L.A. BURNING MAN Journey To The Flames

RITES OF PASSAGE:Larry Harvey Gives Away Burning Man

Video Interviews with DOUG JACOBSON, FILMMAKER,

ATHENA DEMOS L.A. LEAGUE OF ARTS ( LALA) Executive Director

LARRY HARVEY/Founder

Executive Director Of Burning Man Video Interview

LARRY HARVEY

http://www.vimeo.com/jon9/larryharvey

By Jon Stolzberg

Hollywood,CA(Hollywood Today)6/15/11/—What would you do if you were the owner of the world’s largest interactive art experience – and camping trip — a thriving commercial venture that reliably drew 50,000 from around the world to create a temporary city of participatory art in the middle of the Nevada desert ?  If you’re Larry Harvey, Founder of Burning Man, after building that festival for twenty-five years – you would give it away.

During our interview below, conducted at the Egyptian Theater after a Burning Man documentary screening,  Larry explained to me that the theme of this year’s Burning Man festival is RITES OF PASSAGE.  It’s a timely one for individuals and for the global community,  and it also applies to the Burning Man organization.  As Executive Director of Burning Man, Larry is leading the charge to give the organization away – to a new non-profit designed to carry the Burning Man legacy far into the future.

I asked Larry, considering his experience creating and running Burning Man, if he had any advice for Hollywood Producers and Directors on how to bring unbridled creativity to the masses using traditional entertainment channels.  His answer, in the interview below, may or may not surprise you.

BURNING MAN:  Eleven Principles

RADICAL INCLUSION: Anyone may be a part of our community. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

GIFTING: Our community is devoted to acts of giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

DECOMMODIFICATION: In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

RADICAL SELF-RELIANCE: Our community encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.

RADICAL SELF-EXPRESSION: Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

COMMUNAL EFFORT: Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that enable such interaction.

CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY: We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

LEAVING NO TRACE: Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.

PARTICIPATION: Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.

IMMEDIACY: Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value within our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.

GRATITUDE: Always acknowledge those who contribute to the community. Give thanks more often. See every volunteer as a gift. It is vitally important to respect what has come before, to fit into the existing context, and to show gratitude to those who step up.

(from http://www.laburningman.com/la-burning-man/eleven-principles.html)

LARRY HARVEY/Founder BURNING MAN

http://www.vimeo.com/jon9/larryharvey

ATHENA DEMOS

L.A. LEAGUE OF ARTS ( LALA) Executive Director

Co-Regional Coordinator for Burning Man in L.A.

http://www.vimeo.com/jon9/athenademos

VIDEO INTERVIEW:  DOUG JACOBSON, FILMMAKER

DIRECTOR of JOURNEY TO THE FLAMES

http://www.vimeo.com/jon9/dougjacobson

A brief interview with Doug Jacobson, Director of JOURNEY TO THE FLAMES, a documentary chronicling the experiences of a group of friends as they return to BURNING MAN over a period of 10 years. This interview was after the screening of the film at the Egyptian Theatre, sponsored by L.A. Burning Man, and followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and special guests Larry Harvey, Founder and Executive Director of Burning Man, and Marian Goddell, Director of Business and Communications.

VIDEO INTERVIEW:  KEITH – AN 8-YEAR BURNING MAN VETERAN

In attendance for the screening of JOURNEY TO THE FLAMES at the Egyptian on Sunday was a long-time burner named Keith – an 8-year veteran of the Burning Man experience.  In Keith’s interview, he recounts his personal experiences and observations and discusses how attending Burning Man has changed his life – and why he keeps going back.

http://www.vimeo.com/jon9/keith