Tom Bullock Burning Man 1998 Photo Essay

Just another standard Man image.

Two guys.

Here is my camp. The two right tires of the car are parked right on the plastic; it's not blowing anywhere. After crawling into my nice new shade shelter I soon noticed something very strange; it felt hotter inside than outside! The thermometer soon told the tale: 95° in open shadow and 108° under the blue 'shade'. Spent the afternoons lying in the real shade on the north side of my car. Got to get me a white parachute for next year.
The bicycle's odometer showed 134 miles at the end of the week.

Underground generator
Putting these things in holes muffled the noise somewhat.

Bike with great big wheels.

Land Yacht She was doing so well until she smacked into the Temple of Rudra. One person was injured falling overboard. Afterwards she was cut up and hauled away.

A standard windsurfer sail mounted on a skate board.

Anyone missing a missile?
It landed here.

Chapel of the Burning Book
Stained plastic windows lighted from within. Also called the 'Taj Mahal'.

Fire Thistle
A big spiky metal plant with fire on top.

Black Rock Nuclear Reactor
Take the factory tour. Go inside and flip switches until the alarms sound. Teacher makes the children write touching thank you-notes for the company bulletin board.

Air Hug
"The Brainwasher is like a drive-through car-wash; but for people; and without a conveyor belt, and dry. It is a very large tickler."

The Dragon or The Bird or The Butterfly
A big colorful flag thing.

(Someone please tell me the true name of this thing.)

Junkmail Man
Bring your junk mail and dispose of it here.

Tensegrity
A tensile-integrity sculpture. The sticks do not touch each other; they are all hanging from the cords.

Tensegrity up close

Eighteen feet high. Built by Greg Leyh of LOD. Long sparks reach out and set fire to various amusing objects placed within it's grasp. I made no attempt to photograph it in operation; it is the sort of thing that can only be seen live.

The One Tree
In the day it drips water and at night it spouts fire.

Free Mass Shower
Mud bath alternates with water shower. The worst thing about having a stupid toe wound to keep clean was that I couldn't join in.

Lotion Dispenser
The official presidential lotion. Accept no substitutes.

I brought my little trebuchet out to the playa. It throws one pound lead balls 145 feet with good accuracy. I thought this would be a semi-original idea but it turned out that there were three bigger ones out there too. It performed very well until someone burned it late Sunday night.

Wood Trebuchet
This one is by Joe and Alec. Made all of wood and throws bowling balls and burning hay.

Temple of the Big Ass SUV
The Big Ass Sport Utility Vehicle burns.

Temple of Rudra
The temple burns very early Sunday morning.

Arms Up
Ready to burn.

Orbicular Affect
One of the four balls before burning with the Man. Six foot diameter; made of wood scraps.

Orbicular Affect
One of the four balls burning before the Man. Six foot diameter; made of wood scraps.

The Man burns bright
The man goes up in a fierce roar. He is stuffed extra full with fireworks.

Man Burning
The Man burns some more.

Hurry! Hurry! Break camp quick so we can beat the traffic!
Let's see ... clickclickclick ... 15,000 people ... 3 people per car ... 5 seconds per car ... single lane ... only ... 7 hours!
Better keep that engine running!

Tom’s 1997 Photo Essay can be found here.