Burning Man

Burning Man

By: © Nelson Taylor 2012

Black Rock City exists on a 400-mile desert in Nevada. As many as 24,000 people have lived in this town at one time. There are two local newspapers, one local radio station, several churches, libraries, saloons, art galleries, music venues, cafes, barbershops, various stores and many other forms of fun, information, culture and commerce -- just like any other town. But this is not any other town. Some even question whether it can really be called a town at all. You see, it's temporary. And money, at least the greenbacks Americans have grown to love, are not welcome here. And Black Rock City does not exist in any form but the mind, except during the last couple of weeks of August and the first couple weeks of September.

Every late August since 1990, people have been traveling from all 50 states and many foreign countries to the Black Rock Desert. They bring their own food, their own water, their own shelter and their own addition, whatever that may be, to Burning Man. It's one of the only events that actually attracts people of every ilk. There are corporate lawyers, hippies, yuppies, hobos, computer programmers, avant-garde artists, drag queens, heavy metal musicians, graphic designers, pyromaniacs, holistic healers, nudists, feminists, motorcycle gang members, millionaires and the list continues on and on. Even Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos is said to be a regular. And here, for about a week, they create a small world, a small, weird drugs-if-you-want-it don't-need-them-if-you-don't world, for good or evil, though mostly for good.

It's an experiment in temporary community. The rules, well, there really are not many, except that it is "uncool" to interfere with anyone's immediate experience, be that a bad acid trip, a little casual sex with your wife, or a game of desert hockey. And everyone is part of that experience, which means everyone must add to that experience, whether that be with a silly costume or a refrigerated truck for folks to cool off in. Organizer Jim Graham says, "People express themselves in different ways. For the entire event it's the act of giving of yourself. You can give by volunteering as a ranger or a lamplighter, creating a theme camp, doing a performance, or wearing a costume."

There are over 100 Theme Camps every year. Some are a lot more traditionally useful than others. Some offer free espresso in the mornings, a free book from rows of packed shelves, hardware supplies, or sunscreen for when the temperature reaches 107 degrees. Others offer free games of naked croquet, the opportunity to shoot Beanie Babies with paint guns, or a different kind of haircut from the Body Hair Barbers. And then there are those camps that are not so easy to explain, but can demonstrate anywhere from a new computer capability to a new dimension in artistic expression. The camps themselves are organized in a circle around a 1½-mile center, where a 52-foot tall stick-man made of wood and bathed in neon lights awaits burning on the final night of the event; it's a pagan celebration that resembles ritualistic worship.

So the final question is: why? Why not: that's probably the best answer. Burning Man is the brainchild of Larry Harvey, an eccentric former landscaper from San Francisco. The first Burning Man actually occurred on a San Francisco beach in 1986, when Harvey built an 8-foot tall wooden man and burned it for about 20 friends. The rest is history. In a recent speech at Burning Man, Harvey said that the purpose is to combat commodification, or mass production, with individuality. And no doubt about it, Burning Man is one of the most individualistic gatherings on this planet. Yet, it's a community as well, which does not readily exist in modern society. But don't think this kind of "free" experience won't cost you. You can expect to pay upwards of $105 bucks at the gate to get in. (Advance tickets are cheaper.) But the roach motel you can check in but can't check out until it's over rumor is untrue. Graham says, "We discourage (but don't prohibit) day attendance because people who opt for that are selling themselves short of experiencing the sense of community that grows throughout the week."

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