Take Me To Your Burn: Virtual Black Rock City

Something is brewing in Somnium Space. Or maybe we should say ‘burning’. Something has been ignited and soon it will be raging throughout this amazing virtual land. Before you think disaster will strike, it is quite the opposite as preparations are in full swing for a truly mind blowing event.

The name? It’s dubbed Take Me To Your Burn. To lift the curtain a bit more, Take Me To Your Burn will be a virtual Burning Man event. And what better place to do it than in Somnium Space, the open, persistent and highly immersive virtual reality platform.

Burning Man 2020

You probably heard of Burning Man, which is an event that is held annually (since 1986) in the western United States. Since 1998, the event has been located at Black Rock City, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert of northwestern Nevada.

For 2020 the next Burning Man event was planned at that exact same location. But then COVID-19 raised its ugly head. As a result, Burning Man 2020 has been cancelled.

So no event at all? Think again!

Black Rock City in the Multiverse

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Black Rock City will be build in the Multiverse. Black Rock City goes virtual! The current situation offers a unique chance to explore new ways of connecting and convening online.  An important consideration here is that Burning Man should not be seen as a place or a thing. Rather, it is a culture that is shared and continuously reinvented.

And this is where Somnium Space comes in.  Immersing yourself in Burning Man culture while being immersed in virtual reality in Somnium Space; it is as good as it sounds. It’s going to be unique, it is going to be mind blowing. Somnium Space and the Metaverse are alive. And so is Burning Man. Their combined magic will create history.

Tell me more!

Kindling and Natural Warp

To have a single point of entry, the Burning Man organization has established a platform – Kindling – through which Burning Man fans are offered five actions: Gather, Experience, Play, Co-Learn, and Ignite. These actions offer fans unique ways to engage with and experience Burning Man culture and events.

Under the umbrella of the Kindling experience, the Take Me To Your Burn event is being organized in Somnium Space.

The organizer, member Natural Warp, a psychedelic/visionary 2D/3D 360° AR/VR CryptoArtist, known for numerous installations and exhibitions in Somnium Space (such as the much acclaimed ‘Take me to the Moon’ exhibition), is a true believer in the future of virtual reality worlds. He believes VR will transform human kind and revolutionize the way we socialize, educate, work, share and do business.

Take Me To Your Burn

So what exactly will happen during Take Me To Your Burn in Somnium Space? Well, folks, fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be big

The concept and aim is to have nothing less than 50+ parcels, multiple solo camps and workshop areas in Somnium Space actively participating in this grand scale event. See below for the multitude of activities that will take place throughout this VR world.

Collaborations

The cool thing is that Take Me To Your Burn is one huge collaborative experience with artists, musicians, labels, party organizers, guides, teachers and lecturers. Burning Man culture is alive and this particular project is a clear manifestation of that. Somnium Space is alive as well and offers the virtual, immersive platform that deepens the sense of connection with the world and its experiences and especially between everyone who joins. Collaborators, contributors, fans and VR enthusiasts alike.

It’s an experience the world has never seen, but which reflects the true spirit of Burning Man.

To get a sense of the huge scale, check the following list:

• 40+ artists will present different kinds of digital art, builds and installations in specially prepared 30 or so galleries in the virtual world
• 150+ DJ’s are going to play at 5 stages dedicated to records, labels and big projects and at special open stage for solo DJ’s. Every set will be streamed live or on demand at our platform.
• 30+ Musicians and bands will play live music at Main concert stage and at open mic stage for solo musicians
• 20+ workshops and lectures with different topics like spirituality, eco-living, health and fitness, at 4 special stages and installations that we built for the event.
• We have a dedicated team of 10 people and many co-operations in order to create this event, raise awareness and promote it.
• Collaboration with record labels Kamino Records and Mindspring Music.
• Collaboration with party/festival organizations Fusion Culture and Own Spirit Festival

Note that the above list isn’t exhaustive.

Where and how?

Where and how exactly can Take Me To Your Burn be experienced? There are two main locations: The Landing Page and Somnium Space.

Landing Page

The Landing Page is a classic web site that will be your main (2D) point of entry into Take Me To Your Burn. It will contain all the live streams, on demand videos, information about projects, chat rooms, time tables for events, data feeds as well as entry buttons to the Somnium Space VR and 2D clients (including info on how to use them).

Somnium Space

Somnium Space is the open, persistent virtual reality world that can be experienced in both VR and via a 2D client. Here you can socialize, share, interact and explore and fully immerse yourself in Burning Man culture (and everything else this world has to offer).

Audio and video streams will be shared between the two locations. So no matter what location you choose, you’ll do not have to miss anything.

Note that you can open a browser from within VR in Somnium Space as well. This means you can be in-world and check calendars, schedules and all the good news without ever having to leave Somnium Space.

Somnium Map

Somnium covers roughly 6×6 kilometers. When you first enter, you’ll spawn at Somnium Waypoint, which is the central town. From there you can walk into any direction, visit islands, climb mountains and explore the many structures that have been created by members over the past 4-5 months.

Take Me To Your Burn takes place in various locations, on so called parcels. Most of them are pretty close to Somnium Waypoint and easy to find. See the map below:

All locations will be very easy to find as special in-world maps will guide you. No chance of getting lost!

Stay tuned

We’re less than a month away from Take Me To Your Burn and Somnium Times will keep reporting, both during the preparations and during the event itself. So stay tuned.

We’ll give you all the latest information, will highlight art installations, discuss and review performances and much, much more.

Useful links

Somnium Space – Website from where you can download the client

Take Me To Your Burn – Kindling project page

Discord Channel Take Me To Your Burn

Discord channel Natural Warp – Main organizer and responsible for all art-related installations and exhibitions during Take Me To Your Burn.

Twitter Natural Warp

Twitter Sun Tzu – Organizes everything related to music – DJ sets, live acts, musicians, workshops and seminars.