It’s interesting in 2020 I find myself feeling nostalgic for things I didn’t even participate in. For example, when professional hockey and tennis came back I felt it a triumph of the human spirit, despite my nearly never watching a game of either sport. It’s the same way with events I didn’t attend or performances I didn’t care about. Most of them are still canceled but when they do come back I will shed a tear that people are gathering again no matter the reason.

This is basically how I feel about the Burning Man Festival, which I have no interest in attending but watching the documentary Spark: A Burning Man which was made in 2012 made me hopeful for the day when those who enjoy it will be able to do it again in safety. I hope we do not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by fear forever when safe solutions and adaptations are implemented. It’s a scary time to be a human. That’s for sure.

Anyway, I was asked to review the documentary Spark: A Burning Man and it is a very interesting film. On the surface it’s a by-the-numbers documentary about the effort which goes into putting on the massive Burning Man Festival each year in Nevada. Every year a city is constructed in the Black Rock Desert out of nothing and a blissful existence of commerce free life lasts for 2 artistic fueled weeks.

However, when you dig beneath the effigies and hippies there are 50 full time employees and thousands of hours of labor which go into making the seemingly anarchistic even happen in the wilderness. It was this duality of themes which fascinated me in Spark: A Burning Man. They literally have an art installation called ‘Burn Wall Street’ with a building ‘Goldman Sucks’ that takes months to build and lots of time in board rooms to coordinate and plan. If that’s not irony I don’t know what is!

It’s also very ironic that the Burning Man Festival is an activity for the rich and well off who want to pretend to be artists for a few weeks. One article I read said a basic estimate for a 4 day trip to the festival will cost $2218 with it going as high as $20,000. The film Spark: A Burning Man dives into this irony particularly talking about the groups attempt to institute a ticket lottery and the resulting backlash but they could have dived even more. Do these Silicon Valley glamping camps fit into Burning Man’s guiding principals?

Either way, if you like seeing how things come together, and seeing some escapism from a simpler time I recommend Spark: A Burning Man. It could dive in deeper into the irony of the situation, but I still found it interesting, and am glad I took the time to watch it.

6 out of 10

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