Over at Weird America Chuck Cirino has just posted his infamous video of the The Drive-By Shooting Range from Burning Man 1994, where they shot at stuffed animals with a variety of firearms while in the bed of a moving pickup truck. This is back when guns were still part of the event.
“Burning Man: Art in the Desert”, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., is a new book by our good friend A. Leo Nash that features 13 years of his beautiful Burning Man photography.
Art at Burning Man, like the experience of being there itself, is a way of being outside routine existence: People return home rejuvenated and inspired to seek ways to express the spirit of the festival in their everyday lives. For more than a decade, A. Leo Nash has been creating a photographic document of this work, and in his photographs we see the wellspring of a new art movement.
Leo and his photography were recently featured in a segment on Burning Man 2007 which aired September 30th on the CBS Morning News.
Erik Chipchase has created a hilarious comic book cover remix featuring an “off the record” conversation between Larry Harvey and Superman this year at Burning Man right after the man was set on fire early.
Sebastian Melmoth provides some historical info on Erik:
Here’s a little image from Erik Chipchase, commanding officer of B.A.R.K. (Bolt Action Rifle Klub) the very first “theme camp” at Burning Man on the Black Rock Desert in 1990. Peter Doty and “Christmas Camp” are typically credited as the first theme camp; B.A.R.K. was there a year earlier, however, dressed in various period military uniforms, cleaning their Enfield 303’s while enjoying afternoon tea beneath tri-color and Union Jack parasols and engaging in target practice from along the edge of the BM center camp. Superman doesn’t take one for the team in Erik’s take recent piece depicting goings on in the desert.
Erik found the Superman cover at Superdickery.com (Superman is a Dick).
Peef created two time-lapse videos at Burning Man 2007 shot from on top of the Black Rock Solar “Powertainer”. The first video is during the event and the second video is of the trip back home. Here’s some background on the project from Peef:
I was originally asked by Tom Price to do this timelapse, and I thought it was an awesome idea. It’s been done before by the Folding-Time guys, but they didn’t set up this year. The images were captured by a Canon G3 mounted in a weatherproof housing of my own design up on a 20 foot pole next to the Powertainer. There were 18,486 images shot at 2272×1704 which is almost 4 megapixels each. Some of the full-size stills are stunning! The camera was controlled by a custom Daemon I wrote using the Gphoto library, which ran on the Powertainer’s Slackware linux system and the images were stored full-size on a hard drive. After the event, I ran another piece of code that downsampled the images to 640×480 then composed them at 30fps into a MPEG-4 video. My friend Tom Sepe added the Music and Titles for me and Voila! I hope to make a more portable rig for future use incorporating an embedded linux system and flash memory. Contact me for more information, to hire me for interesting geekery, or just to geek out.
via Tom Price (Burning Man Environmental Blog) & Brady Forrest (O’Reilly Radar)
So yeah, I’m well aware that Fox News is often off-base and irresponsible with their reporting, but this might be one the most disgusting things I have seen them do in a while. On their show Red Eye, host Greg Gutfeld and his cast of “experts” proceed to make fun of the recent suicide at Burning Man during the opening of the show. Here’s the link to the video and thread on Tribe.net. They’ve hit a new low with this one.
Oh and remember Julia Allison, the clueless woman who showed up at our Laughing Squid Paradise Lost event, refusing to pay to get in or even have her hand stamped. Well she is one of the “experts” on the show, where she pretends that she’s never heard of Burning Man. Um yeah, right.
Kitten Calfee sent us the following statement regarding the suicide that took place last Thursday morning at Burning Man. He was part of the Comfort & Joy theme camp where a man decided to end his life by hanging himself. Laughing Squid extends our most sincere condolences his family and friends.
On the morning of Thursday, August 30th a young man from Colorado
chose to end his life in the rafters of a public tent at the Comfort &
Joy Burning Man theme camp.Though he was unknown to us, in the wake of his passing we’re learning
from those who knew him that he was creative, kind, unconventional and
smart, and that he was regarded with affection by many.His final act, committed in solitude, has one lasting effect as it
brings us together to mark his passing. To all who have offered our
camp their sympathy and support during this time, thank you. To all
who knew him, please accept our sincere condolences.It is estimated that there was an one hour interval between the last
visit to the tent by a camp member, and the discovery of the body by a
second camp member. It is believed that the tent was unoccupied
during this time, and that there were no witnesses to the suicide.One other individual, not associated in any way with the camp, was in
the tent at the time the body was discovered. Emergency personnel
were immediately contacted by camp members. Authorities responded
within minutes and closed the scene upon arrival.The Black Rock City Rangers, Sheriffs and other law enforcement
officials who assisted us with this incident were very professional,
supportive, and helpful to us at a difficult time. We are grateful
for their services. We are also thankful for the warm and organized
support we have received from the grief counselors from the Black Rock
City Mental Health Team. They helped us openly discuss what had
happened and come to a shared understanding of the morning’s events.Much of our camp was quarantined while the coroners did their jobs and
we canceled that day’s events (a yoga class, a queer discussion group,
glitter body painting and a watercolor painting workshop).As a camp, we decided to make a contribution to David Best’s Temple of
Forgiveness, where people can mourn, remember, write messages and
leave items to be ceremonially burned on Sunday night. We felt the
rope the young man used represented the terrible violence he committed
upon himself and the people around him. By sending the rope up in
flames, we hoped to allow some of that pain to disperse. None of us
believe that this young man wanted to trouble us with his actions.The members of Comfort & Joy extend their deepest sympathy to all who
knew this young man. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and
special people in his life. Although we will never know or understand
him the way you did, he indeed touched us as well, made us grow, and
hopefully become better individuals. May the rest of his journey be
peaceful and lead him to the joy we all seek in our lives.We look forward to continuing our mission of creating positive, warm
and supportive queer community both in Black Rock City and the Bay
Area.With love and respect,
The Comfort & Joy Family
http://www.playajoy.org
I haven’t been to Burning Man since 2002 and the one of the things I miss the most about going is seeing some of the amazing art that is out there each year. By far one of my favorite installations this year was Big Rig Jig, two giant tanker trucks, curving around each other while balancing on the Playa. It was build by Brooklyn artist Mike Ross and crew of artists at American Steel in Oakland. Big Rig Jig was one of the art installations funded by Burning Man this year as part of “The Green Man” theme.
Big Rig Jig is a rumination on power as manifest in the relationship between humankind and nature. We hope to instill thoughts of wonder, fear, instability, nature, and beauty. And we are going to do this by literally cutting up pieces of the oil industry and thrusting them into the air. The sculpture is fashioned from real oil tankers and filled with lush silk plant life, a reminder of the ultimate source of the black gold once transported inside them.
Our source objects are fundamental to the world’s oil distribution infrastructure, and are pertinent examples of our culture’s unmatched production of carbon dioxide. By altering these symbolically rich objects, the sculpture is a celebration of humankind’s raw power on earth, a visual metaphor for non-sustainability, and a contemplation of our unique ability to recognize and change our most destructive actions.
Colleen Morgan shot a photo of Big Rig Jig, which I had previously used with my write-up “Burning Man 2007, Remote Access via Photos, Video, Blogs”. Apparently that caused the photo to gain a bit of popluarity (it’s had over 46K views so far).
There are a bunch of photos of Big Rig Jig on Flickr, including some from Eddie Codel (the one at the top of the post), Sean Alexander and Herve.
Brian Doherty wrote about Big Rig Jib for Wired: “Doing the Big Rig Jig on the Playa”
Here’s Current TV’s video pod of Big Rig Jig from their TV Free Burning Man coverage of the event.
Mike Connor has some photos of Big Rig Jig under construction at American Steel in Oakland and there are more construction photos on the Big Rig Jig blog.
Jay Dedman and Ryanne Hodson went out to Burning Man this year for the first time and put together a great video of some of the cool art that they saw out there.
On the final day of Burning Man 2007, the organizers of the event have announced the art theme for Burning Man 2008: “American Dream”
This year’s art theme is about patriotism — not that kind which freights the nation state with the collective weight of ego, but a patriotism that is based upon a love of country and culture. Leave ideology at home; forget the blue states and the red; let parties, factions and the so-called issues that divide us fall away. Flag burning or flag worship play no part in this year’s theme. Ask yourself, instead, a more immediate question. What has America achieved that you admire or feel proud of? What has it done or failed to do that makes you feel dismayed? Put blame aside, in this election year, and dare to ask an even greater question: What can postmodern America, this stumbling, roused, half-conscious giant, yet give to the world?
In 2008, the Burning Man will stand atop a high-rise tower. Instead of windows, this edifice will feature images of flags that represent the countries of the world. Ranging from Canada to Chad, from Brazil to Burundi, from Vatican City to the Republic of China, these 244 symbols will shine in the night, gleaming like cut gems upon the surface of a jewel box. The United States of America will be among them. Each country can be said to represent a dream no less radiant or precious than the rest. Each nation may be viewed as a container of identity; yet each one can be said to be a glimmering illusion, an arbitrary entity defined by boundaries on a map. All of us are immigrants to Black Rock City. What can we dream America to be?
I know what some of you are thinking, this has to be a prank. Well if so, then the pranksters have access to the Burning Man website and have done a thorough job updating the art theme.
Next year’s event takes place two months before the presidential election. Is this theme hinting at a more political Burning Man? What your thoughts on this?
UPDATE: Ok, this is not a prank. “American Dream” is in fact the art theme for Burning Man 2008.
On Sunday our friends had a Labor Day Weekend BBQ at their home in San Francisco. They invited a special guest, Paul Addis, the man who has been accused of setting fire to Burning Man on Tuesday. The last time I saw Paul was at our Laughing Squid Paradise Lost event in July. Needless to say a lot has changed in his life since then. I shot a few photos of Paul, the first photos of him taken since his infamous mug shot.
I also offered Paul the chance to say something on video. Up until now, he has only spoken about the “incident” in print and on the radio. I did not ask any questions, I just turned the camera on and let Paul speak his mind. In the video, Paul talks about what he wants to do with the last 30 seconds of his 15 minutes of fame.
UPDATE: On Sunday, October 28th 2007 Paul Addis was arrested for allegedly planning to set fire to Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
Current TV’s coverage of Burning Man 2007 via TV Free Burning Man has been exceptional this year. They have been uploading a bunch of great videos (which they call pods) throughout the week, including an excellent segment on David Best, who for years has been building giant temples at Black Rock City which are burned on Sunday night. This year David worked with Tim Dawson in creating the beautiful “Temple of Forgiveness”, one of the art projects funded by Burning Man this year.
This year’s temple features four grand entrance halls that converge onto a central altar. Above the altar the open tower projects to the sky, letting the energy flow dynamically through the structure. As you approach, you see the central tower rising above the flanking entrance halls; at the top are long curving beams that reflect the arc of the sky. Clad with intricately cut and layered wood, the Temple is a vehicle for remembrances and blessings, promises and forgiveness.
In 2005 David Best built a temple on the Hayes Green area in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley with public art funding from The San Francisco Arts Commission and The Black Rock Arts Foundation.
I attended Burning Man from 1995 through 2002, and during that time I was very involved with the event, working with the Web Team and Media Mecca, as well as documenting the event through photos and video. Several factors have prevented me from going in recent years, specifically running a web hosting company (servers never take any time off). I still think it is a great event and encourage people to attend who have never been. Someday I might be able to return myself.
One thing that has evolved quite a bit over the years is the wi-fi cloud at Burning Man. This year we will see even more photos and video being uploaded from the Playa, as well as live video streaming, blog coverage and even updates via Twitter. So, although I can’t make it, I’ll still be able to check in from time-to-time and get an idea of what I’m missing this year in Black Rock City as we enjoy the empty restaurants and ample parking here in San Francisco.
Of course as always, one of the best ways to track images being uploaded from the Playa is through Flickr. Here’s are all the photos tagged “burningman2007” sorted by interestingness. Check back as throughout the week as the event progresses.
Danger Ranger has been uploading some great photos documenting the building of Black Rock City.
As with previous years, there is a live video stream Burning Man from center camp run by HyperJohnGraham. Burning Man has also mounted a live webcam on the top of the Burning Man office in Gerlach, where you can watch as people come and go from the event.
Current TV, who was there last year, is back again this year with TV Free Burning Man, uploading videos from the playa (some in real time) and streaming Saturday night’s burning of the man during a live hour long broadcast.
Last year I heard at least one story of a group of people in San Francisco who stayed home and watched the man burn live on Current TV from their living room. Yes, I know that is absurd and I don’t recommend that over going to that actual event, but things like this are now just a normal part of the technological world we live in.
This year live streaming came to the masses, with websites like Justin.tv leading the way. There’s a very good chance that we will see some people attempting to lifecast from Burning Man using popular self-streaming services like Ustream.tv and Kyte.tv.
You can listen to a live audio stream of Burning Man Information Radio.
An IRC channel has been established for Burning Man at #burningman on irc.freenode.net.
Recently Burning Man joined the Blogosphere, adding four new blogs:
- Building Black Rock City (chronicling DPW’s construction of Black Rock City)
- Prepare to Burn (information on getting ready for the event)
- Environment (ongoing coverage of Burning Man’s Green projects)
- Regionals (covering Burning Man’s various regional efforts)
I’m not sure how much Burning Man will be updating these blogs during the event, but the two to watch are Building Black Rock City and Prepare to Burn, both of which have been providing valuable information about this year’s event, for instance the Community Bike Project and the possibility of high levels of dust and whiteouts this year.
Brian Doherty, who is a senior editor for Reason Magazine and in 2004 wrote a great book about the event, “This is Burning Man”, is covering this year’s event for The Underwire blog at Wired.
During the week Simone Davalos will be a guest writer for the Silicon Valley gossip blog Valleywag, covering the event and attempting to dig dirt on the digerati by posting live from the playa up to six times a day.
Reyhan Harmanci has been reporting daily from the Playa for the “Burning Blog” on SFGate’s Culture Blog.
I also see that Summer Burkes has been doing some live blogging from BRC.
Frank Taylor is planning on providing updates and aerial photos throughout the event on the Google Earth blog. Burning Man has been working with the Google Earth team to create Burning Man Earth.
And of course there will be the occasional Twitter update from Burning Man, some of which will come through the Twitter group has been independently setup specifically for this year’s event.
UPDATE: The Burning Man sculpture was set on fire prematurely early Tuesday morning. Paul Addis was arrested in connection with the arson.
Many people are very upset about Tuesday’s premature burning of Burning Man, but others consider it to be the ultimate Burning Man prank. For years the joke on the Playa was to set the man on fire early and in the mid 90’s Bigrig Industries used to hand out match packs printed with the words “Burn The Man Early”.
Burning Man has a long history of prankster activity which is largely due to it’s association with the The Cacophony Society during the late 1980’s to mid 1990’s. Burning Man 1990, the first event on the Black Rock Desert was a collaboration with The Cacophony Society as part of the event “Bad Day At Black Rock (Zone Trip #4)”.
One of the most infamous Burning Man pranks took place during the 1996 event (the year of the HELCO theme) when a giant neon smiley face was installed inside the head of the Burning Man sculpture. The idea was to turn it on just as the man was going up in flames. On Saturday night (back then the man was burned on Sunday night) the smiley face was turned on for a few seconds at midnight to test it out. Burning Man founder Larry Harvey was not amused, requesting that Dan Miller, head of construction of the Burning Man sculpture, remove the smiley face immediately.
Tuesday’s news has been awakening many ghosts of Burning Man past and today we were sent an anonymous email from the people behind the Neon Smiley Face. The message is directed to Paul Addis, the person accused with lighting the man on fire early. Here’s what they sent us, which includes some background info on Smiley:
Attn: Paul Addis
Greetings Paul,Word travels fast around here. I see by my Daily Albatross Dispatch you torched that infernal stick figure. Jolly good show man. I don’t get much action these days so it was quite refreshing, your stunt. Reminded me of the early days, back when premature immolation was considered a prank. Although I’m sure Steve Heck would disagree.
I think you’ve done a valuable service to human kind; the old boy was getting a bit passé anyway. Wanton destruction is so twentieth century don’t you think? Perhaps now the hoards will come up with a way to make fun without atomizing tremendous amounts of fossil fuel, petrochemicals and timber. Perhaps create something to be used more than once, something with purpose. And maybe they’ll stop following that silly hat around, there’s nothing behind it you know.
So good on ya man, thanks for the dust up. I hope UuberManCorp heLLC don’t throw the book at you. That would surely reveal lack of grace and loss of good humor.
Thanks again, you provide much needed perspective my boy.
I’m off to cook some tofu dogs in my solar oven with no tell tale sign of smoke to give me away.
Happy Trails Ya’ll,
Your Friend,
SMILEY!!!
ABOUT SMILEY
Burningman season 1996. The “theme� Hell.
The idea is, everything in society is owned and operated by Helco. The supra-national conglomerate that recently has also successfully purchased Hell for an undisclosed record amount of cash and stock options. People really seem to be taking it all a bit too seriously. Hell is on everybody’s mind and lots of art projects reflect the preoccupation.
About June sometime, after a talk with Larry to glean some insight on how serious he was about it all, a plan was hatched to secretly install a neon smiley face in the Man’s head, which would be switched On just as his immolation began.
The plan was to put a sublime or whimsical spin on the all too serious darkness of the whole ordeal at that point. The idea that we could mock society and its foibles even to take a swipe at western religion while simultaneously exalting and in fact elevating our own Icon in our own Image was an obvious disturbing hypocrisy to many of the Cacophanists. Yes we saw it coming, even in June.
On Saturday evening before the burn (we burned the figure on Sunday back then) we had ourselves a little playa theatre….
With the Burningman Project in its sights, Helco’s lawyers maneuver themselves for a hostile takeover. A board meeting is held at Helco tower. Satan himself appears along with Mr. Clean, the Michelin man, Ronald Mc Donald, Ken and Barbie et all. They vote unanimously to buy the Burningman Project at any cost.
Just in the nick-of-time Ted “Unibomber” Wiszinsky detonates flammables in the tower, which immediately explode in a ball of fire. The Unibomber zips out of a top floor window down a cable into a wall of neon lights sending a shower of sparks sufficient enough to allow a swift getaway.
The SEEMEN robots and machines set about destroying a mock strip mall to the shock and awe of all present.
Hell is upon us. Sometime after midnight, Smiley was switched On for about 1 minute. A curious murmur made it’s way around camp.
The next morning Larry came out to the Man and stood there for nearly an hour staring at the head. When the sun rose up behind it, the shadow of the smiley neon revealed itself.
Larry was outraged, incensed, indeed furious at the sight. He screamed at Dan Miller to “get that god damned thing out of MY man!” At which time Dan needlessly risked his safety and the rest of the neon installed on the figure to climb up the structure and remove the offending smiley face.
What was revealed at this point is that Larry wasn’t interested in the idea of the “community†having any input in “his†project. He knew as we all did the “theatre” of Hell was affecting the dynamic out there. In fact, we had “sacrificed” one of our own (Michael Fury RIP died in a motorcycle crash) the previous Tuesday. And in fact the carnage from Saturday the night before was just becoming more apparent. Still he was determined to fulfill whatever his vision was no matter what the costs were on the rest of us. It’s clear now he was positioning himself for his own version of a hostile takeover.
So while Larry pontificates ceaselessly on how the Man belongs to everybody at the event, reality is quite opposite.
The moral of the story…
Don’t worship false idols.
Bring your art home!
Tuesday’s premature immolation of Burning Man has been awakening many of the event’s old-timers. Kevin Evans, who was part of the original crew who helped bring Burning Man to the Black Rock Desert in 1990, has uploaded a bunch of great photos from Burning Man 1990-1995. For more on the early history of Burning Man in the desert, see my previous write up on Burning Man 1990 aka Bad Day At Black Rock (Cacophony Society Zone Trip #4).
UPDATE: Danger Ranger uploaded a bunch of great photos from Burning Man 1990.
You knew this was coming… For the backstory, go here and here.
UPDATE: A legal defense fund been setup for Paul at freepauladdis.com
Wow, this is a shocker. At around 3 am Tuesday morning at Burning Man 2007, during a rare lunar eclipse, the Burning Man sculpture was set on fire prematurely (it is normally burned on Saturday). The Black Rock City Emergency Services Department was able to put out the fire in time and salvage the sculpture (it had not yet been loaded with fuel or explosives). It is still scheduled for its normal burn on Saturday and they will be working throughout the week to repair any burn damage and re-install the neon.
UPDATE: They plan on re-building the man, complete with neon within 72 hours.
The early burn is being investigated as arson (there are reports a man armed with a propane torch starting the fire). According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, authorities have already arrested one person. Another source says that the man was set ablaze early due to an electrical problem when they turned the neon early for the lunar eclipse. Burning Man organizers hope to have more information later today.
Here’s an announcement from Burning Man regarding the fire:
Black Rock City Emergency Services Department units responded from Stations Three, Five, and Nine and put the fire out within approximately 23 minutes. There were no reported injuries. The Man is still standing, and an assessment is underway to determine the structural integrity of The Man and the Green Man Pavilion. The event will continue as scheduled.
An arson investigation is currently under way, and is ongoing. There is no confirmed cause of ignition at this time.
No further information is available at this time. More information will be released tomorrow morning after the investigation can safely be concluded.
UPDATE: Paul David Addis, a San Francisco based artist and performer, was arrested in connection with the arson.
Daniel Garcia and Brad Templeton have some photos of the fire and the attempts to put it out.
Here’s some blog and media coverage of the premature burn:
“Burning Man set ablaze today; one arrested”
Carla Roccapriore, Reno Gazette-Journal“Burning Man statue burns — a bit too early”
Simone Davalos, Valleywag“Burning Man being rebuilt after damage from premature fire”
Leslie Griffy, San Jose Mercury News“The Man burned on Monday”
Daniel Terdiman, CNET News.com“Burning Man’s Premature Ignition”
Brock, SFist“The Man Preburns”
Kirk Kahn, Lime Wire“The Gonzo burner”
Tim Redmond, San Francisco Bay Guardian“Burning Man’s icon goes up in flames, 4 days prematurely”
Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle“Burning Man Comes Early This Year”
Mike Nizza, The Lede, New York Times“Burning Man arson suspect caught”
Simone Davalos, Valleywag“Burning Man will be rebuilt; arrest made”
Carla Roccapriore, Reno Gazette-Journal“The arsonist of Black Rock City”
Owen Thomas, Valleywag“Burning the Man With Hunter S. Thompson”
Lou Carbon, 10 Zen Monkeys“Arson of The Man at Burning Man!”
The Jaded Gay DJ, SFScene“Burning Man burns too soon, man charged with arson”
Reuters“Man arrested in torching of Burning Man effigy”
Associated Press“Burners Plan to Resurrect the Man After Arson Shocks the Playa”
Lewis Wallace, The Underwire, Wired“Arson!”
Summer Burkes“The Burn Will Go On (Again); Disgruntled Burner in Custody”
Brian Doherty, The Underwire, WiredAugust 29, 2007
Morgan Webb, WebbAlert“Burning Man is burned too soon - arson arrest”
Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle“Man Down”
Wanda Power, Building Black Rock City“I’M ON UR PLAYA BURNING UR MAN”
Metafilter“More on The Man who Burned The Man at Burning Man”
Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing“Do Stuff”
Summer Burkes“Thoughts on the Burning of the Man”
The Jaded Gay DJ, SFScene“Interview with the accused Burning Man arsonist”
Owen Thomas, Valleywag“A Heated Q&A With the Prankster Accused of Burning the Man”
Miyoko Ohtake, Wired“Burning Man festival loses its innocence”
Associated Press“Burning Man Suspect Merrily Faces Charges”
Mike Nizza, The Lede, New York Times“Paul Addis: We’ve Got the Closest Thing Yet to His Confession”
Miyoko Ohtake, The Underwire, Wired“The Neon Smiley Face at Burning Man 1996″
Scott Beale, Laughing Squid“Why I’ve Got No Sense of Humor about Arson in Black Rock City”
Brad Hicks, The Infamous Brad“a man burned early”
Charles Russell, asynchronology“Journalism is Burning Or How Breaking News is Broken”
Dale Dougherty, O’Reilly Radar“Suspect in Burning Man arson decries event’s loss of spontaneity”
Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle“Paul Addis — Hero or Pariah?”
Eli Milchman, The Underwire, Wired“Who’s My Burning Man Representative?”
Colin Fahrion, CatCubed“Addis on ‘American Dream’ on acid”
Steven T. Jones, SFBG Blog“Paul Addis, attention whore or terrorist?”
Eddie Codel, jibber jabber“[You Only Burn Twice]“
Ron Garmon, Los Angeles CityBeat“Burning Men, Part One: Chaosmos”
Erik Davis, Techgnosis“Burning Men, Part Two: The Order of Things”
Erik Davis, Techgnosis
An image of the burn from the live video stream of Burning Man at center camp.
UPDATE 1: Reports are coming in that the damages to the Burning Man sculpture are too extensive, so they are planning on building a new one within the next 72 hours which will be “officially” burned on Saturday. The Green Man Pavilion, the building below the Burning Man sculpture, was not seriously damaged in the fire and the demos of green technologies will still take place once the structure is repaired.
Here’s a image of the torched Burning Man sculpture captured from a zoom in on live video stream.
Danger Ranger has uploaded post burn photo and a photo from the Death Guild at Thuderdome who are denying any responsibility for the premature burn.
UPDATE 2: I have confirmed through several sources that it was in fact arson.
UPDATE 3: Joe Garofoli from the San Francisco Chronicle has reported that the person arrested in connection with the arson is Paul David Addis, a San Francisco based artist and performer. Paul is being held in the Pershing County Jail in Lovelock, Nevada on charges of arson, possession of fireworks, destruction of property and resisting a public officer.
Recently Paul played the role of Hunter S Thompson in his one man show “Gonzo, A Brutal Chrysalis”, which opened in San Francisco and is currently scheduled to tour the west coast starting next month.
Back in 2002, Paul wrote an letter to the editor of the SF Weekly in response to Lessley Anderson’s “Burning Spin” article on Burning Man.
UPDATE 4: Current TV has posted video segment on the premature burning of the man as part of their coverage of the event on TV Free Burning Man. The report includes footage of the fire and subsequent damage to the sculpture, interviews with Burning Man organizers Marian Goodell & Andie Grace and some eyewitness reports from the scene.
For the man, his number was up at 2:58 AM on August 28th, as “The Burning Man” met his maker early at the hands of an arsonist. His demise was met with heartfelt cries by onlookers exclaiming “Save the man…it’s not his time”. For the thousands that gather annually in Black Rock City, NV to take part in the “Burning Man” festival, this was a sad moment, but festival goers promised to carry on.
UPDATE 5: Carla Roccapriore of the Reno Gazette-Journal has a follow-up on the arrest of Paul Addis, complete with one of the most surreal mug shots of all time.
UPDATE 6: In the comments, John let us know about a new craigslist listing: “For sale. One Burning Man. Slightly charred”
UPDATE 7: I just spoke with Chris Radcliffe who is currently in Portland and he said that he has paid the $3200 required on a $25,632 bond for Paul’s release, but they have not let Paul out yet because he is refusing to give his name to authorities.
UPDATE 8: Chris Radcliffe has spoken with Paul who is now out on bail.
UPDATE 9: They are now removing the old, charred Burning Man effigy.
UPDATE 10: At Tuesday night’s Media Mecca Happy Hour, the featured cocktail was the “Hunter S . Thompson” and Mr. Clean informed the media that the new man will be up by Thursday night, complete with a new set of neon.
UPDATE 11: Lou Carbon at 10 Zen Monkeys has just posted their take on the situation: “Burning the Man With Hunter S. Thompson”
UPDATE 12: LOLburn, you knew it had to happen.
UPDATE 13: A fund has been setup for Paul Addis at freepauladdis.com to help recover the money spent to bail him out of jail as well as his ongoing legal expenses.
UPDATE 14: Reports are surfacing that during Burning Man 1997, Paul Addis hung a pair of giant silver testicles from Burning Man’s groin.
UPDATE 15: Wanda Power has posted about the early burning of the man on the Building Black Rock City blog.
UPDATE 16: Burning Man has posted a press release to their website, replacing the previous update that was up there.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom LaPorte, Media MeccaMAN TO BE REBUILT AFTER FIRE
(Black Rock City - August 28, 2007) The Man at the center of Black Rock City will be rebuilt after an overnight fire which damaged the effigy at the center of the Burning Man event. Rebuilding is expected to take about two days.
Black Rock City officials say there was structural damage to the figure of the Man, but relatively little damage to the art and exhibits at the base of the Man. No injuries were reported.
An arson investigation is underway, and one arrest was made shortly after the fire was set. No charges have been announced, and the name of the suspect is being withheld. There has been no discussion of motive in the episode.
“We have the means and the will. The event continues on schedule, and the Man will burn on Saturday night,” said Andie Grace, Communications Manager for Burning Man LLC.
A perimeter has been established around the scene, but event organizers say it is likely that participants will be permitted to visit the pavilion while the rebuilding is underway.
This is not the first time the Man has required rebuilding. In 1990, the Man was accidentally cut up with a chain saw while in storage prior to the event. It was fully rebuilt in time to be transported to the desert.
Burning Man annually attracts as many as 40,000 participants in the last week of August. The climax of the event is the burning of the effigy on Saturday night.
UPDATE 17: DPW is currently in the process of installing the 2nd, newly constructed Burning Man sculpture.
UPDATE 18: Paul Addis, the man accused with torching the man, just sent us this statement from his safe house in Fernley, NV. He says that he had planned on doing this way in advance and tried to make sure that nobody would get hurt.
Hi, folks. This is the *alleged* arsonist/douchebag/attention whore himself, writing you from Fernley, NV, where I have been chilling out for a couple of days.
Having read your various comments, a few things should be addressed. First, this operation was extensively planned well in advance, and the number one thing to Black Rock Intelligence was that NO ONE be hurt. If you people actually knew us, you’d know that we have an extensive background in doing things exactly like this. In fact, we were on the ground for some thirty minutes before ascent, scoping the scene and clearing people in order to minimize any possiblity of injury to others. We were aided by several people who were recruited on the playa the night of this burn (BRI has no idea who they are, so don’t bother asking).
Second, the operation was planned in conjunction with the lunar eclipse because Black Rock Intelligence knew that another event at the trash fence would draw the bulk of lunatics to it, rather than to the Man. In fact, one of our peripheral operatives aided in getting as many people to the fence event as possible to help BRI achieve its goal of zero injuries.
Third, word went out across the playa days in advance that Black Rock Intelligence was pulling this op. This word continued to go out right up to the moment that our chief operator began the arduous climb up the guide wire. As you can all see from the results, BRI performed flawlessly in this regard.
We could give a fuck less what you all think of us for doing this. Most of you are newbies who have been drawn in by the semi-religious nature of the event, or maybe just the easy drugs and easier sex. You have nothing to offer the event other than your fucking money and obedience. You spend the rest of your lives in mortal fear of everything that insurance companies tell you to fear, and pretend that you’re free and clear because you spend four days at a desert bacchanal where spinelessness is not only encouraged but genetically replicated for implementation in successive generations. In short, you are the swine of which Thompson spoke. Get over yourselves.
Some of us live quite well without fear. Doing so requires the ultimate in what Burning Man used to represent: personal responsibility and individual liberty. That’s all been lost in the last decade of Burning Man’s history. Consider this operation a history lesson that was desperately needed.
One final note: Black Rock Intelligence has been permanently disbanded. All other operatives have made the ultimate sacrifice by swallowing their L-pills to avoid being captured alive. I am the sole surviving member of BRI and ask that you respect my mourning period for those who gave their lives so that this operation was a complete success.
Paul D. Addis
Fernley, NV
UPDATE 19: Justin Berton over on SFGate is reporting on a suicide that took place this Thursday morning at Burning Man. On Friday Justin posted a follow-up on the suicide.
Kitten Calfee sent us a statement regarding the suicide at Burning Man on Thursday morning. He was part of the Comfort & Joy theme camp where a man decided to end his life by hanging himself.
UPDATE 20: Owen Thomas, editor of Valleywag, has posted an interview he did with Paul Addis and Miyoko Ohtake has published “A Heated Q&A With the Prankster Accused of Burning the Man” on Wired.
In both “exclusive” interviews, Paul talks about the Black Rock Intelligence organization that he referenced in the public statement he issued on Thursday.
UPDATE 21: Tuesday’s premature immolation of Burning Man has been awakening many of the event’s old-timers. Kevin Evans, who was part of the original crew who helped bring Burning Man to the Black Rock Desert in 1990, has uploaded a bunch of great photos from Burning Man 1990-1995.
UPDATE 22: Burning Man has a long history of prankster activity which is largely due to it’s association with the The Cacophony Society during the late 1980’s to mid 1990’s. One of the most infamous Burning Man pranks took place during the 1996 event when a giant neon smiley face was installed inside the head of the Burning Man sculpture.
UPDATE 23: Jimmy Kimmel mentioned the premature burn during his monlogue on Thursday night. They showed the mug shot which got a big laugh from the crowd. Upon seeing it, Jimmy comments “You never expect a guy that looks like that to do something stupid”.
UPDATE 24: Danger Ranger has uploaded a photo of “The Laminated Man” from the Playa. “Buy the ticket take the ride”. - Hunter S. Thompson
UPDATE 25: Some people have been asking if I’ve been doing all of this reporting from Burning Man. Actually, I am not out there this year (I attended the event from 1995-2002). Burning Man’s connection to the outside world via the internet is better than it has ever been. Throughout the week I have been receiving information directly from the event via email, IM, IRC, photos, video, blog posts, Twitter, the live webcam and the stream of Burning Man Information Radio. Earlier this week I did a write up on how to access Burning Man 2007 remotely through the internet.
UPDATE 26: On Friday Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle conducted a phone interview with Paul Addis who is now back in San Francisco: “Suspect in Burning Man arson decries event’s loss of spontaneity”
Paul’s arraignment has been scheduled for September 25th at the Pershing County Courthouse in Nevada. He plans on pleading “not guilty”.
UPDATE 27: An image of a phoenix has been added to the head of the newly constructed Burning Man sculpture in honor of its rising from the ashes of the man that was burned early on Tuesday.
UPDATE 28: John Hell just let us know about an interview with Paul Addis on Pirate Cat Radio (the interview starts at around 1/3 way in on the mp3 archive).
UPDATE 29: Danger Ranger, who’s been posting great photos from Burning Man all week, has uploaded photos of a special