It’s been four years since I first mutated XyloVan as “the Light Fandango” and cruised the playa dressed as a glowing ballroom ceiling.

This year’s journey to Burning Man proved just as magical as the 2014 outing, thanks to amazing new campmates at OKNOTOK who helped me build and light it, a couple of excellent percussion cruises, and an endless stream of beautiful people who came to play the instruments.

More thoughts – and a question for you – below the images and videos:

Random notes from the keyboards.

Brief clip of art cars in line for night inspection at the Black Rock City Department of Mutant Vehicles.

The gorgeous RadiaLumia.

People question Burning Man – as they should.

Why bring millions of dollars of art, energy and resources into a godforsaken desert, run around like maniacs, burn a lot of it to the ground and then go home?

Why not put all that power and cash into solving problems, feeding the hungry, educating the young, improving humanity?

What the hell is all this for?

I think that, at some deep, cellular level, humanity needs to Burn. The immediate purposes – entertainment, inspiration, provocation, cross-pollination – are obvious, but the Long-Tail benefits remain hidden.

As a species, burning is a collaborative effort to evolve in some way as a species.

Whether it’s through living Ten Principles culture of participation, inclusion and immediacy, or trying to survive the brutally Darwinian process of designing an art car that won’t be kicked to pieces by 60mph winds or drug-crazed revelers, we’re trying to Go Somewhere Different with all that we bring to Burning Man.

Is Black Rock City’s increasingly global culture spiritual exploration, artistic experimentation, radical interaction, human stress-testing or just blatant, party-brained fuckery?

The answer is yes – all that and something more.

The question remains – why?

Your thoughts on this are welcome. (Just register to comment).