First, here is a quick history of Burning Man for those who are not familiar with it. It started in 1986 when Larry Harvey burned a wooden figure on Baker Beach in San Francisco. He did it partly because an ex-girlfriend had celebrated the summer solstice with a burn. A crowd gathered to enjoy the burn. He did it again the following year and the crowd grew. By 1990 the crowd had grown to the point that the park police intervened, so Burning Man moved to Black Rock desert in Nevada and to Labor Day weekend. Baker Beach in San Francisco is known as a nude beach so Burning Man continued the tradition by being clothing optional. The event continued to grow and groups of people turned their individual camps into artistic expressions. Burning Man became a temporary zone of total freedom and artistic expression. Burning Man is like Halloween, New Years Eve, Mardi Gras, and the Fourth of July combined into one, with an extra dose of wild individual expression added. People come to Burning Man to experience life to the fullest. The central motto is “NO SPECTATORS” which means you must join in the event, not sit back and watch. Create, live, be the experience-- or stay home.

1996 was the year of my first Burning Man. I had wanted to go for a few years, but didn't want to go alone. Then a new psychiatrist became a post-doctoral fellow with my research group at UCSF. His wife worked at Wired magazine and it was part of the corporate culture of Wired, at that time, to attend Burning Man. He asked if I wanted to go with them. I jumped at the chance. I knew it would be a fantastic place to take 3-D photographs. There were about ten thousand people that year. We camped way out, almost a mile past the edge of the temporary city. We were even further out than “Yonder” camp, a group of people who always camped far from the crowd and crazies of the center city. When we got there it was hot, over 100 degrees. We set up our tents and made shade structures to stay out of the sun. Then we were hit with a windstorm and all we could do was retire to our tents to wait it out. At that point we all felt that this was a mistake; hot, windy, and no fun.

The wind died down after sunset. The friendly folks of Yonder camp came by and invited us to their cocktail party, and we started to understand how Burning Man is about community and friendship at least as much as it is about freedom of expression and creativity. Saturday night I saw the wonderful creative fun of the center camp and took in Pepe’s opera. For years Pepe Ozan has created an opera-dance-burn at Burning Man. Pepe develops an exotic concept and builds a temporary stage on the playa, with ornate sculptures built into them. These performances have dozens of semi-nude dancers and singers and always climax with the burning of the stage. In 1996 the theme was a descent into hell and it was like watching a live representation of Hieronymous Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights painting. Pepe’s operas always start late. While waiting I was moved by the warmth of the crowd. A young girl came by giving away hand decorated glow-in-the-dark stickers. It felt much like the spirit of the 60’s counter culture had been mutated into a 1990’s mentality. Hard edged yet spontaneous, honest, and with a strong sense of regard for the well being of others. The open sharing, creativity, and the dramatic landscape of the Black Rock desert dry lake bed combined to make our first Burning Man a very moving experience. We immediately started talking about next year.

1996 was the last year of true anarchy at Burning Man. Camping out at the edge was a little scary. Cars would fly by on the flat playa at very high speed. It was a little hard to get to sleep between the fear of being run over, and the constant thump of rave camps. One man died when, after drinking, he drove his motorcycle into a pickup truck. Two more people were seriously injured when a drunk driver ran over their tent. Things would have to change, there would have to be some rules.

Things were very different. No driving. It was also on a smaller playa that was private property rather than the BLM public land. This led to many problems because now Burning Man was under the jurisdiction of a county government. The Burning Man organization was forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for police and fire protection. The organization ended the event very much in debt and hard feelings developed between the landowners (Fly Hot Springs) and the BM organization. The constant presence of police and police helicopters was a little oppressive. Rules and police bothered the old timers who loved the total freedom that had always been a central feature of Burning Man. For many it was the last Burning Man, it had lost the real freedom of anarchy. It was also a great year for art, with some memorable large art installations, and more creative theme camps. It was becoming more of a standard that participation means creating something for all to enjoy. The event was changing and growing while retaining the core of “radical self-expression”. In 1997 I tried to do too much. I volunteered to be a lamp lighter, a group of people who perform a public service by putting up temporary street lighting (kerosene lanterns). I also helped my psychiatrist friend set up a safe play space for children. 1997 was the last Burning Man for my psychiatrist friend.

For 1998 the event moved back to Black Rock desert, but the rules only increased. Still it was a wonderful celebration of artistic and personal freedom. I became a full member of Yonder camp, not part of a smaller group. There was a little rain on Saturday and Pepe’s opera was delayed till 3:00 am. Still the number of truly creative theme camps just about doubled and the spirit was strong. In 1998 the members of Yonder camp grew closer to Cultural Workers Union. In 1998 I put a lot of energy into shooting 3-D video, and a lot more energy into editing it later. It still needs work!

1999, was very much like 1998. There were more rules, the local county Health Department decided we can’t play in public mud pits or have public showers. You can’t give away any food unless you get a permit. Bureaucracy has invaded the temporary anarchy zone. Yonder camp grew even closer to Cultural Workers Union, and made closer friends with Kal Tramps (aka, Critical Tits) and 10,000 Wonderful things. I shot a little more 3-Dvideo. My "Church of the Slide Guitar" art piece was meant to be the location for a Sunday morning guitar recital, but Reverend Screaming Fingers decided not to come to Burning Man. High winds knocked down the church windows more than once, but I got one good photo of it. Two new Yonder camp members were married at 1999's Burning Man. It was very cold at night that year, which made some of the night activities less festive.

In 2000 my usual camp-- Yonder Camp, dissolved. Whither Yonder? There was no Yonder. It seems that many of the principle founders of the camp have become disillusioned with the event. It is too crowded, too noisy, TOO MANY RULES! Yonder has always been about camping out away from the crowd. Since 1997 this has not been possible at Burning Man, you can't be way out yonder. About one third of the former Yonder-ites settled in with Camp Carp, a smaller group of former Cultural Workers Union and Yonder folks formed a camp called Tomales Bay Explorers Club. We were only 11 people, and that made a big difference. We got to know each other better than when we were part of the sprawling 80-100 person Yonder Camp. We were much closer and the time in camp meant more to us. It was probably my best Burning Man yet, even though I missed the burning of the man, Pepe's opera, and many other things. It seemed like I hardly got out to shoot any photographs. Somehow that didn't matter (and I did get some nice photos anyway :-)). The weather was the most extreme of any Burning Man; rain, wind, dust storms. We didn't care. The intense nature is part of the experience of Burning Man. Meanwhile, the rest of Blackrock City also had a great year. The wind and rain just added to the intensity.

2002

The biggest art trend at Burning Man would be "steam punk." Steam punk is art based on the idea that the style and technology of the steam powered days is still around, but doing things they never did 100 years ago. It was well represented last year by the Neverwas Haul a three story Victorian mansion on wheels, this year it continued with steam powered vehicles and the wonderful Steam Punk Tree House. We had a lot of dust again this year. It made it hard to help disassemble the Neverwas Haul.

No Noman

One of the reasons some Yonder people decided to quit Burning Man is that they prefer the freedom of the old days. No rules. You take responsibility for yourself. In 1998 I joined a group of people, mostly Yonder and Cultural Workers Union, who meet out in the middle Black Rock desert and recreate the feel of the Burning Man of old. No city. No rules. NO MAN. I suggested the name "Noman". A lot of the Yonder people don't like giving it a name because that makes it an "event" like Burning Man. I don't care. It provides the sense of freedom and connection with the desert that you can no longer get at Burning Man. We share good times and creativity on a smaller scale. Less art but more freedom. Some participants bring the projects that they are preparing for Burning Man. It supplements, but cannot replace the beauty and intensity of Burning Man. Noman is a great experience unto itself, but long burn Burning Man!

Larry Harvey has suggested that Burning Man is an experiment in spontaneous culture. It is a grand undertaking that is constantly evolving. To me the people at Burning Man represent a cross section of bohemian spirits that spans at least three generations, all expressing their uniqueness, but united by the freedom and acceptance of their free expression, and the act of sharing their creations. The biggest problem facing Burning Man is not the bureaucracy, or theft and vandalism; it is the people who act like yahoos and spectators. Yahoos are the drunken and irresponsible people who act like frat boys and don’t respect other people or the fragile desert environment. They don't understand that to make such an event work everyone must respect and help everyone else. Spectators are the lazy people who just come to ogle the naked women (or men) and don’t contribute to the event. If Burning Man can change the yahoos and spectators, and get them to really understand the event, then Burning Man will continue to be an important cultural phenomenon.

On to Burning Man 2008!

I declare the theme for 2008 is PASSION! The Burning Man organization came up with an awful theme ;-(