Zenzibar Special Report:
BURNING MAN 2001
An amazing festival of experimental community and radical self-expression that 
runs from August 27 to Sept. 3rd.  Visit their web site at http://www.burningman.com

Page 2: Life on the Playa

The portal got assembled on Sunday and installed at the front entrance to the center camp. It all went nearly perfectly. The two little flame-like things at the top are part of a wind sculpture. They follow each other around in a circle with the wind.

It looked so huge set up in my backyard. It looks kind of small here attached to the 34,000 square foot tent that is the center camp.

This tent contains a couple of stages for performances, some spaces for art, spaces to sit and relax, and a cafe/bar that serves coffee, hot chocolate, etc.

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This cauldron holds a fire that was kept burning all week. It was lit by the sun just before sunset on Monday, the official opening day of the event. A concave mirror concentrated the rays of the sun to start the fire. 

This same fire will be used on Saturday to light the fire that will burn the Man

Black Rock city has two newspapers and over 20 radio stations that exist just during the event. 

Behind the The Black Rock Gazette, a daily paper, is a view down our street and the front entrance to our theme camp, The Temple of Virtual Wisdom.

In any other city the Black Rock Gazette would be very alternative, but here, there is another paper that is even more alternative - Piss Clear. Piss Clear claims to be the alternative newspaper for Black Rock City. It is full of fun and parody and is definitely out there!

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This year the Man was set on a 39-foot tall column that contained an inner sanctum - the Temple of Wisdom. To enter the Temple, a participant must do an activity associated with each of the Seven Ages of Man - the theme this year.

There are theme camps and interactive art installations that correspond to the Seven Ages as put forth by Shakespeare. Each participant gets a passport that gets stamped at each of these venues. When the appropriate stamps are entered on the passport, the bearer is entitled to enter the Temple of Wisdom - just under the Man.

The Man, himself, is 40 feet tall creating a combined structure 79 feet high. This structure stands in the very center of Black Rock city surrounded by a 500-foot diameter ring of 2000 computer controlled lights. 

Outside this ring and all over the open playa are dozens of art installations. Some are daytime art and some are best seen at night. Some will be burned to the ground at the end of the week and some will be carried away and will reappear at a future Burning Man.

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Any images posted to these pages are copyrighted by Royce Carlson
In addition to that, the Burning Man organization also has legal claim to these images.