I once lit a man on fire in Reno to watch him burn
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2006
1
94
Trip End
Jul 15, 2007
New Orleans,
Louisiana,
United States
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Seriously Jonald What the "F" is Burning Man?
Basically the idea of Burning Man is this, a temporary community dedicated to radical self expression and the creation of art. You have 50,000 people living communally in the middle of a nowhere (which happens to be the Nevada desert/one of the harshest living conditions in the country.) It is an experimental society/art festival/party unlike anything else in the world. Over the length of a 4-5 week period a small city (Black Rock City) is raised from the desert, is inhabited by thousands for 7 days, then when the dust clears is gone without a trace. The city itself resembles more of a post Katrina refugee tent city, then an actually city.
Black Rock City is a fully functioning self sustained community with a hospital, a newspaper, DMV, airport, radio stations, etc... It has everything you would expect to find in a small city.
A last look at "The Man"
The major difference between this community and the outside world is an element of respect, and a sense of pride in the community. Of course in any society there will always be differences in opinion. Black Rock is no different, for example this year the man was burned 4 days early by a Black Rock citizen who had a different idea on how things needed to work. The charm is that people work collectively with nothing expected in return other then satisfaction. Art is created with no financial reward other then making something beautiful, of course along with a little bragging power to sweeten the deal. Burning Man stands out from any other major festival in the world in the aspect that it has no commercial ties what so ever. Nothing is advertised or sold within the confinements of Black Rock whatsoever, with coffee and ice being the only exception. The desert serves and a blank canvas for people to create on. The possibilities of what could be, and what was actually created here is limitless. The art comes in forms of thousand dollar art instillations, art cars, art bikes, right down to the people and their costumes, or even lack of clothing all together. In the desert or what burners refer to "the playa" naked = a costume.
Anything that defies contemporary social norms is usually celebrated here. There are very few rules, and each person contributes as much or as little as they want into helping the make shift community function. The only events during the week that everyone collectively participates, is the Burning of "The Man" on Saturday, and the burning of the "Temple" on Sunday (see pics.) The significance of each burn is not really defined, and means something different to everyone who experiences it.
A Lotus
If nothing else, it is always fun to light shit on fire! As cliché as it this may sound, Burning Man is one my only life experiences that I can honestly say words cannot do it justice. Until someone experiences Burning Man for themselves pictures and words cannot even begin to describe the energy that surrounds the slightly organized chaos. Above all the people and their radical forms of self expression make the Burning Man a constantly evolving mind blowing experience! For the most part there are no spectators at Burning Man. Everyone is a part of the machine in all its oddness and beauty. If you are not doing something out of the ordinary, you are in fact being the weirdo!
At some point during my burn experience I got inspired and decided to join in the circus and express myself. With limited supplies to work with, I had to be extra creative. For reasons that even baffle me today, I had been traveling around with a Mexican wrestling mask (Lucha Libre.) Unfortunately I did not have anything to go along with the mask, not even a cape to accessorize. So it hit me that the mask alone would have to suffice. So as any strong willed Luchador in a fix would have done, I dropped my pants and hit the road to do some bike cruising. I am proud to announce that the awkwardly nude luchador was a BIG hit! I credit the success to many different factors. The biggest factor to my success -I am a hairless wonder of the world, and a close second to the fact that I am hung like Theodore (of the chip monks of course.) I do not feel as thought I have reached Alvin's alpha male status just yet.
A Reflection
In a sea of absurdity I was proud to get any reaction at all. I think even more interesting then getting a reaction, was that some people paid no attention to me at all. I mean seriously where else in the world can a hairless naked kid in a Mexican wrestling mask just get brushed off as part of the landscape? But when I was noticed I was greeted with cat calls, whistles, and even one "F-ing Incredible!" Being a naked Mexican panned out to be much more work then I had originally expected. I for one thing had to be cordial and meet and greet my fans, which often involved me having to stop my bike to pose for pictures. If I got anything out of my experience it would have to be, fame does not come without a price tag. I am actually now reconsidering my 3 week depression when I found in fact, that I was not Anna Nicole's baby daddy. The playa was littered with art installations. Some of them bigger then others, with the biggest consisting of 2 full size semi-trucks stacked on end (see pics), a catapult that flung flaming pianos across the desert, to a life size oil rig that was symbolically set ablaze. I still have mixed feelings about making a statement about oil and the greed surrounding it by purchasing 2000 gallons of it to simply to burn. But really who am I to judge anyone and their symbolic gesture. I mean who can take me serious -a guy with the spelling capacity of a slightly illiterate third grader who uses punctuation to decorate sentences.
Amongst the entire grandeur and excess of the playa one my favorite art instillations was one of the most basic.
A view of the Temple
It was simply a lone phone booth in the middle of the desert. The phone both had a sign boasting "conversations with GOD." I was initially drawn to the booth because I have a lot of questions for the G-man. Just to name a few: How can the good lord deny me the ability to grow a pencil thin mustache and at the same time cruelly allow me to grow the occasional crusty chest hair, how did Ron Jeremy ever make himself a successful career in pornography, how can people eat hotdogs? Just to name a few, the list can go on forever. For the sake of my sanity I decided against talking to God just at that moment. But oddly enough my time came later that night to converse with "the maker." In the mix of the madness I had a 30 minute conversation with a girl who claimed to me that she was "the creator." I somewhat find it hard to believe that "the creator" would be hanging out in the form of a topless girl in the Nevada desert. Nevertheless I entertained the conversation because I liked the scenery, and not to mention the idea of her telling me that she could make my "wildest dreams come true". After a while I come to the crazy conclusion that we might just happen to be on different wave lengths. Our undefined definition of "wild dreams", along with her drug induced confusion might have lead to conviction in the majority of the lower 48 states. At that point I hit her with an "Adios Muchacha" like any kind Mexican would have done and went looking for my next experience. After leaving the desert and having time for it all to sink in, I guess people find God in stranger places then "Black Rock City". All in all it was an amazing spiritual experience in its own right, not to mention a high light in the jaded traveling circus I affectionately refer to as my life. I can't wait for the day when "The Johnny Nomad Experiment" finds its way back to the desert! ~Johnny Nomad "Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind." -Burning Man Website
www.burningman.com
