如何拯救商品化的火人節？

“火人節”的規模一年比一年大，一年比一年貴，也一年比一年更高大上。在2011年火人節的入場券首次被搶光以前，任何想去的人都可以去狂歡一把。但現在你得搶票才能參加這場嬉皮士的盛宴。今年的3萬張票剛發售不到半個小時就被搶光了，每張入場券的價格高達425美元。當然如果你不差錢，你也可以在發售前后買990美元的預售票和1200美元的售后票。

這幾年很多人都說火人節“已死”?，F在你要想乘坐飛馳的皮卡，拿步槍射擊盛滿汽油的小鐵豬已經不可能了。隨著政府對這項活動的管理日益增強，火人節從極端走向平和是必然的事?，F在你在參加火人節之前，可以先買一件專屬“戰袍”，每天將你最愛的壽司和生魚片空運到黑石城也不是難事。只要你愿意的話，你還可以拉拉仇恨，每天更新一下朋友圈，秀秀“很黃很暴力”的火人節現場照片。

不過從2017年開始，“火人節組織”開始注重保持火人節的靈魂了。比如“燒木人”是歷年火人節的保留節目，前幾年用來燒掉的“大木人”都是用機器豎起來的，今年的“大木人”則將由參與者們用雙手將它拉起來，這也算是一種令人振奮的轉變。當然，火人節作為一種推動社會變革的力量，它也依然存在著一些問題，要想保持火人節的變革與超脫的本色，主辦方應該切實想想法子。如果在今年的火人節之后，“火人節組織”里有人能看到這篇文章，我對你們有以下幾個建議：

一個人每兩年才能來一次

隨著火人節名聲在外，今年報名參加的人數也達到了7萬人。主辦方或許應該出臺一項規定，使報名者每兩年才可以參與一次。這樣一來，更多的人能夠享受到這種難忘的體驗，也免得黑石沙漠里來來去去都是那幾張熟面孔。

取消高價預售票

“全國統一價”的火人節門票才更符合火人節的“十大原則”，尤其是其中的“極度包容”、“市民責任”、“免費贈予”和“去商品化”原則。在主售前后銷售高價票，又讓金錢成了參與活動的敲門磚。如果火人節真的反對“以消費替代體驗”的話，那就最好盡早實行統一票價制，免得被人罵又當啥啥又立牌坊。

掐斷黑石城的Wi-Fi信號

火人節的意義就在于讓人與外部世界暫時隔絕，遠離俗事紛擾，去親近那些未知和意想不到的事物。前幾年這片干枯的河床上還根本收不到手機信號，現在這里已經有了一座帶無線網的咖啡廳，還有了火人節專屬手機APP和網絡開發者?；鹑斯澴罹咛魬鹦院妥钅芨淖內松牡胤?，是那些對科技上癮的參與者根本無法體驗到的。何況對于真正想體驗火人節的純種嬉皮士，他們最看不慣的就是你們這種光知道拍拍拍的裝逼犯。

火人節不能搞來去自由

任何一個來到火人節的人，都應該堅持到一周的活動結束。主辦方應該嚴控人員的出入。我聽說過很多人到火人節“溜達了一圈”就出來了。拜托，你們是干嘛來了？火人節給人的感覺應該像跑完了一場馬拉松，否則就別恬著臉說你得到了什么人生感悟。

別發“導游指南”了

火人節會給每個參與者準備一個小冊子，上面列出了火人節期間的所有活動。然而這樣一本小冊子壓根不應該被印出來了?；鹑斯澋囊饬x就是徘徊、彷徨和迷失。如果你把攻略都提前做好了，按小時趕景點，白天拍照晚上睡覺，和旅游團有啥區別？

限制房車和發電機

黑石城越來越像一座有墻的城市了。一臺臺房車和發電機定義了道路的邊界，使帳篷成了一座座孤島。隨著空間愈加私有化，火人節的公共屬性也在逐步消減。房車應該停放在黑石城的指定區域，城中的房車總數也不能是無節制的。城市的結構越松散，環境越感性，黑石城才越美好。而今年的黑石城就像一個大工地，空氣中也彌溫了太多的汽油味兒。

“雛兒”們進城要先背誦火人節十原則

每一個第一次參加火人節的人都被稱為“雛兒”，雛兒們進城前要先接受組織的考驗，也就是先敲鐘，然后在地上滾一圈兒，滾得跟老鳥們一樣灰頭土臉，以示與大家“同流合污”的決心。我建議雛兒們在進城之前，還得先背誦一遍火人節十原則。在今年的大木人被燒掉之前，我身邊有個家伙問我，這特么的是在搞毛線呢？他肯定不知道火人節的任何一條原則，說不定他根本不知道火人節是什么東西。（財富中文網）

譯者：賈政景

本文作者Samantha Krukowski是《帕拉亞的沙：火人節故事集選》的編輯。她目前在辛辛那提大學教設計。此前她在愛荷華州立大學建筑系工作時，曾執教過關于火人節的研討班。

Burning Man gets bigger, more expensive, and more exclusive every year. Prior to its first-time sellout in 2011, Burning Man could be experienced by anyone who wanted to go. Now, it’s a race to the gate. This year, 30,000 tickets were gone in about a half hour—each cost $425. You had a better chance at landing some if you had deep pockets—pre- and post-main sale tickets went for $990 and $1200, respectively.

There has been a lot of talk in the last few years about Burning Man being “over,” and with good reason. The days of shooting a rifle from a speeding car at gas-filled metal pigs are gone. Burning Man’s radicalism is being challenged by its appropriation. You can buy a pre-selected Burning Man wardrobe before you go, fly your personal sushi chef and their fresh fish in and out daily on Playa Air, and keep your social media networks updated (and sufficiently jealous) as you post all your Burning Man travel porn.

The Burning Man Organization is working to maintain the soul of Burning Man, and getting the Man back on the ground and raised communally by hand was a heartening shift for 2017. But there are real problems that are threatening Burning Man’s existence as a force for social change. A few big moves could assert the hugely transformative and otherworldly core of the event for a lot more people. In case anyone at the Burning Man Organization is listening after this year’s Burn, I have some suggestions.

Create a once-every-other-year attendance policy

Burning Man is oversubscribed—the population estimate for 2017 is over 70,000. Maybe it’s time to change things up so that attendance is a biennial, not an annual, possibility. More would have access to the experience, and fewer people would feel entitled to it.

Kill the high-priced pre-sale tickets

A one-price-for-all ticket would be more in line with Burning Man’s 10 Principles, especially radical inclusion, civic responsibility, gifting, and decommodification. Selling more expensive tickets before and after the main sale makes money the most valued qualification for entrance. If Burning Man really resists the “substitution of consumption for participatory experience,” some alignment of money and mouth could be achieved through a single ticket price.

Block Wi-Fi in Black Rock City

Burning Man should be about leaving the outside world, disconnecting from the quotidian, and connecting to the unknown and the unimaginable. Not very long ago it was impossible to get a cell signal on the playa, now there’s a café with wireless Internet access and an interface for mobile app and web developers. Some of the most challenging and life-changing aspects of Burning Man can’t be experienced by device-addicted attendees. Besides, those attendees can really piss off people who are trying to actually be at Burning Man.

Don’t let people come and go

Anyone who goes to Burning Man should commit to the whole week-long event. In-and-out access should be curtailed. I heard a lot of people talking about “stopping in” to Burning Man. Come on, what’s the point? It’s supposed to feel like a marathon.

Get rid of the playa event guide

Burning Man publishes What Where When, a listing of all the events and activities happening on the playa. Burning Man should not have a manual. Wandering, lingering, and getting lost are the keys to the city. Pre-planning your trip, keeping track of the hour, being where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there—all these are anathema to playa time.

Limit RVs and generators

Black Rock City is increasingly a walled city. RVs and generators define the edges of roads and support the social isolation of camps. The communal quality of Burning Man is being diminished by the increasing privatization of space. RVs could be assigned to designated parts of the city; the number of RVs per camp could be limited; or only a certain number of RV passes could be distributed. The city is better when it’s more porous and more environmentally sensible. This year it sounded too much like a construction site and smelled too much like gasoline.

Make virgins recite the 10 Principles at the bell

If you’re a first timer, you have to ring the big bell and roll in the dust before you can pass through the entrance gates. Virgins should also be required to recite Burning Man’s 10 Principles during this initiatory moment. Before the Man burned this year, a guy next to me asked what the fuss was about. He definitely didn’t know there were any principles; hell, he probably didn’t even know he was at Burning Man.

Samantha Krukowski is the editor of Playa Dust: Collected Stories from Burning Man. She teaches design at the University of Cincinnati and taught the Burning Man Studio for two years when she was on the architecture faculty at Iowa State University.