BurningMan the first years — a conversation with Satya Anurodh
⇒ Read how Burning Man has inspired the Gathering of Tribes
Victor
which burnigman were you at?
I want to talk to someone who was there at the begining
Satya
The first one
On Baker Beach
The first ones
Victor
how was it organised?
were there camps?
Satya
Where a dog got boiled alive
Cause the people were tripping on acid
There was no formal organisation
Larry got kicked off the beach
We wanted to keep doing it
A couple pf guys knew about playa for sand racing a d rocketry
Since people around was like reSearch, Cacophony and SRL
The playa seemed really cool
We could burn the shit out of it and nobody would care
Victor
were there clusters in there
or was it evenly spread out across the playa?
Satya
Cliques
More like it
I was with Walter Alter and a few others
Victor
did reSearch, Cacophony and SRL make their own clique/camp?
Satya
Yeah
But alot of cross over
Harold and his art car stuff
LA Cacophony
Seemen
Etc
I knew people actually from UW moved to SF and also part of Flauntulist Society I was in Back in the late 70s
So it had that loose connections
Of always people on the edge
Victor
and each group had it’s own cluster, or how did people camp & eat?
Satya
Eat?
Victor
food, cooking
Satya
Dude — we didnt need food
We did more drugs than food
If u ate — u cooked
Or some people setup like yatai stands
Wasnt a priority
Mostly people jus stopped at supermarket and loaded up
Victor
I’m trying to put together, a festival following that organisational spirit, but focused on getting people together for serious conversation, meeting people to collaborate with and yes, parties and drugs too, but that’s the desert, not the main course
Satya
Those of us in the OG core
Had idea to to keep the spirit
Victor
yes?
Satya
Harvey and his crew jus wanted it to grow
He was in the money
And knew it
And thousands of poseir hipsters fueling it
Vis a vis SV investors
Bridge and Tunnel kids
Experiencing something interestinf fpr the first Satyae
Original BM was much different
It was not cooperstive
It had huge antogonism
SRL hated Seemen
For example
Harvey was not liked
Victor
Satya
Victor
why?
Satya
‘Cleansed with my grandfathers axe’
Because the art started to have value
And we figured the beauty of BM was in its transient nature
Of nihilistic adventure
I mean hell
U burn the man?
Burn everything!
No half measures
Afterall what better place?
Victor
hahaha
Satya
Anyway
I dig the way it evolved
But to alot of us
It jus became a symbol of bloated consurism
That pretty much matched the lifestyle of those attended
So we got bored wit it after 1995 or so
Afew people tried to kickstart other stuff
Victor
so we’re trying to create the event that’s the opposite of that value — we’re all about creation
Satya
I think ur idea is more akin tp Oregon Country Faire
What Kesey was doing
Mpre constructive
Not so nihilistic
Or jainist
Oregon Country Faire also amazing
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Country_Fair
Victor
yeah, I’m just trying to copy the free-form organisation of inviting cool people and letting them get on with it.
I gotta hear more of these stories from you!
Satya
But we live in new Satyaes
So need new ideas
Expanding old ideas until they bloat
Is boring
But I can see that gathering people to experience shit
Is a good idea
I loved BM
Man I was an SRL freak
Coming from helicopter slash buning backgrojnd
So i had all this gear to make awesome fire
SRL was the place
Mark Pauline a god IMO
At the Satyae
We all loved putting shit together then going to the desert
Everybody loves an exhibit
BM was pretty close to limitless
That was super appealing
Victor replied to Satya
> But I can see that gathering people to experience shit is a good idea
yes. and I want to gather them to experience hope for the future, and get the energy and find friends to make it happen
Satya
Anyway
I’m more of a BM ver.9 guy
The sign I made ‘directing’ where to camp at the 2nd BM in the Playa
Satya
Anyone was welcome to ‘burn’ their memories and actually interact in a highly personal manner.
Space. The final frontier
Satya
BM? 1991 or 92? something like that
Would have had been before I moved to LA
And 1 year after the LA Cacocophny Trip came up …
So probably 92 and before 95
96 was the most insane — That was the year of final anarchy
I stopped going there after 96
It just became a corporate Cochella event after that
John Law stopped producing in 96 too I believe
95 was the last year for the real BM
My name during those years was Satya Anurodh
Which loosely means Invitation to Truth
Or Asshole Antagonist
Or Aspergers Asswipe
Too bad I cant find all the Super 8 and PXL2000 tapes.
Maybe my Ex wife has them
I was kinda into S8 then and also remfg PXL2000
BM was a great place for that
Incidentally would love to contribute my experiences
I was also member of the Rajnessh cult
And lived in communes in Holland and US
So — — that actually had alot in common with the Burningman scene
very tantric approach to life and people interactions
You sent
amazing!
Satya
A lot of Rajneesh people came to BM in the early days
Because of course it was SF founded
And the main Rajneesh benefactors were psychologist from SF
The concept of dynamic meditation was very well known
And a deep part of the SF art scene
M was the closest to real social dynamic meditation I ever felt
Satya
Far better than anything at the <real> Rajneesh celebrations
better as in more immersive
more real
completely unhinged
I would say that any community should be practicing this
and yeah … Japan kinda still does
That’s the concept of Matsuri
And struggling with the shrine thingy
You did that
All the same
but very important for communities to use this as both a bond and a release
You sent
yes. doing it for something like 7 years over the past 15 really opened my eyes to the power of festival
