ideas.4brad.com/news-burning-man-burns-monday
burning man I've not been blogging of late because I'm at Burning Man, and while normally I don't report breaking news in this blog, we just witnessed a strange event. Through accident or arson, the Man was set alight this evening shortly after totality began in the eclipse of the moon. The man was not loaded with explosives or fireworks as he is before his planned burn, so it was a more sedate affair, and soon fire crews arrived to "save the man" -- something we have been asking for in mock protests for years. They did put him out, and he still stands, a bit worse for wear.
Last time a major Submitted by Bob Stahl (not verified) on Tue, 2007-08-28 09:44. Last time a major art piece got torched prematurely that I can remember it was Steve Heck's assemblage of wood, piano harps & large glass lenses in 1999. He saw it going up from across the playa, but nobody found the people responsible. People try to climb the Man just about every year, not caring about breaking the neon or the structure. People steal, smash or burn things like the lantern spires, street signs, generators, bikes & pieces of art installations not firmly attached. But this obviously takes chronic theft and/or vandalism to a new level.
If said suspect was arrested, what will they charge him with? Chaos is good (provided nothing more than egos get injured). They'll get it fixed by Saturday, people will donate elwire to light it, it will become a community project like it use to be. This event of premature rapid composting will turn into a reminder not to take The Man for granted.
Submitted by Dianamite (not verified) on Tue, 2007-08-28 10:01. Okay, I know it's wrong and dangerous and disrespectful to the artists... My first year (2000) I felt like there was an underlying chaos to that little desert gathering. I felt a sense that all hell could break loose at any moment... a feeling that I was in a survival situation and that shit could all go sideways at any time. I also felt the flipside, a feeling that we were all in this together and were there to help each other. I like seeing people have to come up with new solutions, new ideas. I would LOVE to hear that they had to take down the man and then rebuild him this year, and that participants all came together to make it happen.
Submitted by Diane Darling (not verified) on Tue, 2007-08-28 12:42. The pure giddiness and mirth that arose in me is what I've been missing on the playa for years now. You said it so well, the ever-present possibility of chaos and things going "sideways." Blinky lights and funfur just isn't enough to shake up my version of reality the way that unscheduled, unwarrented, unauthorized *events* such as this can shake-n-bake it. This *aliveness* *awakeness* I feel today is what the burn traditionally meant for me.
We're in the same boat Submitted by Burning Girl (not verified) on Tue, 2007-08-28 13:45. We're in the same boat Dianamite - 2000 was my first year too. I don't want it to be clean or safe or predictable - I loved that I felt like I was teetering off the edge of those things that first year.
Well, I guess it is - I'm sure a ton of folks put unbelievable amount of energy into make the man. At the same time, there's something facinating about the focal point of BM burning early - like now all hells gonna break loose.
DTL "Paul Addis, 35, of San Francisco, was booked into the Pershing County Jail in Nevada on the arson charge and misdemeanor possession of fireworks, Sheriff Ron Skinner said."
Submitted by Skid (not verified) on Tue, 2007-08-28 14:27. Forced de-emphasization of significance of Saturday's Burning of the Man event? A festival-goer who identified herself as simply Erica said she and her friends were "upset by the fact that someone would take this away from everybody who comes to the event just to see the man burn. Most burn vets agree that the full BM experience requires a week's stay; arrive monday or tues, ease into it, feel the energy build etc. With the increased popularity in BM's mass appeal, I would guess there is an increase in "short-timers" trying to cram the experience into a slightly lengthened holiday; Thus, there would be a situation of "Ooops, ya missed it!
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