Burning Man Style

The culture of Burning Man is pushing boundaries of mainstream society, art, fashion and business. Current SF media stories are an indicator of increasing immersion.

The cover story on the San Francisco Weekly of March 22-28 is ‘Space the Final Frontier’ an article which spotlights REBAR, an art collective which is re-defining established concepts about physical space. It's not surprising that Burning Man is mentioned in an article that deals with pranks and Temporary Autonomous Zones. In November of last year, the group took over a parking space in the financial district of San Francisco for several hours and created a public open space titled ‘Park(ing)’, complete with grass, trees and lawn furniture. When word of this prank spread through the Internet, this page on the REBAR website registered 4 million hits in a single day.

This brides alter ego is ‘Entropy’

- an outstanding member of the

Black Rock City Perimeter Defense Team.

RekePhotography.com

The Style of Art, Fashion, & Business-

Burning Man and the creation of ephemeral states was the subject of several late night discussions I had with Hakim Bey during the early years of the Cacophony Society. It's gratifying to see the links between emerging patterns which are now appearing on our visual field. The fact that these links can be found in the Sunday, March 26th edition of the San Francisco Chronicle illustrates how far we have come from those early underground days of organized anarchy. On the front page of the 'Style' section, is an artistic rendition of an anthropomorphic Burning Man with Larry Harvey's head sitting on it’s shoulders. Along side this figure is an article about the San Francisco Notables Art Auction fund raiser, which will be held at the 111 Minna Gallery on March 30th... How much am I bid for the head of Larry Harvey? It’s pure art and it’s all for good cause.

On page E5 in the 'Style' section is article about Sample Angel, a fashion industry startup which donates 10% of it's gross proceeds to charitable causes. Sample Angel conducts special sales of designer samples in temporary venues. This coming Saturday and Sunday (April 1 & 2), "Wear because you care" will be offering 4,000 designer items at the Log Cabin in the Presidio, along with live music and entertainment. Sample Angel has contacted me about the possibility of organizing a sale event in the future which would benefit a Burning Man cause. I think the Katrina disaster relief effort of Burners Without Borders could benefit from such an association.

In the "On The Town" article on page E7 of ‘Style’, I was surprised to see a photo of the reclusive Jason Wechter, who was a Suicide Club alumni in the late 1970s and one of my co-conspirators in the Cacophony Society. It was Jason who elevated the Chinese New Year's Treasure Hunt (an event which originated in the Suicide Club and was honed by the Cacophony Society) into the largest and most popular treasure hunt in the United States. He has also leveraged treasure hunting into a business, with clients like Tivo and Genetech. This article provides information on several of the San Francisco Cacophony Society's favorite haunts: On The Town

And taking up half of the last page of the ‘Style’ section, is the Cacophony Society's 8th annual Brides of March, which was held last week. Nearly 40 brides turned out for this year's event. Here's a photo of the Brides of March emerging from Ginger’s Trios bar: Brides on the street. The bride with the veil is Peter Doty, founder of Christmas Camp, which was the first theme camp to appear at Burning Man.

Dominating the Business section of this Sunday's SF Chronicle, you’ll find the history of Apple Computer well documented. April 1st will be Apple's 30th anniversary. I still have my Lisa computer, which was named after Steve Job's daughter. The article provides some insight about the dedication of Apple enthusiasts and hence my decision that Burning Man would operate on the Apple platform. In 1998, I realized that in order for Burning Man to grow, it would need a computer technology that non-technical volunteers could use and one that was virus resistant. Read the opening line of this article: Apple To It’s Core. Dedication to a cause can have a strong and lasting effect, much like this: Burning Man tattoo.

--- We are everywhere. ---

-M2