HUFFINGTON POST – Sep 11 – Burning Man attracts a wide range of people who are enthusiastic about experiencing one of the most moving, spiritual and unforgettable experiences of their lives. One of these people is Dmitry Volkov, an owner of Social Discovery Ventures (AnastasiaDate.com & AsianDate.com), investor and organizer of the OraculeTang camp at this year's Burning Man festival. The OraculeTang camp has been featured by Business Insider as one of the most incredible art installations at this year's Burning Man festival. Four large, inflatable figures of green aliens, ranging from 4.5m to 12m tall, represented the sacral objects for all the aliens and the Burners who believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life, and who worship alien civilizations.
Q: Who are you and what do you do for a living?
A: I'm an entrepreneur, investor, philosopher and contemporary art collector.
Q: What brought you to Burning Man?
A: I had heard about Burning Man many times. I became certain that I wanted to go when visiting my friend and philosopher, D. Dennett. One of Dennett's friends shared the story of Burning Man with me as well as his experiences out on The Playa.
Q: What inspired you to build the OraculeTang camp and what does it represent?
A: In 2015 we brought a gigantic robotic orangutang – OraculeTang. He was both an animal and a robot. The idea was to build a non-organic, intelligent animal that could communicate with humans. This year's Burning Man theme was all about radical inclusion – where people with different and alternative lifestyles come together and embrace each other's differences.
Q: You had recently met Dalai Lama. How was this experience and has it given you any new visions?
A: This relates to one of my philosophy projects. For many years, I have tried to contribute to developing bridges between philosophers in Russia and Western analytic philosophers. The Greenland conference I organized in 2014 is an example of this. The project I am doing with Dalai Lama is an attempt to stretch our hand to the East. Buddhists have developed a lot of very valuable ideas in ethics, as well as metaphysical ideas, like the concept of self as fiction. I think this is both interesting and worth exploring further.
by Rachel Wolfson
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