

this is just a big party
in the desert.

But really it's a place where
you can explore

the possibilities of what we
would create on this world

if we weren't so busy with
our 9 to 5's.

[tom price]:
The place is an idea.

And that idea is that people
have permission to be whomever

That's so powerful
and so alluring,

that people go to the
worst place in the world,

just to get a little
taste of it.

[woman]:
Burning Man is all about

Why not dress
differently, act differently,

[larry harvey]:
We use the word ethos,

This is all about identity.

It's hard to belong.

And that's really, in creating a
city here--talk about a

A cosmic sense of place.

[marian goodell]:
We had drawn all these people

They were having these
transformative experiences.

But what if they were more
than we could handle?

[harley dubois]:
People say, "What, you do

Which is insane, of course,
because I feel like I do five or

And if we do our job well,
no one even knows we exist.

They don't see
the infrastructure.

[crimson rose]:
There is no book on

how you do an event called
Burning Man.

We sort of made it
up on the fly.

Is this going to work?
Let's try it.

[will roger]: I did have some
advice from circus carnies

and designers and architects
and people like that.

[goodell]: The ten principles
are guidelines.

You know, it's
something to work with.

It means...

Everyone is invited
to come and play

Helping each other find that
little spark of creativity.

It means being responsible for
yourself,

and also being
responsible for others.

I am holding the
decommodification.

Gifting.

Pick it up,
even if it's not yours.

You brought it in,
you can take it home.

[goodell]: You know, we have
very intimate partnerships,

Michael Mikel met Larry in 1988.

And then Larry briefly
dated Harley.

And then Crimson came along
and brought Will in.

And then I came along and was
brought in by dating Larry.

So then what you
have are, you know,

[larry harvey]:
I'm not really a joiner.

And I like to stand off
and watch how people behave.

See I never had to
join anything, people join me.

You know, that was
my solution to that problem.

[tv static]

[man]: Your first...

Well, I've had enough!!

[man laughing]

[harvey]:
I really wasn't an artist.

I had a very, very modest, small
landscaping business.

I was hanging out with
a lot of people,

all of whom were,
in their spare time,

writing novels or painting
pictures or playing music.

So it was sort of a
Bohemian scene.

We had a friend who was
a carpenter, you know, and uh...

I just called him
one day and said,

That's all it amounted to.

I think he may have asked me
to repeat my statement.

[drumming and jingling ]

And along the way,
we called a few friends.

[drumming and
jingling continues]

[people chattering]

[woman] Stay back!

[mikel]: In 1988, I heard
about a group of people

who were going to go
down on the beach

and burn this wooden figure.

And at the time I was involved
with The Cacophony Society.

We did things like
parties in unusual places,

stage plays in
abandoned buildings,

We'd do pranks.

[john law]:
Anything could happen.

You don't know-
you have no idea

Not necessarily fun, or great,
but it could be.

[law]: Could be frightening,
could be transformational,

That's the spirit of Cacophony.

[mikel]: We loved to dress
up in all kinds of costumes.

And Burning Man takes a lot of
that from The Cacophony Society.

[harvey]: Michael Mikel and
John Law attended

That crowd were
connected to others

who'd been out in the
Black Rock Desert.

and using it for
artistic purposes.

It sounded to me like
an ocean you could walk on.

[ mysterious desert music]

[law]: We drew a line in the
dirt and stepped across it.

And it was entirely
transformational.

[

And it was primarily the
environment and --

and a set of free spirits
that made it so.

[harvey]: The diversions
available were very modest

[chuckles]

[drumming continues ]

[engine roaring]

[gunshot]

Real slow, perfect, real slow.

Keep coming,
right at that speed.

Hold that pose.

[people yelling, cheering]

[drumming ends with
cymbal crash]

[cheering and howling continues]

[welding sparks]

[katy boynton]: I have a degree
in child development.

And I was a nanny
for years and years.

Burning Man definitely
changed my life.

Once I got on the playa,

I remember, we hopped
on our bikes.

and I practically slammed
on my brakes and went,

"Oh my god. What is this place."

I walked away from
Burning Man going,

"I need to learn how to weld
'cause I've got ideas."

[marco cochrane]: There's so
much work involved in it,

that I needed people who were
just tenacious lunatics.

Katy was one of the many
miracle people who showed up.

And worked, just full-on,
10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

[sparks buzzing]

[boynton]: When I was coming
back from Burning Man,

I had this
vision in my head.

I had this idea of this
heart that had been

exploded and pieced
back together.

There's so many things that
break our hearts.

And that's what we do.

We pick up the pieces
and we put them back together

and we keep going.

I want to take large
pieces of sheet metal

that will lay over top of it

and be welded together,
riveted together.

In my head it's going to be
about 12 feet tall.

So, that's it.

OTTO: How's it going, Avis?

It is going very well, sir,
we're getting a lot

Okay. Are you helping
with the muralists?

Or are you out
painting out there?

Right now, sir, I'm just
trying to locate a cigarette.

Here's a cigarette.

[otto von danger]:
I'm a veteran.

I've put my life on the
line many times

for people of this nation

and I really hate seeing it go
down the toilet

like it is right now.

Wall Street has affected a lot
of people in a lot of ways.

And I figured,
if I'm going to do this,

I'm going to do it right
and I'm going to do it big.

Burning Man is a great venue

to build giant stuff
and blow it up.

[von danger]:
There's five buildings involved.

They range from 50 feet tall
to 72 feet tall,

so it's a huge piece.

Think about building a block in
downtown in a major city,

that's basically what we're
doing out of wood.

So this is the bull, this is
going to go in the middle of

Tecate Park is the -- is in the
center of Burn Wall Street

surrounded by its four banks and
the New York Stock Exchange.

And then up here, we're going to
have two big glowing red eyes

so at night, again, he'll have
his big demon eyes glowing and,

you know, to show the evil
that is Wall Street.

[von danger]: To me, it's more
a representation of, uh,

of this is what happens to you
if you don't fix things.

When the riots start,
everyone will go down to Wall--

and they're going to blow it up

When you don't know how to
feed your kids, what do you do?

Go kill the rich people
and take all their stuff.

I'm a Marine.

I swear to defend the
Constitution against all enemies

Congressmen and Senators and
President.

These will be capped,

and you can see the ones
that are completed over

I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker,

I don't believe in
everything Burning Man

of the almighty
or whatever like that.

Like, I don't think you should
radically include the hippie

that shows up with just a
backpack and no water, no food,

and expects us to take care of
them 'cause it's a gift economy.

I think, everybody should carry
their own weight,

and enough to help the rest of
the community out.

I mean, obviously we are,
most of the people go to

Hey! Stop hammering!

[john la grace]:
I got married at 24.

She was 21.

And she at the time was a
professional figure skater.

I'd always tell people what she
does and what I do

it's the exact same thing.

The curtains go up,
the lights go on and it's either

the Jon show or the Jamie show,

you know, she'd come home
with a medal,

and I'd come home
with a bag of money,

but it was still a show.

[la grace]:
Well, it's very disconcerting,

in a one week period of time,
to realize that

everything that you've done
in your entire life

leading up to that point

could potentially be wrong.

The a-ha moment for me was,
like, the burn of the man.

And I saw myself in that image.

I saw myself and my life
and everything that I thought

that it was supposed to be

going up in flames.

I lost my job in banking,

I got a divorce,

I came out of the closet.

The last decade of
my life has been

in a constant state of change

and the only thing that's been
consistent in my life

in the last 10 years
has been Burning Man.

Playa Skool is a Burning Man
theme camp.

And we're about
150 members strong.

It was created as a school
because we thought that

our form of giving back to the
Burning Man community

was to create a
platform of learning.

Welcome, citizens of Black Rock
City, is this amazing or what?

[la grace]:
I was a founder of PlayaSkool,

I've been leading the project
management aspects of it,

leading the communication
aspects of it.

We have water trucks that we
have to rent.

We have a 40 foot
kitchen trailer.

All of those things need to be
transported to the Playa

and picked up from the Playa.

It's an overwhelming amount
of work.

[goodell]:
Yes, we decided four yes...

Okay...for crying out loud.

[andie grace]:
Okay...four per person.

This is hard...

Okay so then the better
way to do this is...

Because that's
actually what we

[grace]: So the question isn't,
"How does the system work?,"

maybe the question is,
"How can I get tickets

And we need to change this
to not say, 'Burning Man Ticket

this is 'Burning Man Ticket
Distribution process FAQ.'

Are you going to make these
edits or do you want me to?

[goodell]:
There's a lot happening

We're trying to improve
our infrastructure,

we're trying to improve
our processes,

we're trying to grow
the Burning Man Project

and have it go out in the world
and create networks and connect

You know, a lot of change.

This is to help improve
the ticket process...

But I wouldn't want
anybody to think that

to prove that they're a burner.

I've been helping produce it
since late '96, early '97,

depending on how you want
to slice the numbers,

so at least 15 years.

Fifteen years?

I mean that's longer
than my cat,

you know, it's longer than
any roommate or lover I've had.

I think most of the people here
are on the media team,

but you're the art team
and you're part of art cars...

[goodell]: And we all took on
whatever was in front of us.

I took what was dropped
in my hands,

which was public relations
and communications.

So Larry, this is the media team
and -- and friends.

[goodell]:
And all I wanted to do was

help Larry and the rest
make the magical circus happen

in the Black Rock Desert.

Because that was the most
interesting thing that I

...you know, why is it this, why
is it pagan, or whatever it is

that you hear that you think the
group might learn from,

please feel free to ask it.

[woman]: What are your
thoughts on the expansion

Do you see where it could be
a point where it gets too big

and it loses the essence
of what it is?

Believe me, that-- that
question's been asked for years.

I guess the question is
'Too big for what?'

There's some pretty important
edits here that are...

There's structural typos,
and then there's...

[goodell]: If the most important
thing about being a woman

is to have children
and have a family,

yeah, I absolutely sacrificed
having children

Hands down.

But I take a lot of solace
in the fact that what I've

is build a community that won't
be abandoning me

when I'm in my 60's
or 70's or 80's.

I'm pretty certain that, that's
what we've done is build

a community of people
that are going to look

[goodell]: I don't have enough
stress right now.

If you two would look at me
and ask me to write faster,

it might help.

You don't like me, do you?

[boynton]: When I got back
from the playa I kind of put

saying um, "I'm looking for
work of any sort."

"I will paint your room,
I will organize your closet."

"I will watch your kids, I will
do your grocery shopping."

"Let me know what you need."

And I've been coming out
once a week since then,

working my way
through her house.

I was forced out of my house
because I couldn't afford it

But, I do feel like if I have to
go back to couch-surfing

and living out of
the back of my car,

I feel like I'm stronger
and I'll be able to do that.

Yeah, this is, this is, uh,

it's difficult to talk about
my fears around her.

Just that...

She's gone through
some scary things.

And she's gone through sheer
terror and loss of everything,

and, um, is still doing it.

And, I don't want her
to get hurt.

[la grace]:
Listen -- listen, you guys.

The existential threat
that we face as a camp,

is the fact that we are --
we're marked against the ten

And the one principle that we
got really, you know, raked on

was leave no trace.

So, anyway, put some thought
into it and let me know when

- [man]: Okay.
- [woman]: All right, guys.

[man]: Take care, everyone.

Alright everybody, bye.

Oh my god.

You know, and it's like,
I get anxiety.

I get, like, really -- like,
here's when, like, I get all the

Because I realize, like,
holy shit, you know, like,

we have this
massive thing going on.

that's global with
people everywhere

and so many moving pieces and,

you know, I do, I, like
-- I get, like, tightness

because, you know,
there's just so much to do.

[dubois]: You know, there's
this camp out there that kind

And I kept hearing about it
from this place and that place

And I pieced together that --
that it was one camp.

So I'm convincing myself
that I'm ready, yes, I'm ready.

[dubois]: When I met
Jon, he was really open

he could really help me
get a leg up

on something that could ruin us.

Really, honestly,
this could ruin us.

And there has been
a regular stream of

about plug and play camps,
that it is eroding our event.

You know, I think for us, you
know, Playa Skool was an

in what plug and play really is.

We had 200 people,
they wanted to come with a RV,

have everything that requires
that most people that come

to really think through,
they wanted it ready for them.

[chip conley]: I have been
there seven times.

I had my
50th birthday party there.

I decided to do
a gift economy to my friends.

And so I invited 110 friends and
we did have a vegan caterer.

We heard Chip liked
dark chocolate,

so we made aged balsamic dark
chocolate truffles.

Our client asked if we could
pre-decorate their bikes,

not because they don't want
to be creative,

it's they want to get
out of their car and --

They want to get on that art car
and they want to get --

go do that sunrise, you know,
photo shoot in the buff with all

[dubois]: The benefit of having
these camps is that

we're getting people who can
influence the world.

That can telegraph further
and wider and better

to get our message out to
people who are influential

and can help with it.

The trick is,
do they really get it?

[conley]: The last thing
any of us want is a --

a bunch of venture capitalists
and Silicon Valley CEOs

being all that
Burning Man represents.

But many of the artists'
projects are funded by

So I actually don't think that
money necessarily itself

it's what you do with it.

[goodell]: The electricity
created by the Burning Man

will change lives and everybody
who comes there repeatedly

is coming there for a reason-
is getting something from it.

So helping contain that
and frame it-super fun.

And the results from it
are people connecting with

and people having hope, and
having faith in other people,

and trusting humanity
and our purpose.

And that's worth replicating,
and manifesting,

[emergency warning sound]

[anchorwoman]: Well coming
up ticket fiasco at

why some of the most devoted
participants may not get to go

[anchorman]: Burning Man
has been surging in popularity

and sold out the
last two years...

Nobody expected the number
of registrations that came in.

So, you know, that's --
that's, I think, why I can't

around the office right now,
because they're all trying to

figure out what
those next steps are.

We are fucked.

This is, like, the worst
situation I have ever been

and I wake up
every morning crying.

There's nothing fair
about this anymore.

It's how do we keep our
community from falling apart?

[anchorwoman]: The annual
festival in the Nevada Desert

switched to a lottery for its
ticket sales this year.

[anchorman]: The critics say the
new system will destroy

the free-for-all spirit that
Burning Man is known for.

All those theme camps and
the art--is that going to

Because a lot of people say
they can't go now.

They don't have enough tickets
to go out and build their

There's a lot of people
I don't see all year,

I only see them at Burning Man.

It's a thing that our community
has done all together.

You know, what's fair?

The fair is that a lot of people
put a lot of energy

into this event over the years.

All of the thoughts about doing
bigger stuff, which we had--

we had plans to do, I'm not
going to bother--why would I?

Our camp is called MalMart.

It was really beautiful.

Our structure, I think our top
floor was nine stories.

Over 60% of our camp
does not have tickets.

It's pretty much impossible to
put together a camp this year.

[goodell]: Less than 25 percent
of their people have tickets.

That means our esplanade,
our interactive infrastructure,

some of it is five, seven,
and ten years old.

They're -- they can't come and
interact, they can't bring out

they can't even bring out
their rider truck.

It takes 10 people to unload.

Fuck you and your stupid lottery
system.

It's really hard to take when
people are just pummeling you

with all of the weight of their
frustration--

Who the fuck do you think you
are playing god over who goes to

When you're afraid,
you can't think forward, okay?

Stressed..

People are panicked.
A large section of the community

They are panicked, but we owe it
to them not to be panicked.

Absolutely, but it's almost like
we don't want to listen

Right now, let's see,
the top one on my screen is:

"BMorg: Nice job fucking over
all the people

whose lottery request for
two tickets were denied.

Too bad you didn't save more
tickets for theme camps

See how many U's are in this
"Fuck you."

That's the whole comment.

There, to my knowledge,
hasn't ever been a crisis

that appeared in the A section
of the

um...

nine months before the event
began.

That's probably a good indicator
that this is in a different

The story is newsworthy,
but isn't that more of a

authenticity that people
are searching for

than it is whether or not
this lottery system worked?

The fundamental value of this
event is its social capital,

its absolutely unparalleled
accretion of social capital,

which is being destroyed by the
minute

by people's perceptions that
the values that they

in the community,

they contributed to -- around a
certain set of values,

are not being upheld by some
nefarious force.

Well, what would you do?

I mean, you can't just make the
event bigger.

Yeah, this is -- it's like in
our house every day of the week.

[la grace]: Obviously everybody
is freaking out about

what's going on with the tickets
for Burning Man this year.

The -- the initial reaction was
-- was absolute shock

and complete frustration and,
you know, flat out anger.

And so then that heightened
all the other little things

"Oh, they're, you know, it's --
they're -- they're, you know,

and "It's changed"

and "It's, you know,
they're not what it used to be".

You know, and so it heightens
all the things that it whispered

and it -- and -- and it elevates
them to a shout.

If we can all get on board

and create a semi-transparent
process,

one that might even say, that
these groups..

CRIMSON ROSE: Curation.

Are the curators and are
somewhat...managed.

[steven raspa]: I've just got to
say though,

I'm very uncomfortable with
the term curator.

The thing that I love about
Burning Man is that

we haven't applied judgment
to people's work.

Everybody's effort
is equally valued.

Oh we totally apply judgment.

[raspa]: The biggest part of
the experience has been

the uncurated aspect of it.

So if now we're -- we're placing
a higher premium on things

judged by this small group
of people,

I think it sort of antithetical
to the larger amazing spirit of

of the whole thing, personally.

So I -- I'm saying that this is
important but language-wise...

We don't have a choice.

We need another word.

We're already curating
out there.

The camps themselves...

...Matt says you can't just join

[arguing loudly].

No, you're right.

That's why we wanted to change
the word is what you're saying,

[raspa]: Right, and I don't want
us, then, how -- how many --

how much effort did we put into
saying, 'we're not a festival,

We don't schedule everything,
we don't curate everything.

So I don't want us
to become a festival.

It's not as -- as -- as
simple as putting butts

That works if it's just a
spectacle, that's --

but then people wouldn't feel
the way they do.

I mean, people want -- people
want to go to the Super Bowl

and they're disappointed
but they don't get irate,

as if they had been betrayed
by their parents, you know,

as if it was an
intimate betrayal.

We've always faced existential
challenges,

you know, from the very
beginning.

This is nothing like the
dread year of '96.

That involved personal,
deep, dark stuff.

People are streaming
into the circle.

This is swordfish- people are
streaming into the circle.

We had 10,000 people and we got
to that size that you couldn't

[fire burning, screaming,
crowd yelling]

My children,
evil lurks amongst you.

That's right, there are those
amongst you who are not

those amongst you
who are not creative.

Hard though it may be to
believe, you know who you are.

[crowd screaming, becoming
rowdy]

We'll talk to him after the show
if we survive.

[law]: We did absolutely
everything we could

to try and ensure that the event
wasn't unsafe.

And -- and it was unsafe,
we couldn't control it.

You know, we burned
the Helco Tower

and that was a 32 foot tower
with 10 gallons of gasoline

aerating in the dry air.

And I was watching the wind to
make sure that it didn't shift

because if the wind shifted, you
would have been -- I would have

[noisy crowd]

[explosion, crowd cheering]

[shattering]

[cheering and yelling continues]

[goodell]:And that was
terrifying.

I remember -- I didn't think I
was going to come back.

It was before I met Larry and
thought I wasn't ever going to

I was terrified.

It was definitely Mad Max
and scared the shit out of

You keep people back.

Move back as far as possible,
we've got propane tanks right

So there was no guiding force,
no organization at all.

So it was like a train tipping
around a corner, like,

about to go off the
rails for days.

[crowd yelling, fireworks]

[flames burning loudly]

[firetruck sirens]

At, like, 6:00 in the morning,

somebody who was
high on something

ran over a tent
with two people in it

and then hit another tent
with another person in it.

I mean, that was terrifying.

[harvey]: It became apparent
that we were responsible

there wasn't anybody else.

It was on us.

So then we were de facto
The State,

which -- which was a
conundrum for the -- for

you know, what -- what does an
anarchist say to that?

[raucous crowd, fire burning]

[law]: I could see where
it was going.

It's like if we're going to
keep doing this event,

we're going to have to have
a bureaucratic infrastructure,

and, you know, spin stuff.

And I can't- I couldn't do
that.

I couldn't be part of that.

[harvey]: It was a question of
two different visions of what it

Should it be civilized or should
it be essentially a --

a repudiation of --
of order and authority?

But if it's a repudiation of
order and authority

and you're the organizer and it
involves thousands of people,

what's that say for you?

What kind of a moral position
is that to be in?

We could have just said,
okay, we're done.

That experiment was fun,
it's done, it's complete.

And we could have not gone
to the other level,

but clearly there was more to be
had if you were interested in

Well, I didn't want to be a cop
and I didn't want to be a

and it was clear that that's
what was necessary for

Well life after Burning Man has
been, you know, like 15 or 16

I keep my little office for my
little sign business here, and

and it is a unique building,
they have giant neon clocks

and neon letters that wrap all
the way around the building on

So I keep the neon going and
also work on the clocks.

I took my son to Disneyland not
that long ago and we had the

A wonderful time.

But you have to accept the
control factor

that maintains the
infrastructure of Disneyland.

Same thing with Burning Man.

It's a great event,

but it's anything but
an uncontrolled event.

It's a controlled,
professionally mounted,

which makes money.

[mikel]: During those early days
that John Law's referring to,

yes, there was tremendous
amount of freedom.

And we can always go back to
that -- to that small group,

But...

You're never going to go any
further than that.

In order for us to survive and
get along on this planet,

we need to engage everyone.

We have to engage thousands,
millions of people.

kAnd I think that, for me, is
the most important freedom.

This is significant,
it's a significant thing,

We have to do it, we're
giving our lives to it,

[boynton]: My engineer ran
into some major problems

with the calculations that she
couldn't get past

and so she asked if I could find
somebody else.

So that's -- that's actually
kind of stressful for me

I don't really know how much
it's all going to cost to build.

So that part has been
very stressful.

So, like, tonight is to give me
a good nest egg

so that as soon as I know
what I need to order,

I can order some of it
and get started.

It's behind the freezers,
the double freezers.

This one's still -- they're
still dirty though. Okay.

Do you have tablecloths?

Yeah, she can't find it,
we're using the blue ones.

Okay.

The thing is is that you have
to have your Burning Man

if you want, like, placement
and stuff, which I do.

You do have to know, like,
what kind of a footprint

like how much you're going to
need to dig and all that stuff,

which I don't know yet.

So I can't even start.

Can't even do anything.

Can't order metal,
can't do anything

until I know exactly what we
need to build with.

Not that I have any tickets yet
anyway, so that's still

[inaudible conversations]

[tinkling glass]

[applause]

Thank you all so much
for coming tonight.

I really, really appreciate
the enthusiasm and support.

This piece, um, it started
a long time ago for me.

And there was something that
happened there on the playa.

And it really really inspired me
and I thought of this idea,

And I thought, "You know what,
I have to make this."

So the final piece is
going to be 12 feet tall

There will be -- there will be
hammocks inside where you can

and really feel safe and warm
and loved inside of it.

With this whole ticket thing,
I mean,

everybody lost a lot
of faith in Burning Man.

And I, myself,
had to think about that

and why I went to Burning Man
in the first place,

what made me fall
in love with it.

And what made me
fall in love with it

was the art was for everyone.

And that's really
important to me

and that's what I love about the
Burning Man culture,

is that, you know,
we all come together

and we make this happen.

[goodell]: Come here.
Come here.

What? Oh yeah, get me out of
here.

Come here, come here, come
here, come here, come here.

So this is a perfect day
for all of us to appreciate

Very grateful for everybody

and for our opportunity
to be here together.

And thank you for
the creative act

that sparked other creativity
and inspiration

and desire to
be around each other.

Who are you talking to?

You.

Oh, right, thanks.

You're welcome.

Thanks.

Now let's carry on.

Thank you, Larry.

Community is a pain in the ass,

because you have to deal with
all kinds of drama, you know.

And as you get older, you're
kind of less patient with drama.

But really, the reason for me
to keep doing this

is a very sound one.

I know myself.

And if I detest and quit this
thing...

it would kill me.

My life would not have meaning.

[stammering]

I wouldn't be forced out of
myself.

I wouldn't be in contact with,
with people.

I would...I'd be
just this wretch,

I'd be this lonely guy.

This is the best thing that ever
happened to me.

[quinn payton yarbrough]:
DPW is the

which is the crew of volunteers
that come out for a month

prior to the event,
set up the infrastructure,

and then maintain it during
the event and take it down

and pick up all the glitter
and peanut shells

The entire infrastructure of
Black Rock City is stored

so I am responsible for the
overall care and maintenance

but also the infrastructure
that supports that.

These are staff art cars--
the DPW.

They may not be as
pretty and flamboyant

but we're busy putting the event
together and not so much time

working on the cars.

Just to create a -- a line of
100 shipping containers straight

and all these are --
are pretty much guaranteed

[yarbrough]: Okay, so this
is a caf container,

I'm seeing some tar pitch and
tents and some bicycles and

benches and tables and --
and yes, we picked this one

[otto von danger]: I want to
get that done today.

I want to be done with that damn
building.

Most of the crew has been here
for about two months,

two and a half months,
some of them.

Administration-wise, you can add
another four months.

When all is said and done,
it'll be seven and a half months

Every one of their problems
is my problem too.

Because if they're not happy,
then they're not producing,

or they quit.

It's a huge endeavor,
I cut every corner I can,

and we have to work at a pace
that's fast and furious.

You know, at least we can
see the light at the end

We're a month out,
we're about two weeks

So this is the paint crew.
Say hi, paint crew.

Hello.

Burn Wall Street!

We were really surprised
by the demand.

The lottery system worked
just the way it was supposed to.

And what we found out is that a
lot more people want to come to

So we're in a supply and demand
issue right now,

and it's stressing
the community as a whole.

We're going to be offering
some theme camps tickets

The people that it really takes
to make sure that camp happens.

The criteria we used
to judge which camps

are going to be getting tickets
is based on first of all

Whether you fully embraced
the 10 principles...

If you take a
collaborative group and

you break down the entire
purpose of the collaboration.

And then people don't
trust their membership

And that sucks.

We are hell-bent in doing
what we do best,

which is finding really good
solutions to problems

that other people might
just walk away from.

Because this is our community.

And everyone in our community
is valuable.

And we're going to take the
coil, Katy, back over to...

Oh god, we are a week and a half
out from Burning Man,

a week from when
we pack up and leave.

I don't like talking about it
'cause it freaks me out,

but we're going to be fine.

Oh my god. Let's put the pump up
through the square, the

We are putting on the first two
heart-shaped ribs of the

which there will be
a total of six of them,

so these are the first two
of the largest ones.

So this is -- this is a big day.

Luckily, I have a really
good crew of people,

that keep showing up every day,

so we have extra pairs of hands
and that's been critical.

There we go. There we go.
Wait that needs to stop.

The breathing deeply and yeah.

Watch your step on those things,
Jenny.

Usually every year, I mean,
we get a group of us

and we come down to Haight

and kind of kick off our -- our
adventure down here

looking for costumes and
whatnot, so...

Look, it doesn't matter
how I dress up,

I always end up
looking like Bea Arthur.

That's adjustable.

That's a good thing, yeah.

Medium doesn't work,

I think I need large.

Woohoo!

I've got a little kudunkadunk
I got to get rid of.

[will roger]: We're at the
Black Rock city center

where the Man is going to stand
in the 2012 event.

And we're probably within
a few feet of where

I was a dreamer.

Once I was a dreamer.

I thought I could be an
artist and I opened up a

And Crimson saw one of the ads,
and it's a self-portrait

of me with a werewolf mask on
holding a glass dildo.

[crimson rose]: I was
immediately drawn to it.

Yeah, so we finally decided
that after 19 years,

we're going to get married
on the playa.

We thought that that would be
appropriate for us,

for our wedding.

[ilo kratins]: This is our --
our Burning Man effigy.

It's made of a little more
than 400 pieces.

It's about 35 feet tall,

it weighs approximately
3,000 pounds.

We have a crew of
20 to 25 people.

It takes us about six days
from start to finish

from a pile of lumber
and plywood.

The procedures for
making everything

are put together in
people's minds

and passed down as sort of
an oral history each year

because there's a definite way
that this has to go together

in order for it to
go together easily.

They say, "Build it, burn it,
repeat as necessary."

[rose]: It's basically a bunch
of wood that's nailed together.

And I don't know if it's a
child-parent relationship

or it's something
much bigger than ourselves

that is a relationship that
really is about drawing you

But for me, it's more
psychological and subconscious.

Much deeper.

I don't know if I'll ever know.

I mean, maybe that's
the reason why we don't

we want you to
figure that out for yourself.

Oh no.

Oh guys that's even more
sacrilegious.

No clown nose on the man!

Right now, this is the
Black Rock Desert,

but as soon as you break
the bottle of champagne

it's Black Rock City.

It's the city that
we build, 2012.

Mr. Will Roger, cofounder of
DPW, actually the founder-

my best friend for the longest
time, I love you, Will.

[cheering, applause]

You still got the touch.

So this is my 18th burn.

The real thing begins
in this moment.

So what we have this year
coming is 60,000 people

and those people are all
going to be affected.

You people here today are the
people from this moment on

that creates the framework
and the cauldron

that will cook their souls.

[cheering] Okay?

You're -- you're creating
that cauldron.

And so I -- I hand this off --
I hand this spike, the city,

it's dedicated to you and
this moment going forward

and the effect it will have
on the world.

[cheering, clapping]

What's happening is
we're setting the trucks

They're trying to square it.

And this is our boss.
That's Otto Von Danger.

This is his project,
Burn Wall Street.

[over construction noise] Pay a
little attention, move it into

Alright, I'll try.

And you can do a little bit.
That's way too much,

you're not going to
be able to move it.

That way?

- Oh, shit, shit, shit.
- Relax, just relax.

Fuck, fuck, mother fuck.

Just relax .

I need to go out like that.

Yes, what are we doing?

They're going to try to
set that corner first.

Oh my god.
Oh, it's looking good.

It is, it looks beautiful
right there.

One side down,
the other side resting.

Thank you God.

I'm frustrated about the piece
not being out.

There's still a lot of work
to be done to it,

which can't happen 'til it's
installed and it's still sitting

And I keep getting told
"Go talk to this person. "

"Oh, you're going to need that?
Okay, wait, first you've got to

"And then go back and talk to
that person."

Then I go back and that person's
not there anymore.

Well, now who do I talk to?

That's cool, we'll dig
stuff out, it'll be fine.

It'll be fine, thank you.

Is it true that you get billed
for heavy equipment,

you get a
bill for what you use?

No, I don't know.

But you've got -- just tap into
your endless wealth.

Yeah, this is the first I've
heard of that at all.

Your trust fund.

I would think that --
how could they trust

-- they'd have to tell you and
get you to sign an agreement

I would think so. And frankly,
right now I wouldn't feel like

'cause they aren't fucking
showing up.

Katy, start crying.

It's tough to be the boss.

But she's doing good,
it's just really stressful.

But then when it's hers, it is
hers and she's doing it.

Welcome -- welcome -- welcome
to the Cordon Bleu.

We're really doing well, we're
really on good schedule.

You know, making sure that the
infrastructure's going in place,

making sure that the build is
going on time.

Are there any parts that we can
take off the back side?

You guys know my goal is,
you gotta stack people

if we're going to fit the
maximum, maximum amount of

It's like 180 degrees from where
we were last year

in this complete panic mode.

Knock on wood, ahh!

Can you do me a favor? Can we
pull down the schedules?

Awesome. Thanks, Travis.

Alright, next adventure. Daxie!

So you want to go for a ride?

[indistinct chatter]

It's nice out there, very calm.

It's beautiful.

Oh well this is my
leg-pilot, see?

Radical co-dependency.

Collective Interdependent-
so someone said,

"this is a radical, collective,
co-dependency experience here."

We believe in radical
co-dependency

Radical collective codependency.
That's why they corrected me.

That sounds like something you
go to a clinic to get cured of.

I know. Well, the clinic for it
is Burning Man.

Why don't we start a clinic to
cure people of Burning Man

and that's where- that's where
the money is.

Oh the ticket thing.

Yeah, the ticket kerfuffle.

It turns out it's the best thing
that ever happened to us,

but I didn't expect the public
to think of it that way.

In curating those tickets, we
sent out a message.

It's not quite always enough to
just attend.

You need to contribute.

[zolie mae]:
Yay, I get to drive.

Just steer towards what you want
to see.

Where are we going, Zolie Mae?

[zolie mae]: Uh, Salt Temple!

Who's got the map?

I do. If you follow the
esplanade around,

Do you want to go see that
thing right there, Zolie?

I think that might be the Temple
of Salt. We have no idea what

ZOLIE MAE: Then why didn't you
look on the map.

KYRSTEN: We did look on the
map?

ZOLIE MAE: Let's go
on that first.

- Make yourself at home!
- Okay.

Hold out your hand, I want to
give you something.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

What you got there?
Want me to put it on for you?

White out.

Get in the car for a minute
until the weather blows over.

Stay down low, Zolie Mae.

[zolie mae]: I am.

How close are you to being done?

Everyone always keeps
asking us that.

When you find out, let me know.

Everybody's so frazzled.

We've been working on average
16 hour days

since we got here two Sundays
ago,

trying to keep, you know, trying
to keep the morale of the troops

and myself up as much as we can
while we fight this weather.

Literally, last week was 110
degrees every day and

In fact, one of the windstorms
was so bad it took this trailer

and launched it about
six feet in the air

and back on its rear end while I
was in it.

There's been some engineering
changes.

I scaled back one level off the
Bank of UnAmerica and three off

In this weather, there's only so
much work you can do

and my crew is totally exhausted
at this point.

But uh, that's --
that's life out here.

Now I've got to go out and play
strong leader,

keep these people motivated,

keep them on task or getting
resting so that when the weather

I can get them moving.

It's an endless job.

There's a few buildings that
they had planned to build

and they're not going to be able
to build it.

They're also not going to be
able to have people

up on the second story
of the main building

because there's not time to
build the stairs and the balcony

and the balusters and railings
and everything you need

to make it code.

Like show biz, you have a date
that you open

and everything has to be
up and running.

It gets to be these traditions.

Some of these camps are
so well established,

they have a following.

And one of my favorite camps,
Brand-Ur-Ass.

[carnival music, ]

It's a Disney land where
the participants create

And it goes on for miles.

Good morning!
That is beautiful!!

Get me a Marian and me shot,
you know what I'm talking about.

I sure do.

You look so good, you look so
freaking H-O-T Caliente.

Yeah you should have received
a page. Over.

[on talkie]: I did, it
said that you wanted to

Did they happen to use the word
"urgent" on that? Over.

Okay, if you guys are part of
the volunteering for the stuff,

if you could wait
under the shade there.

And she's eating
with us too, right?

Um, no, I had-
I didn't arrange for that.

I would mind talking to you for
just a brief moment...

Okay, Rosie-Lelia, I think
I'm going to send Matt in to

Was there some drama going on?
I saw rangers here.

And then also there's the couple
you have on the list. Are they

Who?

Hi, Marian. These gentlemen
here are looking for Matt

Can you -- and they're supposed
to meet them at the VIP lounge,

are you able to direct them?

There's no VIP lounge.

I'm going to kill Matt Cheney
for even saying there is.

We know everybody who's
in the camp.

I -- I -- I don't have just
anybody drop in because

with a bunch of people
that don't want to be...

Right, I understand.

...bothered.

Are you having fun?

Yeah, we're having a good time.

And this is your first time,
right?

Yeah, do you have any
recommendations?

Ummm.... no.

I can't walk through this camp
without getting bombarded

from people about how,
you know, can I, you know,

"how do I get water in my RV,"

or you know, "how does
this work," and you know,

that's all part of
radical self-reliance,

is them really figuring that out
for themselves.

They're investment bankers,
they're artists,

they're interior designers,
they're medical doctors,

they're models, they are, you
know, I mean you name it.

They're all used to their lives,

and I understand that because I
used to be that person,

and you know, now I'm not.

They see me as this, you know,
this guy who just like does

I need to shave, this is not
appropriate, I am a diva.

He's a sparkle pony.

I am a sparkle pony.

[la grace]: Here, you know,
it's really about trying to

and explore for 7 days,

a different experience
because of that.

We're PlayaSkool, you know,
and we're all in this together.

It already looks super rad right
now.

Seeing those back pieces on
makes it really feel like,

It's that enclosed space that I
wanted it to be,

like that comfortable spot.

Yeah, the plaques are inside,
it's awesome.

[muffled] It's beautiful.

Congratulations.

[unidentified song]

[intense, loud drumming]

[desert wind]

I'm late I'm late,
I'm so friggin late,

it's a very important date.

Gotta go, gotta go!

no time to say hello goodbye--
I'm late!

Alice when did you arrive!?

More tea for the queen!

[drumming]

We have Merril Lynched.

Bank of UnAmerica,

Chaos Manhattan,

and Goldman Sucks!

[chorus singing]: We are the
99%

REVEREND BILLY: Watch out.

We may be hung over!

But we are the 99%!

We're going to occupy this stock
exchange!

We are the 99! We are the 99...

CHORUS: We are the 99%...

Now I can buy everything.

I can buy everything I need.

Anybody else want some free
money? Free money!

[chorus singing]

We are the 99%

[cheering]

Now this is going to be a
satisfying burn!

Does anybody know what I'm
talking about?

Oh yeah, give me one
like this...

Try the ramp of death
right here.

Leave the planet surface,
be free.

Be one with the air.

You hesitate,
you're going to do it,

and you're going to hit the ramp
of death.

Look at that tiger fly.

Look at that, look at that.

That was impressive.

Did you see that, ladies?

You're gonna get laid tonight.

Come on green fairy girl.

Come on, pink tutu boy.

Come on, we haven't had a naked
man do it yet, let's go.

Ramp of death!!

[fireworks]

[fireworks, dub step music]

[cheering]

Ohh yeahhhh!

[crowd roaring]

[music ends]

Next year, I will not do this.

Let's get this show on the road,
what do you say?

You know, if I can create
something out of dust

that's pretty fabulous,

then I can do pretty much
anything that I set my mind to.

I feel like I really got from
this what I was looking for,

which was to get my mojo back.

And feel really confident that
I could start a project

and find success in that
for myself,

not from the outside world
telling me that it was

I love Burning Man,
I'll always -- it'll always have

but this does not
define my life.

I mean, my life is way more
than just this.

It's been a catalyst for me

but it's not, you know, this
does not define Jon La Grace.

[cheering]

It's been a really interesting
journey to be part of a six-way

I think it's a perfect
synchronicity that of the

that two of them are life
partners.

It's actually sort of symbolic
of the six of us and our

'cause we can't really separate
from each other and what we're

And your union, to me, is
part of a collaboration

not just the six of us, but all
60,000 of us, are doing,

so thank you.

[cheering]

I now pronounce you with the
power invested in me by all of

[cheers, applause]

husband and wife!

Procession is leaving Center
Camp.

[bells chiming]

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you, firemen.

It's going to be a great night,
no dust.

Mwah, mwah, mwah,
I love you all.

[crowd cheering loudly]

[intense dub step music ]

[loud explosions]

[music fades]

[ "Let it Go" by Michael
Franti and Spearhead]