|
Burning Man is an eight-day-long festival organized by Black Rock City, LLC, under the guidance of founder Larry Harvey. The festival is held annually and ends on the American Labor Day holiday in September. The festival takes place on the playa of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, 90 miles (150 km) north-northeast of Reno. Though the specific location on the playa changes from year to year, the location has been quite constant in recent years. The temporary city is an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. The event takes its name from the ritual of burning a large wooden sculpture of a man on the sixth day. Principles Because of the variety of goals fostered by participatory attendees, Burning Man does not have a single focus. Features of the festival are subject to the participants and include community, artwork, absurdity, decommodification, and revelry. Participation is encouraged, and being a spectator is discouraged. The Burning Man event is governed by the 10 principles of Burning Man, which are radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy. Gifting Instead of cash, festival participants rely on a gift economy, a sort of potlatch. Since the earliest days of the event, an underground barter economy has also existed, in which burners exchange material goods and/or favors with each other. While this was originally supported by the Burning Man Organization, this now is largely discouraged by the event organizers. Decommodification With the exception of the following items, no cash transactions are permitted in accordance with the principles of Burning Man: Getting there Most travellers arrive by car, bus, truck, RV, or other motor vehicle. In rare instances, taxis have been known to drop off participants. The remote Black Rock Desert is about a two-hour drive north of Reno, Nevada via Interstate 80, Nevada Highway 447 and Nevada Highway 34. The festival requires all participants to hold tickets to enter; tickets at the gate are more expensive than those purchased in advance. Attendees from distant locations sometimes fly to Reno or San Francisco and either rent vehicles there, or arrange a rideshare with other attendees. Many car rental agencies are known to impose large surcharges on participants returning improperly cleaned cars. During the festival there is also a temporary airport on the playa run by volunteers for small private planes. Flying has been an option to get to Black Rock City for several years. Information on Black Rock's airport can be found here. In addition to arrival by air, recreational hang gliding and sky diving are also popular during the event. Airplanes are also known to fly in fresh supplies for theme camps with prearranged agreements. Transportation around the festival Once participants have arrived in BRC (Black Rock City), motor vehicles which are not registered for use during the event are parked for the duration and all participants travel around the city under their own power or on art cars. Motor Vehicles Since 1997, motorized vehicles have been restricted at Burning Man. The regular use of vehicles are restricted to registered art cars, emergency vehicles, or when leaving or entering the city. Law enforcement officials and the Black Rock Rangers will stop vehicles and law enforcement officials may ticket drivers. All vehicles must adhere to the 5mph speed limit in the city. Art cars, vehicles that are creativley altered, are a common art form at Burning Man. They must be registered by the Black Rock City DMV (Department of Mutant Vehicles). A number of these vehicles have sufficient capacity and offer to pick up passengers on the playa for a ride, serving as the gift equivalent of jitney service. Persons with disabilities and Burning Man employees may also apply for a permit to drive a vehicle around the playa. Bicycles Bicycles are the primary means of cross-town transportation for most BRC citizens. The alkali dust of the playa may cause severe damage to bikes that are not sufficiently prepped before the event and thoroughly cleaned afterwards, so many attendees bring a bicycle of little value. Attendees are advised to bring extra inner tubes for their bikes -- not only as a component of radical self-reliance, but because bicycle repair camps sometimes run out of their limited supply and should not be relied on. A high school teacher from Empire (a town about 25 miles from BRC) has taken to collecting all the bikes abandoned after the festival and reselling them to the next year's attendees. As in any other city, a good lock is a precaution against having a bike among those every year that are lost, "accidentally" borrowed and later abandoned, or stolen outright. A growing number of participants bring bicycle rickshaws they've created or purchased, with the intention of providing free transportation as their gift to other attendees. Many participants also turn their off-the-shelf bicycle into an art bike through "garage engineering" and decoration with accessories including fake fur, reflective tape, stuffed animals, electroluminescent wire and other materials. Walking Walking is also a great way to get around; although slower, it's easier to stop and see the many sights, and is a safe alternative due to the motor vehicle regulations. All vehicles in Black Rock City must yield to pedestrians. Art Art on the playa is assisted by the Artery, which helps artists place their art in the desert, and ensure lighting and burn platform reqirements are met. When available, art is funded by the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF). Since 1995, an different artistic theme has been announced for Burning Man each year, which influences the construction of the Man and art developed by the participants. Burning Man primarily features outsider art and visionary art, though all forms of art are present during the event. Creative expression through the arts is encouraged at Burning Man. Large-scale art installations, theme camps, music, performance, and guerrilla street theatre are amongst the most common art forms shared at the event. Sculptures and interactive installations are generally placed on the playa, in open spaces. The largest and most active public theme camps are generally placed on the Esplanade, Black Rock City's inner circle "main street." Temples In addition to the burning of the Man, the burning of a temple has become ritual at the event. The ritual burning of David Best's temple projects from 2000 to 2004 rivaled the burning of the central Burning Man complex in community significance and popularity. The ornately designed temple buildings borrowed from Southeast Asian and Balinese architecture, and are used as repositories for the memories of deceased loved ones, who are often commemorated in writing on the temple. In 2005, Best stepped aside to allow for another artist, Mark Grieve, to build his own interpretation of a temple. Black Rock City Black Rock City, often abbreviated to BRC, is the name of the temporary urban phenomenon created by Burning Man participants. Much of the layout and general city infrastructure is constructed by Department of Public Works (DPW) volunteers who often reside in Black Rock city for several weeks before and after the festival. The remainder of the city including theme camps, art installations and individual camping, are all created by participants each year. City Planning The city is arranged as two-thirds of a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) diameter circle (resembling the layout of Poverty Point) with the Man complex at the very center. Avenues extend radially from the Man to the outermost circle. In recent years, these avenues are given a clock designation (for example, "3:00"), presenting the city as a clock in which the Man is at the center. In the past, the avenues have been identified as the degrees of a circle (for example, "300 degrees"); however, this proved unpopular with participants due to its confusing nature ("000 degree" actually refers to 030 degree on azimuth). Within the semicircle of the city, arranged in concentric arcs around the Man, are the streets. Starting in 2005, the innermost street is named the Esplanade, and the remaining streets are named beginning with letters A through H to coincide with the overall theme of the burn to aid with navigation. In 2004, they corresponded with "The Vault of Heaven" theme, and the streets were named after the planets of the solar system. The outlines of these streets are visible on aerial photographs. Surrounding the central complex and extending out toward the back of the playa is an area of empty space reserved for art installations. Center Camp Center Camp is located along the midline of BRC, facing the Man at the 6:00 position on the Esplanade, and serves as a central meeting place for the entire city. Most central is the Center Camp Café which contains art installations, a large comfortable seating area, and performance spaces available to participants. The Café also sells coffee and other beverages such as electrolyte drinks and lemonade. Various services, such as Emergency Medical Services, Black Rock Rangers, Playa Information, Artica (ice sales), Media Mecca and the BMIR studios (Burning Man Information Radio) are also found at Center Camp. Similar services (Ranger Outposts and Medical Services) can also be found at the 3:00 and 9:00 plazas. Villages and Theme Camps Villages and Theme Camps are located along the innermost streets of Black Rock City, often offering entertainment or a service to the temporary residents. More recently more effort has been made to intersperse the placement of theme camps with general camping to promote interaction and integration. All theme camps must apply for placement, and are assigned an address in August prior to the event. Burning Man has a set of criteria which influences which camps are placed, and can include the relevance to the theme, if they are affiliated with any art installations, and the ability to interact with the camp. Theme Camps are usually a collective of people representing themselves under a single identity. Villages are usually a collection of smaller theme camps which have banded together in order to share resources and vie for better placement. Some Theme Camps and Villages have added links at the end of this article. Terminology There is specific terminology used by the Burning Man community. Spectators and Participants As the stated purpose of Burning Man is to form community and to promote radical self-expression, non-participants are strongly frowned upon by many participants. This does not prevent spectators from attending the event, however; and in recent years, as attendance has swelled with growing awareness of Burning Man among the general public, friction between participants and spectators has been on the rise. Self-Expression The event promotes self-expression, and participants do so in a variety of ways. The event is clothing-optional and public nudity is common. The event also has a reputation for sexual promiscuity. "Leave No Trace" policy Participants are encouraged to Leave No Trace of their visit to Black Rock City. Burning Man takes place in the middle of an uninhabited large desert playa. Participants are told to be very careful not to contaminate the playa with litter (commonly known as MOOP, or "matter out of place"). In addition, while fire is a primary component of many art exhibits and events, materials must be burned on burn platforms. At one time, burning was allowed to take place directly on the ground of the playa, but the formation of burn scars was observed. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which maintains the desert, has very strict requirements for the festival. These stipulations include trash cleanup, removal of burn scars, dust abatement, and capture of fluid drippings from participant vehicles. Weeks after the festival has ended, a team of volunteers remains in the desert, cleaning up after the temporary city and making sure that no evidence of the festival remains. A local environmental group, http://stopburningman.org has criticized the festival for the environmental impact left by the festival. Their criticisms include the following Burning Man and effect on global warming A group of San Francisco scientists are calculating how much the event will contribute to Global Warming. They have created Cooling Man a system that will calculate how much greenhouse gasses the participants will create. The movement has inspired many to look for positive ways to get involved in the Global Warming movement by seeking out solutions. The Cooling Man website suggests ways the Burners can offset the damage by planting trees or investing in alternative energy solutions. Since this is a new development, the impact won't be noticed until Burning Man 2007, a year when ecological concerns will also be explored through the art theme of "The Green Man". Health The desert environment, in which the event takes place, requires special attention to personal health. A wide-ranging survival guide, available on the Burning Man web site, is intended to help participants survive the harsh conditions of the desert. Issues addressed range from physical health issues such as ensuring adequate hydration, protection from the sun, and managing temperature extremes to social issues such as finding friends, in and out policy, and dealing with LEOs. Emergency Services is provided by another volunteer in-house department of Burning Man, the Emergency Services Department (also known as ESD). The ESD provides professional Fire Fighting, Medical, Mental Health, and Emergency Communications Dispatch for the citizens of Black Rock City. Modeled after a fire department in structure and organization, it provides public safety services from five stations spread throughout Black Rock City around the clock during the event. Safety, policing and regulations BRC is patrolled by various local and state law enforcement agencies as well as the Bureau of Land Management Rangers. Burners refer to these people collectively as LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers). Burning Man also has its own in-house group of volunteers, the Black Rock Rangers, who act as informal mediators when disputes arise between burners. When the occasional eviction of a burner from BRC becomes necessary, volunteer rangers typically enlist the assistance of LEOs. Burning Man has developed a reputation for drug use, which is not tolerated by law enforcement. In 2001, local law enforcement objected to an art installation depicting a homosexual act at a camp called "Jiffy Lube." The art was moved to a more private area of the camp, giving rise to charges of censorship and homophobia from a number of quarters. History
Timeline Statistics shown below illustrate the growth of the Burning Man festival, according to a timeline on BurningMan.com and other sources: (Note: the man has remained close to 40 feet (12 m) tall since 1989, the height and structure of the base has changed, thus the following referenced height figures are misleading) The event has changed considerably as it grew from a small handful of people on a beach in San Francisco to over 39,000 people attending the festival in 2006. The scale of the event has increased enormously, and Black Rock City, LLC has in turn become more structured. In 1997 a group of people began a much smaller festival both as an alternative to and as a parody of Burning Man. The so-called Burning Shithead Festival takes place in Joshua Tree National Park every year at the same time as Burning Man. An Anti-BurningMan also formed with an emphasis on fewer restrictions, occurring just before Burning Man such that the less-ironic could still attend both. Regional events The popularity of Burning Man has encouraged other groups and organizations to hold festivals similar to Burning Man, such as Xara Dulzura, Fuego de los Muertos in San Diego, Playa del Fuego in Delaware, Firefly in Vermont, Toast! the Arizona Regional Burn, Burning Flipside in Texas, Nutopia in Toronto, Recompression near Vancouver, BC, SOAK in Oregon, and June's 4-day festival Critical Massive in Washington. In recent years, burners wishing to experience Burning Man more frequently than once per year have banded together to create local regional events. These events are typically much smaller than Burning Man itself, often consisting of no more than a few hundred participants. Some of the events are officially affiliated with the Burning Man organization via the Burning Man Regional Network, while others are organized and created by burners independent of the LLC. A good example of the latter is InterFuse in Missouri, Firefly in Vermont, and Transformus in North Carolina. One type of event is popular with those that find returning to the "default world" to be a little jarring after having enjoyed the experiences of the burn. To relieve this culture shock, burners may participate in decompression events to recapture the spirit of the original festival. Other regional events have been established that connect and grow localized communities of burners. These events build upon the cultural bond of Burning Man, yet add a particular unique flavor of their own. Most regional events last a few days, occur annually, and are much less formal than Burning Man itself. Burning Man in the media See also Notes General Photo collections Video Theme camps Jan Kriekels and Arne Quinze starting a new creative community - Visit the uchronians burningexperience. | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
 |
|
| |