Burning Man 1998: The Nebulous Entity

In 1997 Burning Man survived. Barely. The event was held on private land, received a last minute permit, featured a heavy-handed police presence, including a hovering helicopter most of the event, and near financial ruin. At the end of the event and in the months that followed, the organization raised funds to pay off debts to vendors and suppliers of the 1997 event but by January 1998 were around $100,000 in debt. They were also in a legal battle with the owners of Fly Ranch over payment for the prior years’ event. They also started to contemplate how to bring back Burning Man in 1998.

A significant change was Marion Goodell taking the reins as CEO. Goodell was then, as now, widely viewed as highly competent and pragmatic. The cultural significance of Burning Man on the west coast was starting to become more widely recognized. One example was the San Francisco Art Commission Gallery hosting the exhibit The Art of Burning Man: an Incendiary Exhibition for a month, and the mayor of San Francisco declaring July 29 to be "No Spectators Day".

BLM Permit Issues

Burning Man again faced significant permit issues in 1998. In December 1997, Burning Man applied for a permit to hold the event on a dry lake bed in Esmeralda County near Tonopah, in the southern part of Nevada, bordering California. This area is most known these days among Burners as the home of the International Car Forest of the Last Church. The permit application was denied in January.

On January 28th they submitted a permit application for the Black Rock Desert. It was summarily denied without substantive review. The local BLM office that the denial was due to not having staff to review the application; the organization had noted they planned to go elsewhere, and therefore needed staff was repurposed on another important project - determining the long term recreational use plans for Black Rock Desert.

The organization determined to launch a legal battle to force a substantive review of the permit. But at the same time held meetings to explore holding the event on private land, most notably a meeting was held between tribal leaders and Larry Harvey, Marian Goodell and other org representatives to explore holding the event on Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian territory.

On March 10, 1998, the org sued the BLM, in part on first amendment grounds arguing that the denial of the permit was motivated by the nature of the event, including the art being displayed. Shortly thereafter, the BLM agreed to review the permit application, using two BLM officials from the Reno office. In early May a public hearing was held, with around 200 proponents and a few detractors in attendance. This is in stark contrast to early meetings where the Burning Man Organization made little effort to be represented in the public BLM forum. The primary opposition at the meeting and in the press at the time came from those wanting to ensure preservation of the historic trails that run through Black Rock Desert, including the Applegate Trail, the Applegate-Lassen Trail and the Nobles Trail.

On June 18th, the BLM announced Burning Man would be granted a permit to hold the event. The location was moved much closer to Gerlach than in prior years, in part because of natural boundaries that, when combined with mandated fencing, would constrain the expanse of the event.

BLM and county fees for the event dropped from over $250,000 to $95,000 ($45,000 for county services, $50,000 for law enforcement). Also, relations with Sheriff Dick Kirkland began to that, and he publically commented that he was “pretty reasonably impressed” with the “new” people at Burning Man, apparently referring primarily to Marian Goodell.

The Visitor Day Proposal

While the announcement that a permit would be issued was good news, the fight for the long term survival of Burning Man was far from over. The local BLM office continued to hold hearings concerning the long term recreational use of Black Rock Desert and in September released a disastrous proposed environmental impact statement (EIS). The most significant proposals were to limit the number of “visitor days” in a year to 40,000 and to cap attendance at any one event to 10,000. A visitor day is calculated as a single person being present in Black Rock for an 8-hour period (or three days per 24-hour period). Therefore, one person staying at Burning Man for five days would constitute 15 visitor days. A 10,000 person event for five days would equal 150,000 visitor days. In short, if adopted, the visitor day cap would end Burning Man at Black Rock.

The argument being put forth is that there must be a “cumulative impact” by people visiting a natural area. The more people, and the more time they spend there, the greater must be the impact. This moves away from actually requiring a measurable impact.

Black Rock Desert does have environmentally fragile areas - the Parna Dunes and the surrounding natural springs could be significantly impacted by a large event. In addition, the Applegate Lassen Oregon Trail passes through Black Rock, and contains relics from the Oregon Trail days. However, all of these areas by 1998 were well off limits during the gathering. Moreover, the most destructive use of the land, ATV and off-road motorcycle use at Parna Dunes was not restricted by the proposed plan (and continues to this day). While Burning Man had no significant damage on the playa, Parna Dunes had been damaged by off-road use, which would not be substantially limited by the proposals.

The Art of Burning Man: an Incendiary Exhibition

In 1998, the first true Burning Man art festival debuted in San Francisco. It mainly featured photography, but also included paintings, installations, and video. The Man was also constructed until it was moved to Black Rock, at which time Jerry James reconstructed an 8 foot replica of the 1996 Baker Beach man.

The exhibit also use the Exploration: City Site, the empty lot next to 155 Grove Street, to show the Man (see below), and cleaned up the lot in the spirit of Leave No Trace, decorating the surrounding brick walls with mural paintings by KaosMiKitty, Jeogh Bullock, LadyBee, Jason Johnston, Dean Gustaffson, Gavin Wood, Ray Stevens, Chris Radcliff and Ricard Rivera, and Marion Joel Torrez. Elise Fried’s Buddha Head from 1996 was suspended from 155 Grove Street, and the Burning Man was erected for two weeks and then replaced by the original 6′ Man built by Jerry James in 1986. Dana Albany’s Primary Tentacles of the Nebulous Entity was shown in the 155 Grove Street windows along with Lexie Tillotson’s Pods and Dean Mermell’s video conpilation of 12 years of Burning Man. This part of the exhibit was organized by Vicki Olds.  

The opening night festivities featured art cars and performances by Sprocket Ensemble, Circus Baraka, AWD, and Lucid, which was followed by a street procession led by Pepe Ozan’s opera crew.  

Larry Harvey and Mark Van Proyen presented a lecture at the SF Public Library. The Roxie Theatre hosted a Burning Man film festival.

Read more about the event here.

The First Regional

The first Regional Burn, "Burning Man Texas" was held in June 1998 by George Paap. It had 30 attendees, and featured the burning of a straw man built on site.

The Event

In 1998, Burning Man returned to Black Rock. The prior restrictions on driving and the elimination of guns remained in effect, and a city grid layout that looked substantially the same as the current design was adopted. The open fire ban set in place in 1997 (due to fire fears at Fly Ranch) remained in place following an incident at center camp a few days before then event began: an unnamed (cough-Joegh Bullock-cough) burner’s tiki torch blew over, igniting his tent, hay bails and ultimately some a/v equipment.

After a down tick in attendance in 1997, Burning Man reach 15,000 participants, enabling the organization to pay off past debts and more than cover the expenses of the 1998 event.

A significant change was the elimination of the “Main Stage”, leaving it to participants mainly through theme camps to host performances. The center camp was almost doubled in size, with P Segal continuing to run operations. Mauricia Gandara designed the space, including Bedoun tents. Bob Stahl acted as construction foreman, who wrote about the project here (includes images).

Day passes were eliminated, other than a number of passes given to local residents to view the Man burn and an in-and-out fee was charged for anyone who wanted to temporarily leave the event. For the first time, formal Greeters were trained to meet and educate participants on the rules.

A highlight for some was the Man burn…. which went not according to plans. It had been intended that Crimson Rose, would ignite a person in a flame retardant suit. The flaming man would make a few laps around the platform and then ignite the Man’s leg. Instead, a fuse to the fireworks was ignited, and the fireworks (overloaded by Kimric Smithe), all went off, almost at once, producing a massive white fireball. Surprisingly, the Man remained standing and burned quickly, but beautifully.

The BLM launched a program where citizen volunteers would assist to monitor federal land - at the first meeting 15 of 21 volunteers were from the Burning Man community.

The DPW

Every year since its founding, there has been a build and clean up crew for Burning Man. But in 1998 it was formalized as the “Department of Public Works”, lead by Will Roger Peterson. For the first few years, John Law lead a crew of volunteers to scrub the playa, including Chris DeMonterey and El Mano (then known as “Circusboy”) who provided much of the labor.

Janelle Schmidt and Robert Rogers started to provide more organization, according to Law. By 1995, Flynn Mauthe was taking the lead in both build and cleanup, although John Law remained heavily involved until 1996 when he departed the organization. By 1995, Chicken John and his Cirkus Redickuless crew, along with the Cyclecide Bike Rodeo members including Justin Atwood (Jerico Reese) were providing much of the grunt power. In 1996, Tony “Coyote” Perez-Banuet started attending the event, and in 1998 helped co-founded the DPW, along with Will Roger, who served as “Superintendent”.

Larry’s Closing Remarks

As had become the custom in past years, Larry Harvey delivered an address on Saturday night shortly before sunset (the Man burned on Sunday night). This year’s speech, rambling per the norm, was in part a reaction to negative press criticizing the event, the role of community and culture in explaining the event’s success, and the then fashionable comparisons between the Internet and Burning Man.

Larry also spoke about the gifting economy they were trying to build in the late 90s at Burning Man, to replace the commerce that existed in the early 90s, and then, once commerce was banned, lead to a barter economy that was alive and strong in 1998. One was expected to negotiate: a beer from a camp may require something of use, like ice, cigarettes, or something less material - a good joke, a funny dance or the like. It would take several more years for the practice of gifting to truely take hold.

You can read Larry’s speech here.

Weather and Cleanup Issues

Following several years of clement weather, in 1998 the playa was hit with several storms. Saturday even a windstorm gives the first hint of things to come. On burn night, a thunderstorm rolled in, threatening the cancellation of the burn. However, at 3 a.m., the weather cleared and the man was ignited. Exodus was slow, but people were able to exit. On Monday, the rain started again, and continued through Thursday, making cleanup impossible. The BLM’s initial 14-day cleanup window was extended to November 5 in light of the poor conditions, and eventually the cleanup teams were able to complete their restoration efforts.

Despite being having 50% more participants than the prior year, there was 50% less debris than ‘97. Nonetheless, the public areas were left in particularly poor condition. Will Rogers noted: “The obvious trend here is that areas of high general public use fall outside individual responsibility. Plastic containers, aluminum cans and glass bottles were the major bulk of the trash. Many rugs, assorted furniture, and construction materials were left. Hundreds of burn piles were left and are the single most time-consuming clean up challenge.”

Trivia: The First Google Doodle.

On September 1997, Google launched their website. A year later, on September 4, 1998, they formally incorporated August 30, 1998. In 2001, Google’s founders brought Eric Schmidt, who had also attended Burning Man in the past, back to the desert as an extended job interview.

1998 Art Installations

"14 Flags" by Suki O'Kane

Air Hug / Brainwasher

Lead artist: Anthony Bondi

The Brainwasher is like a drive-through carwash. But for people, and without a conveyor belt. And dry. It is a very large tickler.

Chapel of the Burning Book

Lead artist: Finley Fryer

Finley Fryer and crew bring us a 2-story temple of recycled plastic collected by the residents of their town, Dunsmuir, CA. Illuminated from within, the Chapel appears to be made of stained-glass and provides a reference point for night-time playa travelers. Its second-floor stage hosts spoken-word and musical performance.
URL: www.snowcrest.net/finleyfryer/

The Plastic Chapel is one of the first installation pieces that looks decidedly modern: of the scale and quality of art that exists at the event today. It received significant press, and was aesthetically impactful.

DoUCDLite

Lead artist: Michael Pedroni

Last year’s CD sculpture returns in a more complex form, with several layers of CD curtains.

Fire Thistle

Lead artists: Thomas R. Glass, Dirk B. Anderson, and Eric P. Johnson

A large metal thistle emits flames at night.

Full Moon

Lead artists: Michael Light

Walk along plexiglas-covered photo blow-ups of NASA journeys to the moon and imagine you are there.

Free Mass Shower

Haunted Junk

Lead artists: Steve Heck

Far out on the playa a mysterious boat is mired in the frozen sands of Lake Lahonton. It is made of fire salvage including pianos and burnt TV sets, and it tows two rowboats, one full of water and one full of Epsom salts, where the weary traveller may relieve playa-worn feet.

le Boeuf Gras d'Or

Lead artists: Mystic Krewe of Satyrs

New Orleans’ Mystic Krewe of Satyrs brings a Mardi-Gras style float to the playa – a large golden bull, an ancient symbol of carnival.

Little House on the Playa

Lead Artist: Terry Schreck

The Nebulous Entity

For 1998, Larry Harvey envisioned an art piece called the Nebulous Entity, and recruited an art team lead by Michael Christian (the entity), with Aaron Wolf Baum (audio). The piece was mobile, and awkwardly crawled around the city. In the end it was burned, without permission. Reportedly, Justin Atwood and other unnamed members of Pedal Camp torched it.

Asron Wolf Baum noted the following about the piece:

The Nebulous Entity was the nerve center of an alien civilization, a mobile sculpture, a performance piece, a technological satire of our society, and a shambling mass of tentacles and bric-a-brac. A giant, post-apocalyptic pied piper, it roamed Burning Man 1998 with a sea of extraterrestrials in tow, emitting fractally structured gibberish and calling into question all notions of reality, information theory and life itself.

The Nebulans began as a pageant play, a story told by Larry Harvey of an alien culture incestuously merged with its own technology, scouring the universe for new sources of information. The Entity was their information-consumption nexus, embodied by sculptor Michael Christian.

The Nebulous Entity sound system consisted of a laptop computer running software I wrote in Matlab to drive four large speakers. Its hard drive stored over 500 samples---commercials, television, radio and movie clips, and other sounds frequently heard in our culture (babies crying, car horns, sirens, etc.). The system also automatically collected samples from its environment through a microphone on The Entity itself. The software continuously generated fractal waveforms and used them to layer randomly selected samples, playing them at varying speeds, forward and backward, and at multiple times.

Giant Pez

Oil Derrick

Lead artist: Woodpussy

This neon-embellished tower marks the spot where a rich vein of oil beneath the playa is thought to exist. When drilling commences, it is feared that a vein of Hell might be opened by mistake, unleashing all sorts of dangerous pyrotechnics.

One Tree

Lead artist: Dan Das Mann

“The sculpture was essentially a 25-foot tall oak tree built entirely of recycled copper pipe. Functioning as a fire and water fountain, it was placed in a central location of the 1998 Burning Man event, the Keyhole, the entrance to the promenade that led straight to the Burning Man sculpture. The One Treesat above a 3000 gallon pool of water covered by a wooden grate so that participants could stand beneath the falling water by day and dance by evening around its firelit branches. … One Tree used a large solar-powered pump to recirculate water. Hundreds of revelers would gather under the cooling water as it dripped from the branches while many more lay beneath it. … At night took on a totally different aesthetic as its branches sprouted fire, a signaling torch to gather people for its warmth and emotional comfort.” - Dan Das Mann, from Leonardo.

Half-way through the event the health department closed the event from acting as a shower, as the re circled water was viewed as a health hazard. Nonetheless, the piece remains one of the more frequently commented upon from the late 90s.

Orbicular Affect

Lead artist: Chris Campbell

This year the Burning Man will be surrounded by four 6-foot diameter wooden spheres mounted on tripods fashioned from tree trunks. They will be ignited at the Burn on Sunday night.

Rubix Cube

Sacred Grove and Wheel of Faith

Lead artist: $teven Ra$pa

An interactive installation by $teven Ra$pa exploring the overlap among various popular vehicles for faith. Part of a continuing project designed to create an opportunity for participants to examine where they place their faith and to provide an opportunity for them to hope, pray, wish and dream.

Sculpture

Sharon

Lead artist: Michael Taluc

Long red fabric banners are suspended from forty foot towers in this wind-driven installation.

Solaria

Lead artist: 1998

A scale model of the solar system 1 kilometer across. Visit the planets by bicycle or foot!

Strip Mall #1

Lead artists: Kal Spelletich and Seemen, Christian Ristow and Morgan

This strip mall of interactive machine art includes: The Big Snapping BBQ, the Whiring Dervish, the jet engine, the Goddess w/flaming uterus, Skeletor, Sisyphus, and the Jesus fountain and waterfall.

Surpu Masa - the ScapeGoat

A large wooden goat travels the playa and receives the sins of participants for which they seek forgiveness. Bear witness as the goat carries your sins to the fiery perdition where they belong.

Temple of Rudra

Lead artist: Pepe Ozan

Pepe Ozan’s annual opera takes place on this sculpture/stage set with its four towers surrounded by large insect-headed dancing figures, the Rudras. URL: www.burningmanopera.com

Tesla Coil

Lead artist: Greg Leyh

An 18-foot Tesla coil, courtesy of Greg Leyh, will generate branching lightning bolts.

Time Chime

Lead artists: Michael Zelner and Suki O'Kane

Very Large Array

Lead artist: Aaron Ferucci

Frequency and amplitude strive for modulation in Aaron Ferucci’s Very Large Array. UFO’s may land; your aural fovea will reveal unsuspected competencies.

Water Boy

Lead artist: Marque Kornblatt

A transparent water-filled bag in the shape of a human is suspended from a metal frame. Artist Marque Kornblatt enters the bag and becomes Waterboy, communicating with visitors via a breathing tube.

Water Woman

Lead artist: Ray Cirino

This year Water Woman stands guard at a circus tent which contains a large swimming pool. Participants must shed their clothes and pass between her legs to gain entrance to the tent.