BURNT

@ undercurrents 2017 & 2019 // @ Femfest 2018

Creator and Performer

Dramaturgy by Brad Long and Emily Pearlman. // Sound design by AL Connors. // Lighting design by Sarah Mansikka. // Set design by Dominique Coughlin. 

Every year over 70,000 people gather in the desert 100 miles North of Reno, Nevada to create a massive experiment in temporary community called Burning Man. For one week participants live and play in an ephemeral city saturated with art, fire and radical self-expression. With no money, no line-up and no spectators, Burning Man is part-festival, part-cult, part-trip to outer space. The high ideals of the event are played out on playa and in the default world the other 51 weeks of the year to wildly different levels of success. A pilgrimage to the desert in search of an experience, a transformation and a story; BURNT is an exploration of Burning Man, its participants, and its culture.

BURNT was created using transcriptions of interviews and field recordings captured at Burning Man over 6 years (and counting). Support from the Burning Man Project allowed access to organizers, founders, artists and archival material. In the same way that Burning Man, as an event, is created by the participants, BURNT is created by the event, and changes with each performance and year in the desert.

Photo credits to Japhet Alvarez.