Burning Man

Dear readers,

At the moment Flo and I are on our way to the last Walmart right before the border to Mexico. Due to our current “car situation” we are frankly not quite sure whether we gonna make it or not. But that’s another story I will tell a different time.

In the end, Flo and I managed to survive the week at the Burning Man and therefore I am all about telling the adventures I experienced within that unique week. I have to say that it was kind of hard taking good pictures that capture the moments. Some credit goes to my special photo taking skills and the rest of it belongs to the fact that you just don’t want to take pictures all the time at a place like this. They might be great reminders of your time but also, in the act of making them, prevent you from going with the flow, which is basically the way to go.

Before I start failing to describe how it is to be at the Burning Man, I will give a quick introduction explaining, what the festival is actually about and more important, how it even works. Since 1986 this festival takes place every year at the end of august. This year around 70.000 people found their way into the playa of Nevada to create, how I would put it, an artistic city of joy and wonder.

Generally speaking, there are ten basic principles which every participant should always keep in mind. They are a reflection of the burning man culture and symbolize “moral guidelines” for that festival. I will provide the link to the official website below, where you can read about those principles, if you are interested. I will mention some in my post, but probably miss out on one or two.  

http://burningman.org/culture/philosophical-center/10-principles/

https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/photo/2015/09/photos-from-burning-man-2015/b02_RTX1QSLD/main_1500.jpg

First of all, I have to say that I never have expected the festival being this huge. The whole operations associated with the festival occupy a total area of 4,400 acres, which is basically the size of 2,521 football fields (talking soccer). Normal cars are prohibited from the festival area, which leaves you with the options to travel on foot, by bike or just hop on one of the fancy art cars that roam the streets of the camp areas as well as the deep playa. Back in the ice age the area was covered by the lake Lahontan, which is the reason why there is a playa (Salztonebene) nowadays. On the bird eye view photograph I provided, you can see the outlook of the Burning Man. In the center of the “three quarter circle” the Burning Man is constructed. Everything beyond the city is referred to as the deep playa, where you find a lot of the art, impressive building like the temple and much more.  

The camp areas are filled with theme camps, private camps, which even merge into villages. Music is playing everywhere, you can drive through, take a stop at different camp, join in on workshops, go for drinks or simply enjoy the atmosphere. Due to the immense variety of camps the options are unlimited.

Due to the principle of decommodification, there is no currency system in order. Money is useless, unless you buy coffee or ice at the plazas. The amazing concept of gifting is what drives the communal effort and makes the burning man experience so special. You get and give. So you can get drinks, little snacks as well as other gifts, which can be anything from a hug to a wet napkin or something self-made. That most certainly doesn’t mean that you don’t to bring your own food, water as well as other necessities to the festival, it is just a concept that brings people together and generates a communal feeling. On my first night I went to a bar without a cup. Rookie mistake, because you bring you own cups to the bars to prevent unnecessary trash. A guy who saw my adverse situation, than gifted me his cup, which severed me loyal for that week.

One of the things I enjoyed most was the absolute spontaneity that brings you from one place to another. There was no routine at all. Every day was like a new adventure and even if I felt down or overwhelmed by the vast scenery - I found a new exciting thing just around the corner. That way I made sure, that no day equaled another and I could do whatever felt was right in the moment. And the possibilities are endless.

barney couldn`t handle the burn

There is even a common feeling of being afraid to miss out due to not being able to see all the art cars, participate in the various workshops or simply see all of the camps. What makes it even harder is the fact that this place turns into one huge, marvelous party by night. Literally everything is enlightened. The cars, the camps, the bikes and even the people. Everybody takes place in one huge lightshow.

driving through the arches was awesome

blowing in the flared them up (took 4 moth to build)

The first time Flo and I drove through the playa was just overwhelming. We were completely flashed. It was too much to take in. We just followed various art cars and stopped whenever we saw a new crazy thing to do. Once we saw this huge space-rocket driving through the playa. So we followed it like two moth following a cone of light. We were nearly the only ones there, expect a couple of people and a guy named Dick, who gifted us some led-bracelets. Suddenly the space-rocket stopped and started blasting music. The situation itself was pretty awesome. Dancing in front of a led space rocket in the middle of the dessert ...

dancetronauts

Another truly amazing aspect of the Burning Man was the incredible art scene. All over the playa were incredible, detailed masterpieces. There was a huge climbable metal statue of a boar. When I was up there, standing on its neck, the head suddenly bent over, causing a gap – just big enough for a leg. So whenever someone climbed on top of the head, the head went down. At the last day I found out that a couple of people actually lost body parts on that boar. They even tried closing the access to that thing with a sign. No one really cared. As a matter of fact, on every Burning Man ticket the first passage says: “the ticket holder (“you”) voluntarily assumes all risk of property loss or damage … serious injury or death that may occur by attending the Burning Man 2016”. I guess without that one sentences the Burning Man probably couldn’t take place at all. Not only because of boars, there were a couple of other things I saw that were quite dangerous – but fun – and that counts for something.

all body parts still attached

best art car ever!

it even made whale sounds

the whale project on fire

When I tell these aspects of the festival, it seems like one huge giant party. In a way that’s true, but there is so much more to it. The most impressive building was nonetheless the temple, which was just a wooden temple at first. As the Burning Man went along, more and more people came to the temple and transformed it into a truly memorizable place. Some people just came to look at it, some rested in silence or prayed, many people brought and left mementoes of a lost ones – the list goes on. That assembly of people as well as several, personal belongings made it to one of the most atmospheric human-made places I have ever seen. Standing in a place like this, where your thoughts completely drift away, makes you almost forget where you actually are – if that giant dragon-art car wouldn’t be parking right in front of the entrance.

the temple in the deep playa

second best art car

So what makes this place so special? Of course, the art cars, the fact that it takes place in one of the most humanly dismissive landscapes and the sick party`s do their part. But also the interpersonal relations play a huge role. The warmth, tolerance and generosity of the people was truly amazing and made that one week extremely easy. I met so many nice as well as interesting people and had not one bad experience with an individual, in that entire week, which I find quite impressive. I have never experienced such a welcoming, and communal atmosphere before.

In the end, I have to say that it was definitely the right decision, going to the Burning Man. Especially considering the situation we were in – already traveling through America by car. Flying over to the states, renting a car would have been way more expensive. Even the alkali dust wasn’t as bad as I expected it. People recommend bathing your feet in a mixture of vinegar and water, before going to bed, to prevent the “playa-feet”. My routine cat bath with wet wipes did the job. Although it kind of sucked not being able to shower during that week, the dust kind of preserves the hair for you. Sounds weird but actually works. At first we weren’t sure whether to join a camp or not, but in the end I am happy we did it on our own. We also were in luck due to our awesome neighbors, who provided us with an essential shade construction opportunity. After that week, everything was covered in dust, which is really hard to get off by the way – we gave up cleaning the car after a while, the dust is now part of the car. The fine alkali dust gets literally everywhere.

sleeping in dust

On Saturday night, which was also our last day, the burn happened. It is the night everybody was looking forward to. During that night they burn the Burning Man statue itself and nearly all the wooden art on the playa. Only the temple remains, which burns on Sunday. So on Saturday day night everything went ballistics. All the art cars gathered around the Burning Man statue.

Burning Man burn from a distance

turmoil of music and light

I was completely exhausted and all the turmoil was a bit much at that point. That last days definitely claimed their toll. We stayed around for a while, watched the burn and headed back to our tent pretty early. Our usual plan was to stay for the temple burn, but on Sunday morning we decided to pack up and leave.

So what I take from this adventure is the memory of the best party I ever had, loads of funny moments – even the worst verbal error I ever had in my entire life (except <-> expect can be tricky and change the whole outcome of a sentence, when mistaken), –, a new cognition for caps and plenty of other pleasant memories. It feels kind of weird stopping here because there is so much more to tell, which I am more than happy to do in a private conversation.

the sunsets were really something

See you next time!

Kippis