Burning Man: Been There, Burnt That | September 1997
BY RICK EGAN [Ed Note: Rick Egan continues to cover Burning Man as of 2019]
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
BLACK ROCK DESERT, Nev. -- Each year, Burning Man starts over. Last Sunday night, the 40-foot wood and neon skeleton was stuffed with fireworks, doused with diesel and ignited by a real flaming man. More than 15,000 people gathered here over the Labor Day weekend at the Hualapai Playa for Burning Man 97, a festival of fire, art and self-expression.
Photo: Robert McNally (1997)
``We never assigned a meaning to Burning Man,'' said founder Larry Harvey. ``It's come into full flower and realized its potential. It's more than an event. It is a movement, a phenomenon.''
To Samantha Nalo of Miami, Burning Man is a release ``to cleanse yourself, to get a fresh representation of who you are, where you are going and what you want to do next.'
The phenomenon started in 1986. Harvey and 11 friends built an 8-foot wooden man and torched it on a beach near San Francisco. ``The moment it was lit, our numbers tripled,'' Harvey said. ``What we had instantly created was a community.''
his year, that temporary community, Black Rock City, was 140 miles north of Reno, Nev., on 3 square miles of prehistoric lake bed.
`Strive to be unique, find yourself alone,'' was written on a sign carried by Sean Corvino, New Haven, Conn., also known as ``Yawnmower.'' Corvino wore a long-tailed red drum major's jacket as he circled the camp with a different sign every day.
Erica Muehsam married Keith Sullivan, attended by a dozen belly dancers, under the Burning Man Saturday night. As they descended the steps, they were squirted with shaving cream by painted and costumed people.
A pedi-cab whisked the newlyweds across the playa to Bianca's Smut Shack for their reception.
The festival's theme was ``No spectators. Everyone is a participant.'' Nevadans who ignored camp etiquette by riding their motorized ATVs on the playa risked bonks on heads, as body-painted hackers whacked golf balls into the desert at Ras Baboos Driving Range, where clubs and balls were supplied free.
Wanda and Jaay Schmerber of Pyramid Lake, some curious Black Rock neighbors, paid $145 to drive over, park and take a look. Wanda, 57, said, ``It looks like a lot more fun than I thought. Next year we'll bring the motor home and stay. . . . It takes all kinds of people to make a world.''
Because Burning Man is a noncommercial event, participants must bring necessities for desert survival -- food, shelter, water, fuel. ``Together, you have to make a commitment, and you have to think about your survival, which is a first for many people,'' Harvey said. ``Not only does it put you in touch with nature, it puts you in touch with other people, because they are going through the same thing you are.''
At times, it seemed everything was on fire from a psychedelic whale spouting 10-foot flames to the 30-foot ring of fire created by a cage filled with steel wool and coffee creamer, spun on a rope. By late Sunday night, the 30-foot duck, the windmill and nearly everything else in camp that was combustible was in flames with people dancing and drums pounding.
The drumming never stopped. At night, the sound came from all directions as the drum circles played for the fire dancers.
With 15,000 desert dwellers, Black Rock City was the sixth largest city in Nevada for the weekend. Security and firefighters were increased drastically this year, and according to Mike Williams, Washoe County Sheriff's Department, ``We had less problems here than we had at the rodeo.''
``We are trying to re-create culture in our society, '' Harvey said. ``It takes three things to create this [culture]. First everybody needs to feel their own soul. Second, to feel that everyone around you is having the same experience, you need to be united with one another. And third, by being united with one another, you become something greater than yourself.
``Everyone is welcome to Burning Man. The only group we don't welcome is the intolerant, and they self-exclude.''