[ Golden Gater Online - September 11, 1997 ]
Editor:
Please don't call Larry Harvey the "guru" of Burning Man, as Andreas Tzortzis did in an otherwise excellent story in last Thursday's Golden Gater. The annual desert rite is an artistic phenomenon pleasantly lacking in the worship of human idols, perhaps because so many non-human idols are supplied by its inventive participants.
And if Opinion Page editor Eric Kurhi is around next year, please send him out to Black Rock City (he obviously hasn't been) so he can get a clue what it's all about.
A huge communal sno-cone in the middle of the wilderness is not "sterile." Such constructions are symbols of human creativity unleashed from the constraints of a comparatively sterile civilization.
The point of Burning Man is not to create lasting works of art in the sense of Shakespeare or Da Vinci. A masterpiece does not have to withstand the centuries to achieve greatness. It merely has to show us, if ever so briefly, a vision of the world we had not considered before.
Sincerely,
Starchild
Attn: Eric Kurhi
I so enjoyed your column in regards to the Burning Man festival that I just had to respond. Indeed, after having read it, I've found my opinions completely reversed. Being a Burning Man participant for two years, I'm shocked that I never noticed what a terrible waste of time and energy the whole thing was. Your opinions have enlightened me and I'd just like to thank you.
And what well informed opinions they are! Sighting [sic] the Examiner as a primary source for your arguments was a good move by my count. After all, the Examiner has an excellent reputation for covering the cutting edges of counter culture. True, I had never heard anyone mention anything about BM as a ritual intent to "burn technology in effigy," but if that's what the Examiner says, it must be so. Originally, I thought BM was an experiment in art, and that with that ambiguity comes room for several interpretations unique to every individual's experience. But your column really nailed our oxymoronic intentions.
You're also right in your idea that "you can't be a non-conformist when surrounded by eccentrics." This idea could be applied to so many places in art. All those beatnik artists, for instance, hung out in the same circles, patting themselves on the back for being original when they were really just a bunch of trend followers. I mean really, was William Burroughs the first junkie homosexual?
Thank you for using your voice to echo these intelligent opinions. Next Labor Day, I'll spend my weekend doing something really original. I'd write an opinion piece about something I know nothing about, but I guess that's already been done.
Sincerely,
Gabriel Garner
Ok, so I broke the rules a little to get these letters in so the Burning Man ritual would have some more balance. Apparently, Burning Man affecionados don't like the constraints imposed by Opinion page policy. Letters must be less than 200 words, and pseudonyms or anonymous letters will not be printed. The student formerly known as Marc De Saussure has officially changed his name to Starchild, at least in the university system, as so is acceptable in this case. Please see the submission policy for more information.
[ Golden Gater - September 11, 1997 ]