aallll TheThe nneeWWss ThaThaTT’s’s ffiiTT TToo BurnBurn bburninurninGG ManMan JournalJournal ssummerummer 20072007 TheThe DefaulDefaulTT WorlWorlDD ByBy LarryLarry HarveyHarvey hE road That funnElS TrAffic InTo Black rock City is lIned with A Tseries of CloselY spaced signS. Like floatinG strAnds of ThouGhT, They spell ouT sentences against ThE Void of ThE SurroundinG Plain. ThE fIrst SuCh message Always reads: WElCome… To ThE VacanT HearT… of ThE WIlD West. This is Intended as An Invitation To Create ThE WorlD Anew. Last year, In 2006, participants EnCounTEred AnoThEr, even MorE ProminEnT, series of signS WhIlE ExitinG our city. AMonG These, was A GreetinG AnD A quErY: WElCome… To ThE DEfAulT WorlD: … Whose fAulT… is That? I.T. by Michael Christian, photo by Anthony Petersen chose to volunteer their aid in the This ad hoc crew of burners imme- volunteers cycled through the radical Self-Expression. This, more disaster zone. diately set to work. over the ranks of what came to be called than anything, distinguished BWB one group, in particular, stood course of the next three months, Burners Without Borders. This from other relief groups. At the end out. It included members of Black they reconstructed the shattered exercise of radical Inclusion also of each working day, the crew began rock City’s Department of Public temple. In doing this, the group played its part in other ways. The to fashion art from the appalling Works, known as the DPW, and was guided by the culture they’d members of BWB behaved as they sprawl of storm debris. Every volunteers who had helped build absorbed at Burning Man. radical would on the playa, forming many Saturday evening they would toss the Temple of Dreams. Arriving on Self-reliance was certainly in personal relationships with local these sculptures on a bonfire, and the Gulf Coast, they encountered evidence. They knew what was residents. When the group moved the residents of Pearlington soon a Vietnamese community in Biloxi, required to survive and labor in on to Pearlington, Mississippi, a joined them in this ritual. over the The Serpent Mother by the flaming lotus Girls, photo by Tristan Savatier Mississippi. here, they found the a landscape stripped of usable rural and more devastated region, course of six months, BWB demol- broken remnants of a Buddhist resources. They had arrived in the they quickly gained the confi- ished many houses while rebuilding temple. Ironically, the dedication disaster zone already equipped dence and trust of the surrounding others. They also supplied water, burnErs Without bordErs of this recently constructed temple with tools, water, fuel, and genera- population. A constant stream of fuel, food and clothing to hundreds Experience has shown that we can readily apply the lessons we have had occurred a mere twelve hours tors. Communal Effort and Civic gifts poured in. They were fed of people. however, by recreating learned at Burning Man to the so-called ‘default world’ of daily life. in advance of the oncoming storm. responsibility – two more of the by local fishermen; a nearby what had been a sacred place, by never was this more apparent than in the aftermath of our event in 2005. Then, the unimaginable occurred: Ten Principles printed on the back contractor donated much-needed transforming the repulsive remnant near the height of our celebration, news of hurricane Katrina quickly the winds of hurricane Katrina swept of this journal – were inherently a heavy equipment. of a human trauma into art, and by spread through our community. A relief fund was immediately instituted; away the spiritual and social core of part of everything they did. Amid the ruin of Pearlington, allowing people to redeem their initial contributions totaled $30,000. More importantly, many Burners a community and its culture. over a span of six months, 299 another basic principle emerged: pain and sense of loss by making art, COnTinued on pAGe 3 GreeninG The Burn: a Work in proGress By Tom Price To Some peoPlE, BurnInG MAn isn’T ThE real WorlD, BuT An escape froM it. But in a very real way, Black rock City is a microcosm of the real world around us, only with causes and effects more immediately revealed. If we generate garbage, it doesn’t get shipped off someplace else – it sits at our feet, and goes home with us. If we produce polluting energy, we hear the noise and breathe the exhaust. We can’t hide from the problems we create in the desert. So what better place to explore the solutions to our planet’s environmental crises than a city we get to re-create every year? Every other week for the last six summer of 2006 as a guidepost Getting to and participating in way to go. Visit www.coolingman. months, there has been a “Green for these efforts and a state- Burning Man has an environmental org to calculate your camp’s Working Group” meeting at the ment of the Project’s dedication impact, and dealing with it means impact, learn ways to reduce it, Burning Man office, with staff and to addressing climate issues in a first acknowledging the scope of and then consider contributing to volunteers working together to substantive way. You’ll also find that impact. We’re working with offset your share of the footprint look at what we’ve been doing, ever-growing lists of resources, a group of volunteers known as of Burning Man. and explore ways to improve the materials, tools and practices Cooling Man to attempt to calcu- Project’s environmental footprint. you can use both at the event late and offset the entire carbon GrEEn Man Below, we have broken down these and year-round. Check out footprint of the event – esti- Pavilion the “Enviroblog”, a regularly mated at some 28,000 tons of efforts into distinct areas — educa- ShowcasinG ThE Best Ideas updated report on the latest emissions. We know that carbon tion, solid waste, materials, and In ThE WorlD energy – to highlight some of what Green Man developments, and offsets aren’t the whole solution; you can expect with the Green our “Tip of the Day”, a regular they’re more of an admission of By far the “greenest” place at Man this year, and how you can stream of new ideas to help the often hidden costs of our the event will be the Green Man participate. you green your burn, on and off consumption. nonetheless, they Pavilion. At the foot of the Man the playa. are a way to make effective contri- will be 30,000 square feet of Education bution to climate change. Already, shaded open space dedicated to carbon demonstrating the most innova- In Burningman.com’s new offsEts — we’ve raised enough to offset the Environmental Section you’ll find burning of the Man, surpassing tive ideas, educational tools, an Environmental Statement, AdmittinG ThE SCope of last year’s total offset of 300 and technological advances adopted by the Board in the ThE ProBlEM tons… but we’ve got a long, long addressing critical environmental The lamplighters approaching the Man, photo by Bill Kositzky COnTinued on pAGe 6 2 Conexus Cathedral by Conexus Village, photo by Scott london hhooWW GrGreeeenn cancan youyou geget?t? Let’s be reaListic. ThE Playa isn’T Green. IT’S MorE of A taupe or ecru — A beige SorT of huE. ThE Greenest native ThInG That You ArE likelY To EnCounter In ThE deserT is A PrayinG mantis. Sometimes ThEY’rE BloWn hErE froM ThE vegetated margin of ThE Playa, BuT This isn’T Their home. his is an alkaline environment, inimical to nearly every form of living thing. That is why we’re Tasking you, in this greenest of years, to refrain from bringing plants, both living and dried, to the desert. Petals, twigs, fronds, leaves, twining tendrils, flaking bark — all of these are inappropriate. In the harsh heat of the desert, lush, leafy plants quickly become crispy MOOP (Matter out of Place) waiting to be blown across the playa, and dried plants inevitably break up into millions of impossible-to-contain fragments. Do yourselves and the playa Blue pumping biodiesel, photo by heather Gallagher restoration crew a favor: please leave your plants at home! Should you crave leafy greens, consider using artificial plants with well attached limbs and the official Journal leaves, and, if your plant pal is a cactus, Praying Mantis, photo by Sven-Erik Sander the MOOP equivalent of an allergen- of the free dog, you are welcome to bring it. Trace event. You are responsible for every the excess packaging that your food and burning Man Project Just make sure it’s well secured and won’t particle within the matter stream you supplies come in: cereal boxes, blister 2007 tumble away in a gale. This same advice generate. In order to fulfill this respon- packs of batteries – all of the effluvia of applies to everything within your camp: sibility, consider this motto: Don’t let our consumer culture. Choose cans over The BurninG man projecT cups and plates, strewn clothing, stray it hit the ground! If a slice of melon tips bottles, reusable containers over both, p.o.Box 884688 paper — the litter of everyday life. These over, strewing seeds in the dust, or a zip and avoid perishables whenever possible. san francisco, CA 94188-4688 things should be weighted down and care- tie flies out of your hand, please stop The playa may not be green, but you can be hotline: 415/To.flame fully secured. and retrieve what you’ve dropped. This is greener, if you try. for many other helpful www.burningman.com This year the back street of our city is called “clean as you go.” As you hasten to suggestions, consult our Survival Guide.