PLAYING WITH FIRE Burning Man is an anarchistic art festival, pop-up city, and laboratory for social experimentation. By Louis M. Brill umultuous, thundering cheers echo into the evening air as fireworks begin to pierce the inky sky above the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. A 40-foot-tall wooden effigy rises into the air atop a 50-foot pedestal, waiting silently, patiently for his moment. His countdown clock reads 00:00:00. There is a sudden flash of light, a tremendous WHOMP, and Burning Man ignites. And so it begins, a fitting end to all the waiting and a defining moment in tribal unity. For the more than 50,000 people who gather in the desert to participate in this climactic annual ritual, Burning Man is a monument to life, hope, and optimism. The burning of Burning Man signals the end of a “year,� the clearing of cast-off memories, and anticipation of the year to come. Burning Man the event is a fiery celebration of art and community. It is also a pop-up city that magically materializes every August as Black Rock City, Nevada, then disappears a week later. It spawns inventive urban planning, groundbreaking art, an infamous party atmosphere, and a laboratory for social experimentation. And all against a ferocious elemental backdrop: desert sands, average temperatures of 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and frequent windstorms and whiteouts.
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