Burning Man 1997 | Theme Camps

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Theme Camps

YUKON LEROY'S (ANT)ARCTIC OASIS

Based on the cold-weather explorer/philosopher, LeRoy Baziwani, legends recounts that in the midst of a class-four blizzard, he was overcome with ennui when he couldn't find a non-culturally-contextualized distinction between North and South Poles. He vanished in the mist, but his legacy lives on at the (Ant)Arctic Oasis. Weary desert wanderers can stop, rest, contemplate the deconstruction of post-structuralist theory, and soak their feet in ice water.

Big Daddy Love's

It's McSatan's Beastro -- grown kinder and gentler. Papa Satan, unemployed since the collapse of HELCO, has been transmogrified (and he will transmogrify you) . Who loves you? Daddy loves you.

NUB CHAI NUB CIRCUS

Sweet spicy, icy, hot balanced-protein ginger lovin' that is delicious and responds to no other name than Organic Chai, will be masterfully crafted on-site by the folks of NUB.

LAWN GAMES CAMP

The Harpo Marx Memorial Croquet Society, once again, invites you to sample a wide array of backyard entertainment. This year they are proud to present the Hysterical HarpOracle and Carnal Croquet (talk about a sticky wicket!).

FREQUENCY PUBLICA

Frequency Publica will provide an interactive radio station where participants can beam their poetry, spoken word or music into the receptive ears of the Burning Man masses. Create your own show! The camp will provide a large lounge area with shade and futons.

ALIEN CHESS CAMP

Come play a friendly game of chess in an alien atmosphere -- featuring a large-scale (roughly 20 square feet) chess board with hand-crafted, 2 ft. high metal alien chess pieces under a large shade dome, continual atmosphere music, and lighting effects at night! A tournament is planned.

TEMPORARY AUTONOMOUS BIKE SHOP

Bring your bikes and bike parts to TABS. They will fabricate 50 customized art bikes, each marked with a Burning Man logo, complete with trailers for transporting your belongings. These pernicious perambulators will be yours only when you're riding one! Please donate tires, inner tubes, derailers and frames for this community resource. TABS Do-It-Yourself, tune-up & service center will be located in Central Camp. Some help will occasionally show up, but all of the tools will be there!

THE STICKY FINGERS SHOP

A very tacky junk store, complete with tacky junk and a security guard lounging in the corner. All items are for sale, but at wildly inflated prices. It is hoped that this will encourage visitors to shoplift without being caught by the guard. Those who are successful will leave with a wonderfully tacky trinket; those who are caught will be emblazoned with a large scarlet "S" somewhere on their body so that the rest us at Burning Man will know that they are lousy shoplifters.

SKETCH CITY

The World's Largest Etch-A-Sketch! This piece will be composed of 100 - 200 individual Etch-A-Sketches. Participants are invited to contribute to a community drawing. Who can resist the lure of a beloved childhood toy? [WARNING: Members of this camp have become fond of donning polyester and singing BeeGee's songs at the loudest decibel.]

LIGHTNING CAMP

A giant lightning rod will beckon the potential wrath of Nature from the Heavens. This well-supervised attraction will prevent rampaging electrons from seeking you out.

FAT FRAT BOY CAMP

Only males weighing 190 lb. or more will be allowed entrance. "Dates" are also welcome. Practice locker room banter. Chant "Show Us Your Tits!" Why go all the way to Ft. Lauderdale when you can come here? Your Dominatrix Hostess, Mistress Gaia, will swat you ิtil your butt is spanky purple! Reserve your space now!

CAMP SUNSCREEN

Come to Camp Sunscreen for a soothing sunscreen massage! Expect shade, a relaxing atmosphere and plenty of masseuses to baste Black Rock citizens. Bring your preferred sunscreen if you wish -- there will be gobs on hand to share. Volunteer masseuses welcome. This camp will also feature a volleyball court, trampoline, a beacon tower, and several large art installations.

BARBIE'S CHILL-OUT LIZARD DOME

Mistress Barbie and her reptilian cohorts will be chillin' with consummate style in this fully-carpeted, desert-optimized geodesic structure. Soak up the sounds of their primal tribal trance ambiance while you beat the heat and wait for the mirage to kick in. Hosted by Mistress Barbie and the Lizard Man.

VICIOUS CIRCLE CAMP

This camp will feature large flat hoops which, when lifted on edge, form human-scale, free-rolling hamster wheels. Feel your life is going nowhere? Take a ride across the playa!

HUALAPAI PLAYA ZENDO

A Zendo/Zazen sitting area in a reserved "sacred space". A 80 ft. diameter Tao will be drawn upon the playa floor. A 1/2 hour meditation will be held on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday an sundown, and on Sunday at sunrise. Bring something that represents your "true self", or something you wish to annihilate from within yourself. "If you meet Buddha on the Road, Kill him. If you meet him on he Playa, Burn him."

WOMB WITH A VIEW

Discover the stages of fetal development as you walk though a 74 foot long pregnant female body, complete with orifice entrance, torso and breasts.

REMOTE VISION CAMP

The Roving Eye, a radio-controlled robot, will transmit images of the festival back to a comfortable viewing area in Remote Vision Camp, allowing participants to virtually rove the Black Rock City during hot daylight hours.

OCEANIA

Witness two monoliths, one an authentic and active volcano, the other a verdant oasis of life and diversity. Scattered between these two opposing, growing and eroding peaks will be the culture of Oceania. Here will be found the mixing of fire and water, stone and sea, life and reruns. Pose for snapshots next to the shrunken heads. Every footprint, sip of water, every tacky little trinket, will forever change Oceania, and being here will forever change every visitor. Some will be robbed; some will be eaten; and some will find a home.

KAMP SATYRS

The Mystik Krewe of Satyrs presents Fire Fantasies of Neptune. Interactive elements include theme-oriented crazy croquet, Rites of Neptune in the Shrine of the Mermaid (as presented at Burning Man's Mysteria show) and rides on a 20 ft., spouting whale.

WINDY CITY

Ogle large-scale wind-driven kinetic sculptures -- windmills, sparking generators, giant whirligigs.

ANTI-BURNING MAN CAMP

All naysaying, obsessive-compulsive, nostalgic perfectionists should consider this theme camp. Come here to cry, bitch, moan, and be passive and bitter about Burning Man. Old School Burning Man people will wage rhetorical war with New School Burning Man people. You may never want to leave.

ALIEN ABDUCTION CAMP

Take a number and get in line for your Alien Probe. View the alien autopsy on the way to your probing. Give birth to your alien "love child". All memory of this episode will be wiped from your mind.

BAND CAMP CAMP

Calling all wind, acoustic string and percussion instruments. Band Camp will organize itself into a Burning Band and help lead the procession to the Man on Sunday evening. Be prepared to start spontaneous parades and performances.

SOLARIA

Solaria presents "The Planets On The Playa", an accurate scale model of the solar system stretching 0.6 miles from Sun to Neptune. Visit Mistress Gaia in her spacious home and meet the neighbors! Thrill to celestial sounds emanating from our 0.00025 megawatt sound system, while browsing the fine selection of astronomy books in our cozy shaded reading room. Guided tours will help you find your true place in the universe; or just wander aimlessly, lost in the vastness of interplanetary space. The choice is yours!

HIGH VOLTAGE CAMP

See a 1,000,000 volt Tesla Coil come to life! Eat from the 15,000 volt hot dog cooker! [Warning: tofu dogs will explode.]

ESOTERIC ORDER OF THE YUMI YONI

By day, stroll through the Reflecting Twat Squat. Discover the archetypal secrets of your Yoni, and sculpt your own using local earth. Get a henna birthmark while sipping Turkish coffee in a Bedouin encampment. There will be nightly initiations into the order (as featured an Burning Man's Mysteria show). This is journey through death into rebirth. Come prepared to leave something of yourself that is preventing you from being you. Interact with several aspects of the Goddess! Initiations by appointment. Sign up during the day.

ROSS' ROMPER ROOM FOR HOT TOTS

A safe, fun, play area for children age 3 to 12. Toys, games, books, musical instruments, and some planned activities and projects. Parents are needed and invited to contribute activities, toys, books, etc. [NOTE: This is not a daycare facility.] Parents are responsible for their children and all should join in the fun. Also home of BURNING MAN 3-D and the Altar to the Goddess Karla.

ARTIST'S REPUBLIC OF FREMONT

An Independent Country within Black Rock City. Become a citizen and have your passport stamped. National holidays are being planned. Major export: lanterns. ARF will offer informal workshops on building simple lanterns for use on Saturday and Sunday night.

PISS CLEAR WORLD HEADQUARTERS

These are the main offices and production facilities of Piss Clear, Black Rock City's OTHER daily publication. This is the "alternative" press, competing with the bloated (and Republican-dominated) Black Rock Gazette. Look here for fast-breaking stories that The Establishment is afraid to report.

ALICEUM CAMP

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat, "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here." Risk your head with flaming croquet.

This is a partial list of Theme Camps.

Other theme camps include: Camp Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, Polaroid Camp, Four Sided Camp, Beacon Tower Camp, Soccer Camp, Skin City, Iluminatus Camp, Spiral Oasis, Cult of the Alien Artichoke, SPURT, Aesthetic Meat Foundation, Sacred Soul, Gypsy Lounge, Light Camp, Cult of the Jolly Green Convergence, Pervert Scout Jamboree, Spooge Sovereign State, Alaskan Road Trippers Camp, Yonder, Unusual Planetary Adventures Camp, Hualapai Eggchair Camp, Camp Illuminado, Electronic Parlor Trick, Playhouse Game Camp, Trojan Horse Camp, Aztec Camp, Kids Camp, Doc. Crew Camp, Elvis: Back From Hell Tour, Blowin' In The Wind Camp, Church of The Orbital Orgy, ... and many more.

Trip Brown