Phoenix story

Oct 01, 2007 13:02



The big story this year at Burning Man was of course the man being burned on Monday of the event. The story behind this story, was the effort of so many volunteer builders and designers coming together to put together a second man for the burn, from the wood structure, to the man-base cleanup crews, to the neon and rigging crews that re-did all their work during their burn. These people represent the best of self-sacrifice and teamwork that reflects the true heart of the event.

Monday night was a cold night. Dawn and I wanted to stay up for the solar eclipse, but fatigue and the attraction of warm cuddling beneath the covers saw us in bed early and mostly asleep when the burn happened. The next day I went out to man-base as soon as I'd heard what had happened, hoping to offer whatever help I could. I was told to return a couple hours later, at which point Logan asks me if I'm any good with a jigsaw... I'm already grinning ear to ear =)

I got to help cut out the rings for the arms and legs, and then assisted in sanding them smooth. We took a break in the afternoon while they broke down the burnt effigy still up on the base, and it occurred to me, here we are literally building the 2nd man in the ashes of the first. I started sketching a pheonix in the sand at my feet, and then asked Slim (one of the crew managers for the rebuild) if we could build a phoenix instead of a man. He kinda chuckled and pointed out the logistics of even trying to design something on such a scale, but then I mentioned maybe we could just build a smaller one and put it somewhere on the man. He offered the possibility of making it from a peice of the first man, and then the next was kinda a blur of impossibility...

He introduced me to Betty June and Crimson, who I understood to be the effigy leads, and told them about my idea, which was fully embraced and heartily encouraged. I have to mention at this point that I'm already overwhelmed with the privilege of just getting to work on the man, but to be given the go-ahead on this project was beyond bliss. I was given a contact at the Depot to talk to (whose name happened to be Pheonix), and went on a mission after 9:30 PM (when my shift was over) to retrieve a peice of wood from the first man. I picked up GlennT at the Wonderlounge camp along the way, and together we dismantled as much as we could so I could get to the chunk I wanted, a nice peice of plywood gusset that went across the chest and shoulders of the effigy.

The next day I drove out with the peice and got assigned a space to work, and an assistant for whatever help I might need. I had a drawing that I was going to work from, but when I put the plywood down on the table, the grain, the shape of it, everything spoke to me and showed me a different design to follow, which turned out far better then anything I'd drawn to that point. I closed my eyes and released any sense of self-interest or control, and then opened my eyes and let the pencil flow across the wooden veneer. The shapes and contours felt alive, driven by playa, heat, and love. I cut the phoenix out with a very nice cordless jigsaw given to me from Slim's own private tool kit, and offered the small chunks out to some of the volunteers assisting the rebuild. The end shape was magnificent, but when I flipped it over to the charred side, it suddenly became so much more.

I showed the peice to Slim, and he had another contribution: a gorgeous melted peice of neon from the first man. It was the perfect size and shape for the eye. When finished, we put the phoenix on top of the face they'd rescued from the first man, just for picture-taking. Then Dan walked over, who was the lead for the build team this year, and he asked if we could just leave the phoenix there for a while. I found out later that he brought Larry Harvey over to show him, who at first apparently didn't like the idea of mounting the phoenix on the face of the new man... but then he looked around at the crew of woodworkers, designers, engineers, and volunteers, and said "yeah, it needs to go on the face, for all of you..." and pointing out to the crowd gathered around the base "and for all of them."

I had the privelege of carrying the finished head over to the cherry picker the following day, and then on burn night DPW was invited to work perimeter. The man krew found me though and hauled my ass right up in front of the man for the burn, which was just phenominal. I watched it all burn and collapse... but didn't see the phoenix actually catch fire, and couldn't see it on the ground when I ran past, swept up in the crowd of people circling the burn pit.

I found out later that the phoenix didn't burn.

To be... continued??

I am humbled at the possibility that what we do has the potential to reach so many people. It makes me not want to take anything I do for granted. It fascinates me when I consider how much we all can accomplish when we work together, pooling our talents, skills, and resources. Greatness lies not only in our future, but in each passing moment.
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