Burning Man's in-your-face, counterculture vibe has meant that the festival has always been something of a media darling. But when the event sold out for the first time in 2011, there was a marked increase in the commentary about its history, current status and future. When, in 2012, a new random lottery system for tickets left so many long-time attendees ticketless, that commentary deepened. Questions about the evolution, meaning and value of Burning Man as an experiment in community, self-sufficiency and anti-capitalism are being raised, and Playa Dust seeks to answer them. Playa Dust is a compilation of essays by authors who are part of the universe of Burning Man or who envisage the many ideas and landscapes on its periphery. By juxtaposing an unusual array of voices and stories, the volume reveals the complex nature of this annual pilgrimage, now in its twenty- seventh year. Contributors include those who built the first wooden effigies on San Francisco's Baker Beach from 1986 to 1990, in the gatherings that would later become Burning Man; artists who have installed works at the festival; writers, musicologists, photographers and filmmakers who have made work there; architects who have built there, sociologists who have studied Burning Man's experimental nature and even lawyers who have brokered Burning Man's controversial existence.
About the AuthorSamantha Krukowski is an artist, author and educator who has long been interested in the roles of impermanence, ephemerality and (in)visibility in creative production. She is on the faculty in the Department of Architecture at Iowa State University where she developed the Burning Man Studio. This design course supports students as they create and build projects to be installed at Burning Man. She holds an MArch and PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and currently lives in a midwestern landscape of long horizontality with her husband, daughter, two dogs and a horse.
Book InformationISBN 9781908966643
Author Samantha KrukowskiFormat Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Black Dog Publishing London UKPublisher Black Dog Press