Burning
From crispyneurons
Radical self-expression, radical self-reliance, art, sensuality, dust storms, blazing sun and loud music in the playa... this is the core of the experience that began for me in 2002 with Burning Man, the annual event that creates a temporary city in Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. I won't even try to explain it, but it's like being on a different planet.
This is my story as a burner beginning with the most recent experiences and progressing backwards in time.
[edit] 2007
Burning Man: Green Man
A troubled year, perhaps my last.
[edit] 2006
Didn't attend any major events this year.
[edit] 2005
Xara Dulzura 2005: I proposed to Heather!
The annual event known as Xara has always been a special experience. It grew from a theme camp at Burning Man. I spent time there one night on the playa in 2002, but I didn't know it was a San Diego camp until after I hooked up with the local burners near the end of 2003.
Backstory: the first distinct Xara event, Xara Dulzura, took place in spring of 2003 at the Madre Grande monastery. I didn't yet know it existed, so I missed it. but I made it to XD in 2004. I took no photos; I was so immersed in the experience that I really had no inclination to capture or record it photographically. The only record of it I have is the story behind the portrait of Heather and me.
After Xara, the Purple Turtle hosted its own event over Independence Day weekend 2005. Here are my photos.
Burning Man: Psyche
A lot of fun with good friends, but not much of a broadening experience.
[edit] 2004
LA Decompression/Recompression/Precompression (LA Burn)
Burning Man: The Vault of Heaven
First burn with Heather, and unfortunately, a rough year.
This year I camped with Shangri-La Village, and the Massage Confessional is its own theme. I also created the story of the night sky for Saratonin. A small sample of her photography is here too.
[edit] 2003
Burning Man: Beyond Belief
This was the best burn ever!
This year I camped with ABL; Bloodletting had their own separate camp. As a nod to this year's Burning Man theme ("Beyond Belief"), the ABL camp had a theme of its own: Beyond Beauty. The official description:
Alpine Butterfly Lodge brings you Beyond Beauty, a camp offering a beauty parlor, altar, and ideas cave to provide relaxation, beatification, and guidance through ritual body art, exfoliation, hair plaiting, massage, nail painting, meditation, confessions, and ideas swapping. We will be hosting ballroom dances to allow expression of yourself and celebration of your body, along with bodycentric relaxation, admiration, and exercise.
Beyond Beauty was located at Dogma and Certain 5:15.
My participation: On the playa I become the persona of the Gecko, a wiseman/shaman figure. Within the Idea Cave I offer a confessional in which visitors may cleanse their minds of disturbance while receiving an aloe massage. My friends helped me to design and create an appropriately priestly electroluminescent costume. Here's the official description going into the playa calendar:
Tuesday, August 26th, 2pm through Saturday, August 30th
Ritual Cleansing via Confession and Massage:
The shaman Gecko provides a confessional in which you are beautified by cleansing your mind of disturbances while receiving a relaxing aloe massage. Located at Beyond Beauty, among other salon and temple services.
Gecko
Beyond Beauty
While most of this year's pictures are here, Carl and Chiara's contribution is available separately here. This year after the burn I ran into the San Diego Burning Man group, an interesting group of very creative, high-energy people.
[edit] 2002
Burning Man: The Floating World
A fantastic first burn for me.
This was my first burn. I camped with ABL and Bloodletting, a combined non-theme camp in the 'loud' part of town. It was a big camp and very fragmented. I didn't understand the rhythms of the playa yet and so my participation was limited. I helped to create a 200-foot tall stack of balloons. We took many pictures (my selection of the best can be gotten to from here).
I broke my experiences from the 2002 burn into three components. Helios Applied is the essence of the balloon project. (Go here if you want to know how it was built.) Helios Active is the daylight nature of Burning Man. Helios Occulted is what comes out at night.
Special thanks to ABL and related parties for their photographic contributions.
