Burning Man 1997: Fertility

After the 1996 “Helco” gathering, many of the people who had brought Burning Man to the desert departed, including co-founder John Law and many of his Cacophony Society friends. The tension between the old guard who answered to a call to “Keep the Playa Safe for Anarchy” and those advocating for building a culturally relevant community diminished. With Larry Harvey firmly in control, and developing issues with government authorities, the new direction of Burning Man was away from chaos toward community. Not only had the cultural direction shifted, the location changed as well, from Black Rock Desert to Hualapai Valley (pronounced "wall-a-pie valley”), just down the road from the BRD location.

While the 1997 event survived negative publicity about potentially heavy-handed police activity, a new location, and an enforced gate fee, around the gathering and enforcement of a gate fee marked the first population setback, with the official count at 10,000, up from 1996’s count of 8,000. While the population grew, it was the first year that didn’t double the prior year’s attendance. And with the organization needing at least 15,000 participants to break even, the event ended with Larry Harvey pleading for donations to keep the event alive. Burning Man 1998 was very much in doubt of happening.

A Change in Direction

To understand the significance of 1997, a brief review of the history of the event is needed. Larry Harvey and Jerry James burned an effigy in 1986. Their two families plus Kevin Miller and a few friends ignited the 8-foot effigy, and a small crowd gathered. The beach tradition attracted the attention of the Cacophony Society, who helped spread the word and assisted in building and transporting the Man. By 1990 several hundred people gathered to watch the much larger Man burn. The 1990 summer solstice gathering occurred on Baker Beach, but the burn did not, as the local authorities intervened.

Kevin Evans of the Cacophony Society had already planned a labor day gathering at Black Rock Desert. Either he or P Segal originated the idea of bringing the Man to the Cacophony event. Coincidentally, Jerry James had already attended the Croquet-ex-Machina event in 1997. P Segal first approach Larry with the idea at Baker Beach, and then John Law made the hard press. In the following weeks, at P Segal’s group home of artists, poets and misfits, the first gathering at Black Rock Desert was planned for Labor Day 1990.

The event was a Cacophony Event, that happened to involve the burning of a large wooden man on the final day. Around 100 people attended, virtually all Cacophony members. The events were distinctly Cacophony in nature… improvised explosions, driving fast through the desert, shooting guns and a formal cocktail party, capped off with the Man burn. By this point Jerry James, the original builder of the Man had felt betrayed by Larry, and distanced himself from the gathering. John Law, another Cacophony member Michael Mikel and Larry Harvey were now running the show.

From the earliest times there was a distinct tension between the vision of the Cacophony Society members and Larry Harvey. First, the Cacophony members were attracted to irony and anarchy. While they didn’t shroud themselves in secrecy the way their predecessor, the Suicide Club did, they also didn’t have grand ambitions of creating a scene, making art or seeking a deeper significance to their pranks and hijinx. Larry Harvey seemed from an early time to be seeking both a sense of significance and a sense of belonging. While the Cacophony Society members reported a sense of belonging by participating in the club, Larry was overtly driven by building community. Larry also latched onto grand philosophical of sociological concepts when describing Burning Man. He spoke using “fifty dollar words”, while the Cacophony leaders were intellectuals, but plain-spoken. His article in Gnosis (click image to read) was met with eye rolls from many of the old guard. Critics of Larry would describe him as grandiose and self-promoting. His supporters would retort that he had grand vision and determination.

By 1996, the tension between the Cacophony among Larry Harvey, John Law and Michael Mikel came to a head. People had been seriously injured as the result of poor planning of the event. A staff member died in an accident that was likely of no fault of the organizers, but left a dark shadow over the event. Perhaps critically, the event had grown to 8,000. There was little sense of community compared to a few years early. By the end of the event many Cacophony members, including John Law had declared the event would not be repeated. Larry Harvey insisted it would, but understood it would need to evolve significantly to survive. And importantly, Michael Mikel, the third “founder” and a Cacophony member agreed to continue on.

In 1997, Larry Harvey was firmly in control of the direction of the event, with an eye toward growth and a philosophical agenda of building a community. He was also faced with regulatory nightmares (described below). The result was a new location for the event, many new regulations and restrictions, and much propaganda (to use Larry’s words) around the significance of Community. Harvey began to more freely discuss the principles underlying the event - ideas that would ultimately be commemorating as the 10 principles. And in addition to structure, some of the first truly significant art pieces appeared on the playa in 1997, including works by Dana Albany and Michael Christian, artist that remain highly influential today.

The First Board of Directors

One of the first orders of business was to create a new LLC, with a board of directors consisting of Larry, Michael Mikel, Crimson Rose, Will Roger, Joegh Bullock, Harly Bierman, Andy Pector, Carole Morell and Marian Goodell. Crimson Rose was a fire artist who first arrived in ‘91. Will Roger was a former photography professor, and Crimson’s boyfriend. Harley was a Cacophonist attending since ‘91, and who had begun coordinating theme camps. Marian was then a web developer, and was dating Larry. She took up media and government relations. By ‘99 Andy Pector, Bullock and Morrell each left the Board. A new permanent six person llc was formed, with Larry, Mikel, Crimson Rose, Will Roger, Harley Dubois and Marian Goodell. Each surviving member remains on the Burning Man’s current board of directors.

Hualapai Valley / Fly Ranch Location

Andy Pector, an old friend of Mikels, had become a general business wrangler for the event. He had been the first person to bring a motor home to Burning Man in 1991. [Note, Mikel claims the RV arrived in 1991, describing it as “an old Apollo”]. Pector was squat, heavy, bearded, terribly friend man old friends with and occasion housemates with Mikel.

Andy had already been in business with John Casey, owner of Fly Ranch. Casey also owned poorly tended property near a small playa in the Hualapai Valley (pronounced "wall-a-pie valley”). Preparing for the event, the organizers had to remove the remains of countless neglected cows. Artist Michael Christian used the cow bones to construct an arch that spanned the entrance to Burning Man in 1997 In 1990, the bones were attached to an art car by Flash and Dana Albany to make a roving Bone Tree.

Hualapai offered a benefit: “The virtue of that site was an irrigation trench dug the length of it. This playa was inaccessible from any other point [but their gate]. For the first time in our history we had a barrier that would allow us to charge every person who came to the event a fee, which we styled a tax at that point. As citizens, you pay a tax to maintain our city.” Noted Larry Harvey, who also estimated a third of the citizens up to that point had not been paying the entry fee.

Because of the light covering of grass and shrubs, fires were required to be contained to cooking and heating needs. Random explosives and fires that characterized past years were prohibited. In 1997, there were the first organized greeters, who explained the new rules to participants, including the fire restrictions, as well as the strict restrictions on driving.

The idea of theme villages was first outlined in the months before the 1997 Gathering, as the concept of community became more central in the Burning Man vision. Blue Light Village was featured in the 1997 Building Burning Man Magazine, as an example how a village consisting of multiple theme camps might be formed.

Regulatory Nightmares

In 1997, Burning Man moved from Pershing County to Washoe County, whose code for festivals was written in 1991. Before Burning Man no one had ever applied for a permit. In response the Burning Man permit application, the county’s Health, Fire and Sheriff's Departments responded with 10 pages of conditions. Cost to comply was estimated at a half a million dollars. After dialogue, the permit requirements were somewhat scaled back, and at the July meeting, the Washoe County Commissioners approved permit, conditioned on all requirements being met by August 15.

Fiona Essa wrote a cover story for the Reno News & Review:

Organizers felt the Commission had discriminated against them. "The County has come after us with a vengeance," Will Roger, Burning Man's comptroller, said "They couldn't deny the permit on moral or religious grounds, so they [tried to] deny us on monetary grounds. It has been almost impossible."

The biggest expense to the festival was fire protection. The new site is surrounded by sagebrush at the peak of its flammability, and fire is an integral part of the Burning Man experience. The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District's initial request called for 10 fire engines to be present, and 55 personnel to be housed and fed onsite. The cost: $360,000. Organizers later moved all camping off the grassy shore and onto the playa, reducing the cost to $260,000 for seven trucks and 40 personnel.

Organizers are also required to cover the cost of $37,000 for 15 sheriffs on overtime to police the event. Comparisons to another recent gathering of freaks in Washoe County, Hot August Nights, have abounded. "Last year we had two arrests for disorderly conduct," Roger said. "There were 115 arrests on Friday night alone at the Hot August Nights event.

But the condition which nearly killed Burning Man this year was the demand by the County Commissioners that the organizers provide a letter of credit instead of a bond for Fire and Sheriff's fees. Bonds are routinely issued to organizers and promoters and generally require a 10% deposit. To obtain a letter of credit, the money must be in the bank in its entirety. In essence, the County Commission asked for $500,000 up front.

Canfield, who worked for the Washoe County Planning Department for five years prior to working in the private sector, said he has never seen the Commissioners ask for a letter of credit. Hot August Nights required neither a bond nor a letter of credit for the $112,000 in police overtime the event generated.

When the County Commissioners met again on August 12, they found themselves in a difficult position. Burning Man was not going to meet all the conditions by August 15, but the Commission knew if they denied the permit, the event would go forward in some form and taxpayers would be left holding the bag.

The main condition which would not be met was the letter of credit: because many ticket sales are last-minute, organizers did not have the $300,000. Commissioner Mouliot suggested that the Sheriff's department confiscate the cash at the gate.

On August 19, the Commissioners met again. The County agreed that in lieu of the letter of credit, the organizers would pay $10,000 up front, with 1/2 of the daily ticket sales during the festival going directly to the County. Final approval was scheduled to be given on Tuesday, August 26, the day before the event began.

Financial Problems

There were news reports noted the potential of road blocks, police turning away people, and a search of every car coming in." Washoe county didn’t grant the permit until the day before the event, and the permit included pointless requirements.

More than $300,000 in fees were demanded by the county, and a uniformed Washoe Sheriff officer collected cash and dispensed tickets, with the cash box having two keys. One held by Andy Pector, the other by the sheriff’s accountant. The city grid, now a feature of Burning Man, was mandated by the permit.

The year was a financial disaster, and in response, Larry Harvey made a now famous speech to gathered participants. “I asked them to do something that you would never reasonably expect any group of people to do: to give us more money. Having, as it were, already consumed the event, to pay us more. We knew the authorities would not confiscate that money - it would be too naked an act; there were too many cameras present. The police on the ground had begun to realize this was not what they thought it was. It was not just frightening licentiousness. The police were actually starting to feel sympathetic. So we made the appeal, and a man wrote a check for some huge amount - a few thousand, I believe- and it was one of the most moving things I’ve ever experienced. It was the reward of faith in tangible form. I’ll tell you this: Disney land will never collect money from people as they leave. It gave us enough to limp on without immediately defaulting on some bills.”

The plea raised $50,000 on site. Harvey was also handed a piece of paper with a $10,000 IOU, the check for which came a few weeks later.

CBGB and SOMArts Shows

For the first time Burning Man held a major show outside of San Francisco. In April 1997 the org held a weekend-long show featuring art (mainly photography) and performances. The show helped to expand awareness of the event beyond the west coast, and attracted new artist, including Steal Neal who attended the show and went on to create one of the most memorable art pieces of the gathering, The Agony of Man (see below).

Burning Man also returned to the SOMArts space in San Francisco to hold its annual publicity and fund-raising event. It was held over the last two weekends in June. These shows had been important for the organization as a means to get cash flow in the months before the Labor Day gathering. There was a $10 admission charge and t shirts, videos and the newly printed Wired coffee table book were for sale.

The show was advertised as follows:

MYSTERIA: The Secret Rites of Burning Man is presented at the Somar Cultural Center as an evening of interactive theater, multi-media arts and cultural hi-jinx. This year’s benefit show will feature two principle cults: The Court of Cruel Mistress Gaia, where the potent powers in the court will include the Top Banana, Merischino Cherry, Hot Tomato, Salted Cashew and his crony the Beer Nut, among other fruits and vegetables. And a pageant: The Burning Man Mythos, the ultimate fertility dance between the Warrior Sperm and the Vestal Virgin Barbies.

Somar’s gallery, theater and warehouse will be combined to house dozens of Bay Area artists who have created their own interactive rites of passage that reveal a visionary secret. Some of those will include: Secret Rites of Barbie, the Revirginator, Sacred Order of the Small Appliance, Temple of Idle Worship, Esoteric Order of the Yummy Yoni, Temple of the Sacred Lollies, Mystik Krewe Satyrs, Jonestown Reunion, Cult of the Erotic, Society of Super Heroes, the Aura of Laura and Burning Man himself — all 40 ft. illuminated in neon — will be flown from the rafters above the “mysteria of the absurd.”

The First Hint of the Ten Principles of Burning Man

In 2004, Larry Harvey penned the ten principles as a way to guide regional burns. However, 1997 was the year when he started discussing more fervently some of the principles. For example, in the Spring edition of Building Burning Man magazine he referenced “radical inclusively” (See page 3, column 3). In the Summer edition, he references “Radical Self-expression and a shared need to survive”

With respect to radical inclusively he notes that “Burning Man is radically inclusive and always will be… [However,] we need to be selectively inclusive. To exclude anyone on the basis of a prejudicial preconception is invidious and wrong. But…we do need to discriminate in a positive way. We need to select for a higher level of commitment. … The growing presence of casual tourists in cars was becoming disruptive. … It’s much too easy for them to see the event as mere spectacle, but Burning Man isn’t something you can experience passively.”

The JackRabbit Speaks is Born; Marian Goodell’s Rise

The JackRabbit Speaks is born when Marian Goodell circulated an email updating people on a meeting she attended with Larry Harvey. In 2007, Goodell was serving on the newly created Burning Man LLC, as well as the Director of Business and Communications. She was also a primary on-camera spokesperson for Burning Man. She became the CEO of Burning Man in 2014.

The City Plan

In 1997, Rod Garrett became the chief city architect in 1997, after first attending Burning Man in 1995. To comply with permit requirement, Rod created a street plan with formal street names to allow emergency services to pinpoint locations. The terrain dictated that a different shape be adopted, closer to a lopsided V than the normal semi-circle.

Theme camps continued to be encouraged by the organization, and the first formal list of registered Theme Camps was compiled. The idea of creating villages of theme camps was also proposed by participants and embraced by the organization.

Cars were banned from driving during the event for the first time, and while people could still come for a single day, they had to pay an entrance fee and walk nearly a mile to reach the gathering.

The Website

The first Burning Man website was a page hosted on “The Well”. The Well was a service started Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant as a community forum for Whole Earth Review, which expanded to allow its users to create simple web pages. By 1997, however, a full event website was developed. The link below has the entire text of the website as it appeared in 1997, with many links updated or long dead websites resurrected. The original graphic design has not been preserved, which featured a black background and white text as shown in the image to the right captured early 1998.

By 1996, fan website began to appear, and by 1997 there were many fan website and blogs covering the event. While most of these are long gone, a list of photo blogs can be found here. Lists of links can be found here.

Media Coverage

In 1997, media coverage continued to explode, including another front page story on Wired, camera crews from CNN, MSNBC and others, including coverage on ABC Nightline.

Videos of the 1997 Burn

"1997 Burning Man Benefit Video"

Chuck Cirino has produced video accounts of Burning Man since 1994 and views it with the loving eye of an insider. His scenes dance, his camera swims, and all of it is tied up with music. This account of 1997 is our Benefit Video. His gift to us -- a large part of the proceeds go to Burning Man. For more information, check out Chuck's Weird America.

"Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man"

Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man Canadian David Vaisbord's award winning 60 minute documentary recounts the odyssey of two performers who discovered Burning man in 1997. Veterans may remember the gigantic silver alien and his consort from our fashion show last year or the guy who juggled a chain saw, an egg and a bowling ball. Who are these people? View this video and find out. Best of all, it's a love story. Long out of print.

"Flashback"

Flashback A video for the cyber-minded shot in a variety of formats. Ed Favara's one hour documentary features animated graphical interface effects to telescope the viewer into the action of Burning Man '97. Long out of print.

“Burning Man: Where's the Fire”

This well-made film follows the story of the creation of the Trojan Horse art project, but most of it simply shows various happenings at the Burn. At 14:40 you see Jim Mason’s Temporal Decomposition, the melting ice project. The Lamplighter ritual is shown, and has excellent footage of the raising and lighting of the Man. Idiot Flesh has a good segment. Future Primitive and his Agony of Man sculpture is briefly shown. The band Beyond Race performs as the horse burns.

“Into the Heart of the Fire at the Burning Man Festival”

Video highlights of the 1997 festival. One of the few tapes still commercially available.

“The Burning Man!” by Trent Harris

An 8-minute concept video featuring the song N’nafanta by the Ousmane Kouyate Band.

1997 Art Installations

Bone Arch

Lead Artist: Michael Christian

Michael Christian is now one of Burning Man’s most well-known artists. His first work at Burning Man, Bone Arch, marked the location of the Black Rock Ranger station in Central Camp. It was assembled using bones from cattle that had died on the ranch that Burning Man had rented for the event.

Future Primitive

Lead Artist: Steel Neal

The Agony of Man is a 1200 pound, 3 times lifesize anatomically correct rendition of the human form built entirely out of steel (scrap metal). Some of the components include: I-beam, railroad track, rebar, boilers, New York City garbage cans, and bits (the teeth) from road resurfacing equipment.The Eye/Zygoma bone is salvaged from the original park benches at Madison Square Park. The ribs are salvaged from the original concrete island of Worth Square, where all the water from upstate New York comes to lower Manhattan.

The inner thigh muscle (Sartorius) is made from an extinct type of rebar salvaged from the original foundation of the Union Square Subway Station. Some of New York's construction history can be found in the construction of The Agony of Man.

Steel Neal is an artist, poet and union ironworker worker in New York City. The Agony of Man is still in existence and displayed around New York City from time to time (see video below). Neal has had a variety of artistic pursuits throughout his life, including creating a pilot for a TV (see video below), a one man show “The Future Primitive” and a book of poetry.

Nevada 1997

Lead Artist: Spencer Tunick

A combination of performance, sculpture and photography, this photo shoot is part of the Naked States project. Large groups of people will combine into abstract shapes and formations that reflect political and social events that affect our society. The resulting images will explore the vulnerability of human weakness and the anonymity of public space.
URL: www.spencertunick.com

Temporal Decomposition

Lead Artist: Jim Mason

This installation is inspired by the forms and concerns of Egyptian solar temples — geometrically complex arrangements of obelisks and spheres that trace celestial phenomena and embody the rhythms and cycles of the sun. For the ancient Egyptians, the sun was the awesome and mysterious answer to the question of fertility on this planet. Artist Jim Mason will construct a large-scale ice sundial; its center formed from a 10 ft. diameter sphere of ice surrounded by 12 ft. tall ice obelisks. This giant sphere, itself a massive clock, will in turn enclose watches, clocks and other modern timepieces frozen within it. Melting, it will evoke the deep and mysterious courses of geologic time. Look for this transient monument in the plaza formed at the conjunction of our two principle boulevards at Central Camp. With the addition of 50 gallons of snowcone syrup, Temporal Decomposition will also offer cherry-flavored ice refreshment. Lick and Enjoy!

The Ammonite Project (aka Das Ammouniten Projekt)

Lead artist: Hendrik Hackl

A giant ammonite, 70 feet in diameter. Ammonites were nautilus-like shells frequently found in fossil formations. This giant fossil, created by German artist Hendrik Hackl, will be illuminated at night. Participants who penetrate its coiled center must devolve, crouching by degrees until they reach all-fours and finally wriggle like a worm.

The Ammonite Project was a favorite of Larry Harvey’s, receiving a $2,000 grant, being called out by Larry during his famous “Hay Bail Speech”, in which Larry pleaded for funds to keep Burning Man alive beyond 1997

.The Ammonite Project’s Website has been restored here.

DoUCDLite

Lead artist: Michael Pedroni

A curtain of glittering CD’s suspended from a metal frame, which reflect the sunlight as they move in the wind.

Michael remains an active artist in the Bay Area. Read more about Michael.

Fire Fantasies of Neptune

Lead artists: Mystic Krewe of Satyrs

The Mystic Krewe of Satyrs brings us this hand-pulled Mardi Gras-style float, an enormous colorful whale, which will be ridden by Marie de Mer, the mermaid, on the night of the burn.

Kill Your Television

Crash test dummies crash into a TV.

LOTTO TREE

Lead artist: $teven Ra$pa

Monopoly money, dollar bills, fortune cookies promising great wealth, and good luck charms adorn a small tree in the desert.

Mirrorage

Lead Artist: Shelley Hades-Vaca

A 56 ft. long curving panorama of the ocean. This photographic seascape is intended to evoke a sense of our original mother: The Sea.

Pyramid of the Camera Obscura

Lead artist: Chris De Monterey

Chris De Monterey first brought the Camera Obscura to the playa in 1994. He, along with David T. Warren, had renovated and were operating San Francisco’s Camera Obscura. Burning Man’s 1997 website reported: “Crawl through a mysterious labyrinth. Behold the shriveled husk of Pharaoh! See a panoramic view of our encampment cupped like a spectral pool within its secret chamber. Based on a design first conceived by Leonardo Da Vinci. A playa landmark since 1994 — newly renovated!”

Shrine of the Desiccated Rats

Lead artist: LadyBee

1997 was the first year the Shrine of the Desiccated Rats made an appearance at Burning Man.

Sphere of Influence

Lead artist: Max Bunshaft, with Mike Mung

There Sphere of Influence is a 14 foot diameter geodesic sphere with a light weight race car seat suspended in the center. The seat has a four point restraint harness. A participant is strapped into the seat and the Sphere is rolled. Since the seat is in a fixed orientation with the outer sphere structure, the participant rolls upside down, side to side, etc., as the Sphere is rolled. The Sphere is outfitted with a video player, club lighting and a sound system.

Stay Puff Marshmallow Girl

Lead Artist: Tim Kaulen

16' x 25' inflatable sculpture, created by using vinyl from recycled billboard material. Originally exhibited at Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh in June 1997, the Marshmallow Girl made it to Burning Man 1997 before heading to Socrates Sculpture Park, Brooklyn, New York, June 1998. Surprisingly, the art piece has survived, and again made an appearance at the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh PA. in June 2010.

Time No Time

Lead artist: Aprille Glover

1 circle
9 squares
9 triangles
7 pentagons

Time/No Time was site-specific sculpture designed like a gigantic medieval mason's mark of 100 feet in diameter. The rock formations and interior fountain marked the imaginary overlapping inside 1 circle of 9 squares, 9 triangles, and 7 pentagons. It simultaneously represented a specific time, 1997, and underscored the timeless quality of the vast desert beyond the simple stone circle. Outside the normal gallery setting and without any written description, people of all walks of life instinctively sensed a space for meant for personal reflection. Particularly at dawn and dusk, it drew individuals for group and spontaneous meditation. Its prayer trees, which were ritually burned at the end of the festival, filled naturally with personal messages and prayers with only the silent presence of pen and paper in the carved stone. It utilized the same sacred geometric principles that were used to design the Pyramids and Stonehenge, but was a temporary installation. Time/No Time was built to last less than a week before it vanished leaving only the pristine Nevada desert landscape.

Tower of Sharon

Lead artist: Michael Taluc

This thirty foot high tower of wood and fabric functions as a lamp. The monochromatic color of the piece and the flowing nature of the fabric create a symbiotic, serene work.

Trojan Duck Lounge

Lead artist: Robert Burke

An enormous canvas-backed duck.

The Trojan Horse

Lead artist: Bill Walker and crew

Out of the belly of this classic symbol of war and deceit comes not enemy soldiers but the band Beyond Race who perform as the gigantic wooden horse burns.

20 Foot Man

Lead artists: John Henault and Josh Mong

This steel musical entity plays an 8-foot guitar, and has xylophone toes, chattering jaws, blinking eyes and siren ears.

John and Josh play in the band Doctor Amazon and are based in Portland Oregon. 20 Foot Man also resides in Portland, and still makes regular appearances.

Under the Burning Bra, Nipples Flow; Lady Dies

Lead artist: Annie Hallatt

From Burning Man 1997 website: This enormous silver bra is a solar fountain dedicated to Princess Diana, who died during the event. By day, water was pumped out of the nipples, powered by a solar panel. On the night of the burn, the water system was replaced by Roman candles and burlap. The fuses were lit in the bra strap, and the flames travelled in a spiral up the breasts to Roman candles in the nipples.

Water Woman

Lead artist: Ray Cirino

Ray Cirino first brought Water Woman to the playa in 1995. In 1997, Water Woman was built in the hot springs itself, and performances were held at its base (see video).

Notable Happening

Vandalization of the Man

In 1996, John Law, with the help of several cacophony members, added a smiley-face to the Man, which was illuminated for several seconds at random intervals. Larry Harvey was sufficiently irritated by the act that he demanded the face be removed. (The Smiley Face survives today, the only Burning Man face not destroyed during the event)/

In 1997, Paul Addis, with the help of several co-conspirators including his girlfriend, noted photographer and spirit-maker Absinthia Vermut and Man building, Chris Campbell, affixed a pair of large silver balls to the Man. A Blackrock Ranger spotted the group approaching, and radioed Michael Mikel, reporting the group - reportedly Mikel asked whether the group “knew what they were doing”. Receiving an affirmative response, he allowed the group to proceed. Hear Absinthia recount the prank here.

Ten years later Addis would attempt to ignite the Man five days early, be convicted of a felony and serve prison time. He killed himself in 2012.

Jim Mason’s Vegematic’s Reign of Terror

1996 ended with small mobs circulating and burning other’s creations, sometimes over the objections of the builders. In 1997, Jim Mason rode his creation The Vegematic around town, with its propane blasting whatever got in its path. Chicken John lead the charge with a bullhorn, ordering people out of path of destruction. Somewhat famously, DJ Goa Gil refused to stand aside in the face of destruction of his equipment by the Vegematic (and also refused Chicken’s demand to play Led Zepplin). Artist (and union iron worker) Steal Neal similarly stood his ground when the Vegematic approached his work, the Agony of Man. Robert Gelman wrote an early blog piece wonderfully capturing the Vegematics trek around the playa (see insert).