MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

This presentation begins with an analysis of Brian Sutton-Smith’s Seven Rhetorics of Play and concludes with a look into the broader examination of play within the context of Burning Man. As James S. Hans argues, “play is something that is done ‘in’ rather than ‘to’ the world - that “the world itself is at play and that we are in play much more than we realize.” Burning Man is a world of play; a world created and designed for play. Along with other Play Studies theorists and scholars, this paper examines the culture of play as it exists in this particular temporary autonomous zone, a place of radical self-expression and extraordinary community existing for a mere 7 days in the 7-square mile metropolis of Black Rock City, (BRC) Nevada. BRC is located in the Black Rock Desert, an unforgiving barren semi-arid ancient lakebed and location of this annual event. Last year 70,000 individuals chose to live, create art, culture, and play. Recognizing that Burning Man exists in a liminal space, a space full of possibilities, a feeling quite out of time and saturated with meaning, Burning Man gives permission to and creates opportunities for the freedom to play.