For the first time, Burning Man co-founder John Law will speak publicly about the festival he left twenty years ago. He is slated to deliver a speech at an exhibit called City of Dust: The Evolution of Burning Man at the Nevada Museum of Art.
One might suspect that the self-proclaimed “facilitator of non-commercial, transgressive, underground culture,” would have choice words to say about Burning Man’s recent popularity. However, the former festival proprietor says that is not the case.
“I’m not going to talk shit about anybody, I’m going to talk about the people in the beginning who made this into a magical thing, so magical that it’s become gigantic,” Law told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “I’ve got my feet up on the desk, and I’m downloading Curtis Mayfield.”
The Beginnings of the Burn
Law is one of three original owners of the festival having co-founded Burning Man in 1986. He became disillusioned with his creation by 1995 and hit a breaking point after a deadly incident in 1996. Guns and high-speed cars took over the playa, killing one man and severely injuring several others.
After the incident, Law’s vision for Burning Man seemed to have spun completely out from underneath him. He formally departed the festival in 1997.
Since leaving Burning Man 20 years ago, Law has taken up many different pursuits, ranging from his role as an outspoken member of San Francisco’s anarchist Rotary Club to becoming a partner in a web hosting company. Law commonly takes issue with consumer culture and is an advocate of anti-consumer street art reminiscent of early Shepard Fairey.
Law is speaking Thursday, August 17 at 6 PM for the “City of Dust: The Evolution of Burning Man” exhibit at the Nevada Museum of Art, which will run through January of 2018. Find out more about the exhibit here.
Source: Your EDM
