Brad Templeton's Photography
Before the Burn

Before the Burn

Before the burn there is usually a ceremony. In past years that got mucked up by the premature firing of the man. No problem this year.

The crowd gathers in a circle at the L2K ring and watches the fire dancers and flamethrowers, and then the Burn begins

This time we did a "Save the Man" protest, which I thought of at the last minute. We made up a bunch of protest signs reading:

  1. Save the Man (2)
  2. End the Burning
  3. The Man Loves You
  4. Spare the Air, Spare the Man
  5. Burn him, you burn yourself

K. got in our elwire suit which was designed to match the neon pattern of last year's man. She was a literal walking Burning Man, if no longer in the right colour. She carried a sign.

When we got there we found a few (but surprisingly few) willing to march with us, but we did find some and did our march around the circle.

My goal was to help turn the audience of spectators into participants. By chanting "save the man" we got many of the audience to become highly engaged in disagreeing with us, shouting "no, burn him!" back to us with glee.

A lot of people were irony impaired, and didn't get that it was a joke. Some got visible angry that we would even suggest it, and not in fun.

We joined up with another guy who was thrilled to see us because he had hoped to arrange such a march but didn't get around to doing it.

In future, I would love to make this a regular event, and even arrange to march around the inside of the circle and get the crowd really fired up to burn the man. Even though it's an illusion, making the illusion of decision helps turn people into participants instead of spectators.

More on the post-burn march in the next page.

Before the burn, the fire dancers perform their ceremony.  The moon rises behind them.
(1280 x 853 - 44K)
Before the burn, the fire dancers perform their ceremony. The moon rises behind them.
Man, moon, and some of the city and crows in background.
(1280 x 853 - 30K)
Man, moon, and some of the city and crows in background.
Fire dancer spins her fire
(683 x 1024 - 36K)
Fire dancer spins her fire
Fire jugglers
(1280 x 853 - 73K)
Fire jugglers
Faster shot of fire jugglers
(1280 x 853 - 30K)
Faster shot of fire jugglers
Slower shot of fire jugglers
(1280 x 853 - 43K)
Slower shot of fire jugglers
Flame throwers shoot in the air before the burn.
(1280 x 853 - 50K)
Flame throwers shoot in the air before the burn.
Full on flame throwers
(1280 x 853 - 42K)
Full on flame throwers
Fire dancer spins fire on a rope
(1280 x 853 - 53K)
Fire dancer spins fire on a rope
Array of fire spinners
(1280 x 853 - 60K)
Array of fire spinners
More fire spinners and the Man
(1280 x 853 - 49K)
More fire spinners and the Man

Burning Man 2001 Index

The Art | Vehicles | Scenes | People | Before the Burn | The Burn
Camps | Critical Tits | The Man

Panoramic Photos for this trip