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The Death of the Festival

charleseisenstein.org

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Re: The Death of the Festival

#61

Post by machinehermiter »

I am a Girardian newb but Girard even mentions sporting events in the article.

IMO it isn't just sporting events though but violent sporting events that let us exercise the scapegoat mechanism. At least in the US. If your team wins, it doesn't matter your background if you are both fans of the same team. I really can't think of anything that quite brings us together like team sports in the 21st century.

Obviously, if you are not a sports fan this is much harder to see.

Burning man is too obvious, literal and it just isn't that many people vs the whole of society.

I can remember as a little kid the mimetic desire to become my favorite sports stars complete with wearing a jersey with their name on my back as if I was them.

On a side note, it is an absolutely ridiculous situation that Audible has one audio book by Girard. I would love to pass the time driving in the car with a wide selection of Girard to chew on.

Re: The Death of the Festival

#62

Post by pugworthy »

seph-reed wrote: post #58
pugworthy wrote: post #57

As a fairly seasoned burner, I really had to shake my head at this article. I found it really odd that the only mention of Burning Man is how the online version attempts last year didn't work so well. No mention of how Burning Man fits into this "death spiral" idea - or how Burning Man fails to fall into that spiral. In particular, it makes this one comment stood out... > A true festival is not a tame affair. It is a…

There's a lot missing in the article. In particular, self-expression (IMO) has advanced a little bit. Hurling insults doesn't really mean much anymore, you can do it on any forum. But creating your art... that means something. Something that can't be said with words. It's really amazing how different peoples experiences can be though. Even going to the big burn, many never reach that "escape velocity."

> Even going to the big burn, many never reach that "escape velocity."

Very true.

And you bring up an interesting point in terms of creating your own art. There are festivals where people arrive and proclaim, "Entertain me!" Whereas there are others (like Burning Man) where people often come to express themselves and share their creations. Even those not bringing a lot often go just to experience the joy of the creations of others.

Re: The Death of the Festival

#63

Post by blobbers »

"None of the problems facing humanity today are technically difficult to solve. Holistic farming methods could heal soil and water, sequester carbon, increase biodiversity, and actually increase yields to swiftly solve various ecological and humanitarian crises. Simply declaring a moratorium on fishing in half the world’s oceans would heal them too"

What kind of sanctimonious BS is this. I stopped reading because his thinking did not appear to be worth my time. And I came here to the comments to check if I was correct or not...

Re: The Death of the Festival

#64

Post by beckman466 »

blobbers wrote: post #63

"None of the problems facing humanity today are technically difficult to solve. Holistic farming methods could heal soil and water, sequester carbon, increase biodiversity, and actually increase yields to swiftly solve various ecological and humanitarian crises. Simply declaring a moratorium on fishing in half the world’s oceans would heal them too" What kind of sanctimonious BS is this. I stopped reading because his…

> sanctimonious BS

Ah yes, using big words and no actual critique. Can you please put more effort into this and explain why this post is “sanctimonious BS” to you?

Re: The Death of the Festival

#65

Post by bmarquez »

The article mentions festivals as a "suspension of normal rules, mores, structures, and social distinction" and riots having a festive dimension. I don't know Girard's work enough to comment, but wonder if there is a connection between Girard and Temporary Autonomous Zones[1] (which Burning Man is a large scale example of)

As an aside, the article claims that online Burning Man failed because of it was too consumption based. It's not a good example since there were numerous issues including participants lacking VR headsets, userbase split up into different platforms (there was no singular "official" software), capacity constraints, etc. I tried it on burn night (Altspace VR) and the man was floating in mid-air as it was burning, so glitches too.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporary_Autonomous_Zone

Re: The Death of the Festival

#66

Post by MisterBastahrd »

kipchak wrote: post #44
golergka wrote: post #30

I spent 4 marvellous days at a semi-private psychedelic trance festival in deep Russian woods this June, and I couldn't disagree more. I felt as if I witnessed an event of similar cultural significance as british late 80s raves were back in their day, but the one that nobody outside of the community really knows anything about. The festival culture is alive and well, it's just got a little bit private, as it tries to…

These smaller festivals seem great for those who can attend, but it seems like for those who can't the largest option is commercialized subcultures, something like Star Wars Celebration to pick an example.

Except those types of festivals are marketing events, not true festivals.

Re: The Death of the Festival

#67

Post by golergka »

sunshineforever wrote: post #56
golergka wrote: post #30

I spent 4 marvellous days at a semi-private psychedelic trance festival in deep Russian woods this June, and I couldn't disagree more. I felt as if I witnessed an event of similar cultural significance as british late 80s raves were back in their day, but the one that nobody outside of the community really knows anything about. The festival culture is alive and well, it's just got a little bit private, as it tries to…

Can I ask, would a transgender person who speaks some Russian be able to reasonably safely go to Russia? I've practically almost been lynched in the USA so I am wary. I carry a gun and would feel pretty naked without it. Pro: I used to live on the street so I don't think I would be too phased by anything like average Americans. So, you think it's a good idea?

I wrote a big comment and deleted it, because it all depends on your notion of reasonable safety. If you look transgender, you will certainly get glances and some occasional verbal aggression, but as long as you follow the basic common sense safety rules, I doubt that you'll have to worry about something worse. Russia is a huge place, and living in a center of Moscow does feel like one of the most modern, shiny European cities. There's plenty of middle class (by US and Europe standards; they're at least upper-middle class by Russian standards) people living by progressive western values. But there's plenty of places that aren't that welcoming.

Re: The Death of the Festival

#69

Post by 8bitsrule »

>None of the problems facing humanity today are technically difficult to solve.

What? None? So "plagues, floods, droughts, political unrest, riots, and economic crises" (which follow a highly-technical century as they 'strike one upon the next') are technically easy to solve?

The rest of this wild-haired rhetorical festival grows more sad and less relevant.

Re: The Death of the Festival

#70

Post by GuB-42 »

kipchak wrote: post #44
golergka wrote: post #30

I spent 4 marvellous days at a semi-private psychedelic trance festival in deep Russian woods this June, and I couldn't disagree more. I felt as if I witnessed an event of similar cultural significance as british late 80s raves were back in their day, but the one that nobody outside of the community really knows anything about. The festival culture is alive and well, it's just got a little bit private, as it tries to…

These smaller festivals seem great for those who can attend, but it seems like for those who can't the largest option is commercialized subcultures, something like Star Wars Celebration to pick an example.

There are smaller festivals everywhere if you know where to look. And by that I don't mean they are secret or anything like that, just that they don't have the advertising budget of Star Wars conventions. A few Google searches is usually enough to give you some event close to you, and once you get there, if you are interested, people will tell you about more "underground" events.

And sure, Covid closed a lot of them, but the scene is not dead, in fact it is more than ready to start again as soon as they are allowed to. And by the virtue of being smaller, they are at an advantage: more flexible, less likely to exceed attendance thresholds, and sometimes a bit less legal.

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