Burning Man, 1962: Jean Tinguely Blazes the Trail

by Whatsblem the Pro

Jean Tinguely at the control panel, 1962 -- PHOTO: LIFE Magazine

Jean Tinguely at the control panel, 1962 — PHOTO: LIFE Magazine

On a dry lake bed in the trackless desolation of the Nevada desert, an industrial arts crew assembles a collection of large sculptures with the intention of destroying them in explosions and fire as the gathered crowd looks on. The event is meant as a sort of grand catharsis, a coda for a planet gone stale and mad, revealing and reflecting the dangerous irrelevance of the already-dead culture outside the wasteland, freeing the minds of onlookers from that culture’s tired old bonds and mores, and clearing metaphorical ground to make room for new modes of thinking and living.

Sound familiar?

Burning Man was not the first event that fit that description, but if you’re thinking of the Cacophony Society, or the Planet X arts collective outside Gerlach, Nevada, then you’re still decades late and a dollar short. The event I’m describing happened in 1962, predating Harvey, Cacophony, Planet X, the punk rock arts scene, and even hippies.

It was 1989 when Cacophonist Kevin Evans joined the Planet X folks for a wind sculpture event in the Black Rock desert. Taking inspiration from the trip, Evans and fellow Cacophonist John Law planned a Labor Day weekend expedition to the same site.

“I had been reading essays by Hakim Bey and his ideas struck a chord,” relates Evans in the recently-released book TALES OF THE SAN FRANCISCO CACOPHONY SOCIETY.

“At that time, I was experimenting with the technique of forcefully augmenting or destroying parts of my artwork as a meditation on impermanence and flexible reaction to sudden change. These concepts fused into a plan to generate a creative, temporary incident in the Black Rock with a central theme, the ritual destruction and immolation of sculptures and art constructed for the event, with the peculiar, empty location as a stage set.

“For an insolvent, young, and naïve art student, this vision seemed far too grand and expensive to accomplish alone. I decided to present the scheme as a Cacophony event, a ‘Zone Trip,’ to fellow Cacophonist John Law. Other members of the group were later recruited (M2, aka Danger Ranger) and logistical planning commenced.

“A few months from the target date of the expedition, many of us from the Cacophony Society attended what was to be the last Baker Beach burn of Burning Man in San Francisco. Fortunately, via the intervention of local authorities, the monolithic figurine was not razed. Amidst chants of ‘burn it anyway!’ and pagan-like drumming, a few of us Cacophonists, including Miss P and Dawn, thought it would be a great idea to invite the architects of the wooden construct along for our voyage to the bizarre setting, making it the biggest, most elaborate piece of firewood – a glorious conflagration.”

While Evans’ account neatly deflates the commonly-held mythos of Larry Harvey as the All-Father of Burning Man, Evans’ idea – consciously or not – was an echo of an event that took place more than a quarter of a century earlier.

“I’ve reached the end, you see, for museums in this kind of thing. I need a place where I can build as big as I want, and destroy as violently. The only two settings I can think of as appropriate are the Sahara and the American Desert. ”

These are the words of Swiss artist Jean Tinguely, quoted in a Saturday Evening Post interview dated April 21st, 1962. Tinguely was referring to his piece entitled Study for an End of the World, No. 2, in which he constructed a Rube Goldberg conglomeration of self-destructing mechanical icons on a sun-blasted playa in the Nevada desert. Tinguely’s art, with its unavoidable references to nuclear war, was quite a bit more politically pointed than Burning Man has ever been. . . but in hindsight, comparisons with both Burning Man and the dire machine conflict perpetrated by Survival Research Laboratories in the late ’70s and early ’80s seem just as unavoidable. His machines, designed as they were to annihilate themselves, provided a counterpoint to nuclear war, to the idiocy and waste inherent in mass production techniques, and to the obsolescence of society and so-called ‘civilization’ itself.

“A scene of triumph, lying under an odor of gunpowder” is how Tinguely described the aftermath of Study for an End of the World, No. 2. . . but feel free to judge for yourself; Tinguely’s burn, which took well over an hour, was documented by an NBC film crew for an episode of David Brinkley’s Journal, a weekly news-oriented television show that aired their footage of Study for an End of the World, No. 2 on April 4th of 1962.

Burn Before, After, and While Reading

by Whatsblem the Pro

3 out of 4 BARmag staffers have human faces -- Photo: BARmag

3 out of 4 BARmag staffers have human faces

While some might assume that we’re rivals, here at Burners.me we regard the staff of BURN AFTER READING MAGAZINE as a great bunch of people who put out some excellent writing on the subject of Burning Man. We’re pleased to have them as colleagues, and happy to see them thrive.

BARmag co-founder Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee graciously agreed to do an interview with our own Whatsblem the Pro.

Whatsblem the Pro:

What do you tell people when they ask you what BARmag is?

Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee:

BARmag – or Burn After Reading Magazine – is a burner art and culture mag. We cover burner stuff all around the world, from Afrikaburn to the Temple of Christchurch in New Zealand. We post articles on the web year-round. Aside from our website we have a print magazine at Burning Man.

Whatsblem the Pro:

You co-founded BARmag, right?

Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee:

Yes. Doug Crissman, our art director, and myself started the magazine in the winter of 2011. I was doing volunteer work at another magazine during that time and it made me realize that we could easily be doing our own art mag. Doug was a part of another art magazine in college, called Deek. He did a lot of design for that and even helped to run it for a couple years post-grad until the magazine eventually folded. When I brought up the idea of the magazine he was immediately on board, although I’m not sure if he realized I was actually serious about it. Two months later BARmag was up and running on the web.

Aside from the two of us, we have roughly thirty to thirty-five volunteers who do a lot of the articles and design. The coolest part is that our volunteers are literally spread all over the globe. 

Whatsblem the Pro:

What are BARmag‘s goals?

Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee:

I think the ultimate goal for BARmag is that we find a way to be fully self sufficient. No kickstarters and constantly begging for donations. Just an awesome magazine each year on the Playa showcasing the amazing art all these people bring to the desert. If we grew to be a quarterly magazine and I could pay my staff and we could give a grant to Burning Man literary art each year that would be my dream world.

Whatsblem the Pro:

Can anyone write for BARmag?

Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee:

Yup! We are radically inclusive. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll just take every article though. We like to keep our magazine focused on Burning Man art and culture specifically. We also don’t take any fiction or poetry. But we are happy to work with everyone and the more volunteers the merrier!

Whatsblem the Pro:

What does BARmag do on the playa during Burning Man?

Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee:

Raised by Wolves, Dressed by Ringling Bros.

Raised by Wolves, Dressed by Ringling Bros.

Our cafe is part of the frontage of Raised By Wolves which is my home camp. Some magazine members camp with us but many of them have their own camps all over playa. Luckily my friends at Raised By Wolves are totally into running our cafe and helping to gift the magazine. Their support really makes our magazine that much more special. I’m really grateful for all of them and for all of the magazine staff that continue to make this project happen.

Whatsblem the Pro:

Assuming an article isn’t something you reject automatically, like fiction or poetry, what is it that you look for in a piece of writing that might be appropriate for BARmag?

Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee:

The art and culture thing is a big criteria. As long as an article encompasses that wether its a review of a burner party or a fabulous Burning Man packing list if it highlights the art and gives back to our culture then it goes in the mag.

Whatsblem the Pro:

How did you find your way to Burning Man, and how has it changed your life year-round? How has it influenced you as a writer and editor?

Jessi ‘Sprocket’ Janusee:

I stumbled onto Burning Man accidentally. In July 2010 I moved into a new house in Philly and my two roommates were going to the Burn. They invited me to a couple Burning Man parties – PEX Magic Garden and Disorient Boom Boat. I was totally blown away. These were my people! They loved crazy art and costumes as much as I did! Not only that but they created the worlds I dreamed up as a kid! I helped do set up for Magic Garden as well as set up and strike for Boom Boat. I was immediately hooked. That August my roomie, Tristen and I drove my car full of people and stuff from Philadelphia to Black Rock City. Last year Tristen and I got engaged at Kostume Kult on Playa.

It changed my life by teaching me that art is something you can create RIGHT NOW! It’s inspired me to take my big ideas and actually make them happen! As a writer and editor it taught me that I didn’t need the validation of others to make things. I could create things for myself and if others enjoyed them then that was a total bonus.

You can help keep BARmag running on and off the playa by donating to their Kickstarter campaign.