Burning Man 2009

(Thanks to Margaret Mowrer for posting the last three pictures on Facebook)

Burning man is a fantastic experience that I would recommend to almost everybody. Most people believe that it is just a big hippie fest full of drugs and debauchery, but I found that the experience really depends on what you want to get out of it. The official site is http://www.burningman.com/ but I found that there is far too much information there to get a good understanding of what it is all about. The best description I’ve read so far is at

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-michaelson/the-truth-about-burning-m_b_279464.html.

Burning Man starts as an open desert near Reno, NV waiting for hundreds of volunteers (mostly) to descend on the playa and start building the infrastructure for a city of up to 50,000 people. They build trash fences, install temporary trailers and buildings for the public works system, survey the roads, layout the city. One of the main principals is to leave no trace so that the desert will return to it’s natural state after the man burns.

The heart and soul of the experience is found in the theme camps. Burning Man is a gift economy. No one is allowed to sell, barter, or trade while here. You can only purchase ice, coffee, tea, and other drinks from the approved outlets. This means that every experience at Burning Man is a gift from other attendees who come together a week before the event begins to create theme camps which are only limited by their imagination and resources. I was lucky enough to stay with the Whiskey and Dust Mile High Club theme camp which turned out to be one of the best camps and probably the most organized. Check out the
website at  http://www.site.whiskyanddust.com/Home_Page.html. (This camp previously had an airplane themed camp that I read about in one of the magazine articles that
convinced me that I had to come to Burning Man so it was quite the coincidence that I ended up staying with them) We had events such as a whiskey tasting at the tiki bar, twice daily yoga classes, hand jobs (we go all the way to the elbow), and massages. The next camp hosted a day bar and performed a variety show and the next camp had naked twister. Almost every theme you could imagine was represented with camps for fans of Hunter S Thompson, metaphysics, nudists, quantum theory, live music, roller disco, foot baths, with almost every interest represented. Almost all of these camps had daily events.

Burning Man wouldn’t be the same without it’s mutant vehicles. Again, people apply their imagination and resources to create vehicles from bicycles, motorized wheelchairs, gold carts, atvs, cars, vans, and busses and transform them into rolling art. Some of my favorites included a dragon whose head was fully articulated and could breath fire, some crazy bicycles who also shot fire (can you detect a theme here), a house that look like it came from the movie Wild, Wild, West, and many more. My mutant vehicle is already half
designed and witing for me to get off my ass and start building.

The playa is loaded with art and interactive games and rides such as the titter totter, the teeter totter of death, and a 3 story slide. Burning Man also promotes radical self-reliance and unlike the real world, many of these interactive games have no supervision whatsoever which makes them even more fun. My favorite pieces involved fire (of course) and one, in particular, was spectacular. They had pipes sticking up from the ground at about 10 yard
intervals in a grid. The pipes were about 8-10 feet high and each pipe exploded in different patterns with a 6 foot ball of fire. The explosions were so loud and powerful, many people swear that the earth shakes. My favorite part was watching my shadow jump as I rode away with every blast of fire which made it look like I was was travelling in time.

The most important part of Burning Man are the people who are there to express themselves without limitations. Participation is encouraged and almost everyone wearing clothes is wearing a garish costume. There is an incredible ambiance of acceptance and I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything like it. This began to wane slightly towards the end of the week when the vibe changed to more of a party atmosphere when what real burners refer to as “tourists” began to appear. Tourists are people who come to the burn as a long weekend destination. I made a conscious decision not to take any pictures of costumes out of respect for people who wouldn’t want to become a spectacle in the “real” world and the fact I would never put my camera down. Burning Man is supposed to peak on Saturday night when the Man’s arms raise to start the burn ceremony. The base of the man is littered with fire eaters, throwers, spinners, and fire artists of all kinds who perform for an
hour or so before the Man explodes with a fireworks show which are supposed to start the fiery inferno which was one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen. The sheer size of the fire was spectacular and I’ve never seen a fire burn that color before.

The only downside of the entire Burn is the environment. The Black Rock desert is hot and the dust cannot be imagines. We were walking around with 5 foot visibility on Saturday night waiting to see if the weather would clear up to allow the man to burn. It got too much for me by Sunday so I used it, and the fact I was out of food and almost out of water an excuse to leave a day earlier than planned. I missed the Temple burn on Sunday which is supposed to be surreal compared to the Man which is very tribal. The Temple burn is
completely silent which would be quite the experience. I had a great time and will go back again and would love to introduce a new virgin to the Burn. Let me know if you want to go!!

Here are the pictures, click on any picture for a bigger view. These are low res. Let me know if you want any high res copies.