Becoming Infinite: Virtual Burning Man 2020

This year, for the first time in Burning Man’s history, the week-long event was cancelled in the wake of COVID-19. The nearly three-and-a-half decade-old experience formed by the Burning Man Project is rooted in inclusivity, gifting, decommodification, self-reliance, self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy; and is  traditionally held at “Black Rock City”, a temporary city built each year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

During a time when it is discouraged to gather in person Black Rock City emerged earlier this September instead as a virtual metropolis – an ever-evolving virtual Burning Man Multiverse comprised of different worlds created by Burners, for Burners which expanded throughout Burn Week (August 30- September 6) and ended in namesake tradition with a globally distributed digital burning of “the man” in each universe. For the experience attendees had the option to create their own personalized avatar and the chance to explore the worlds, viewing digitally rendered art installations and live broadcasted sets in real-time amongst other avatar peers.

Thunder partnered with There Studios for this monumental moment to create one such fold in the Virtual Burning Man Multiverse experience, The Infinite Playa (https://www.infiniteplaya.com). Stage 6, Thunder’s Green screen stage was used to film the world’s hosts and hostesses as well as host artists for some of the broadcasted sets at the designated stages in the Playa.

BTS of @ryfilms creating stunning work on Thunder’s Stage 6 for @TheInfinitePlaya can be seen here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEnQ_pbBOJY/

SOURCES

Burning Man: https://burningman.org/culture/virtual-brc-2020/

C/NET: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/virtual-burning-man-2020-starts-sunday-how-to-attend-and-what-to-expect/