The Man Burns
Last night, or this morning depending on how you look at it, the big wooden man that is the centerpiece of Burning Man mysteriously caught fire. Burning Man gets its namesake from the burning of this large man, but that's not supposed to happen until the end of the festival, as a climactic ending/closer of the week-long event. This year, no one seems sure how it prematurely caught fire.
Some friends and I were hopping along from camp to camp exploring what was available, and forcing ourselves to stay awake to see the lunar eclipse, which was scheduled to occur around 2-4 AM. It was almost fully eclipsed by the time we left the skating ring when we sighted a large flame at the location of the Man. Seeing that the man was likely burning, we charged forth with our lights, running to the Man, surrounded by others racing for the same destination on foot, bike, mutant vehicle, dinosaur, cat, or whatever they had available as transportation.
We arrived and watched as the Man enveloped in flames at the exact moment of the lunar eclipse. The sky was dark, the stars emerged, and the big flame before us was the brightest thing around. Large flame balls tumbled from the rapidly crumbling structure down the tent's side and were quickly extinguished by the men below who somehow were able to spray water. The relatively small crowd that witnessed this unexplainable mistake roared in enthusiasm. Eventually a big fire truck pulled up with enough power to launch a massive stream of water, and after some misfire, the fire was finally eliminated.
Today, mumblings of the premature burn abound. There's not too much to say, really, because the party will go on despite the near-total destruction of the symbol of the community Burners will continue on!
Comments
We inadvertently interviewed the arsonist - and then Larry Harvey -
... within eight weeks of each other! http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/08/28/burning-the-man-with-hunter-s-thompson/
The Man - Burning at the exact time of a total eclipse. Sounds cool to me. Maybe BMOC should have scheduled it for that time. I know, everyone would have had to move their schedule up a week or so, get to the Playa a week earlier, but the occasion to burn the man at such a propitious time should have been considered. Hey, look at it this way. Everybody who witnessed the fire will get to see the man burn twice this year. And those spectators who only show up on Saturday to watch the burn might think twice about that plan of action. Come late and miss the burn. Something to think about.
I am the other artist so disgraced at burning man along with the world’s most ready symbol of freedom (of course, that really does depend on, like Ranger Sasquatch said, “what side of the pistol u stand on”). To me the war on terror is really a war on freedom. For that reason, I spent weeks and months carving a huge, futuristic statue of liberty out of a cedar log and i brought it to share… Besides the man, the Liberty burn was the first arson since 1999, along with my trailer she stood on and my vital tools and equipment I was using sharing the “process of art” with grateful people who loved my version of liberty and theirs too. Should we watch people do nasty things to get attention; then use it as a platform to blather; who attack a culture at its most passionate nexus and should we not call them terrorists? Do they need to burn center-camp next to make their point? The first defense against any cultural disorder, i think is community awareness so let’s call it what it is. The next is to catch the sick punk and see him fry in a federal penitentiary along with Addis. Let’s see if they like the flames in there. Burning Man is in danger as long as people use terror to make political statements, especially in light of the ‘08, politically-charged Bman theme… Watch for the article I’m just completing, soon to be published: Liberty Torched (The story of the other arson at Burning Man) By Matthew (Timeless) Welter, September, 2007 Any of your insights, images, footage or whiteness to the Liberty arson is needed; I’m preparing to call it terrorism when i hand it over to the F. ucking B.I. Timeless timeless.sculptures@gmail.com Thanks to the remarkable photography and good will of Ryan Hayes, I have some stunning images to share: arson photos --> http://www.oneflameinthefire.com/timeless-arson/ Liberty was surrounded by a had-full of my finest works, which thankfully attracted Ryan’s camera: http://www.oneflameinthefire.com/timeless-art/)
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