BURNING MAN ORGANISERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST VANDALISM AT 2016 FEST

Burning Man organisers have spoken out against acts of vandalism, which were apparently more prominent than ever at this year's event.

Posting via the festival's blog, Burning Man say the acts are "not okay," with the goal of the article being "to bring to light the fact that this stuff happens in Black Rock City, to open a discussion about why it happens, and — hopefully — to end it."

The post is the first in a series and addresses issues at the camp of Iron Monkeys, a team who have contributed art and sculptures to the Playa for a decade. According to Karla Shults of the Iron Monkeys, their blacksmith workshop was torn apart and urinated on, with equipment and walls being knocked over.

I have never directly experienced vandalism or destruction of art on playa to the degree I did this year," she says. "I have heard stories of such behavior and witnessed art being damaged due to carelessness or inebriation, but never this.

"The Iron Monkeys pour blood, sweat, tears and love into what we create to offer unique experiences and interactions with the participants of Black Rock City. To have this level of disregard, disrespect and maliciousness offered in return, admittedly by a small few, breaks my heart."

White Ocean, the camp founded by Paul Oakenfold and the son of a Russian billionaire, was also vandalised this year, with "a band of hooligans" slicing electrical cables, gluing trailer doors shit and dumping 200 gallons of water out over the site.

Due to the exclusive nature of the camp, many have criticized White Ocean, believing it doesn't fit with the spirit of Burning Man — thus sympathy was thin on the ground following the attack. The Burning Man blog hasn't yet covered the White Ocean case, but it is expected to be brought up in a future post.