Burning Man Co-Founder John Law Breaks His Silence

John Law, one of the co-founders of Burning Man, has broken a long public silence about the event. In a new interview with the San Francisco Standard, Law said the festival as it exists today is almost unrecognizable from what he and his collaborators originally built on the Black Rock Desert playa.

What Law said

Law told the Standard he hadn't intended to weigh in on Burning Man's evolution, but decided to respond after being repeatedly asked about it. He described his feelings about how the event has changed as "a little sad."

He was careful to note he isn't dismissing the event outright — friends still attending share photos and videos with him, and some old-school theme camps reportedly still carry the punk-industrial spirit of the early years. But taken as a whole, he said, the event's current form has drifted far from where it started.

The 1996 split

Law's departure from Black Rock Desert in 1996 marked his break from Burning Man, and he has rarely discussed the event publicly since. This interview is one of his few on-record comments on the festival in the years since he left.

What we don't know yet

The source article doesn't specify what particular changes Law objects to, nor does it detail his current relationship — if any — with Burning Man's organizers. No further comment from Burning Man or its current organizing body is cited.