Burn2: The "Burning of The Man"

Burn2, the Second Life reflection of the Burning Man festival in real life, is the largest annual art and musical festival inworld. This year, it took place from Saturday October 15 to Sunday October 23, with the builds remaining up for several more days. The high points of the festival were the "Burning of The Man," and the "Temple Burn."

When I had first visited the Burn2 grounds, I wasn't sure where "The Man" was as he's usually standing tall. As it turned out, he was build smaller and mounted on a wheel to reflect how the real-life Man of 2016's Burning Man festival was constructed, to reflect the theme of honoring Leonardo DaVinci. In real-life, the mechanics broke down and The Man remained static. Here, the scripts remained intact and "The Man" could occasionally be rotated.

But on Saturday October 22, it was time for The Man to face the flames. As 12 Noon approached, people gathered to watch the structure get set on fire.

Some time after Noon, the flames finally started.

 And it didn't take long for the fire to spread over the small structure.

Before long, parts of the structure and the building underneath began to char.

 The fire began charring more wood, and pieces started to fall off.

It wasn't long before quite a bit had fallen off.

Me and the others continued to watch from a distance.

 And soon, the wheel that held The Man began to crumble.

And crumble some more.

And finally it fell, on top of it's supporting structure.

And soon that fell to the flames as well.

 Pygar Bu of Bay City was the volunteer who checked out what was left of The Man, getting a little close to the flames.

 And the all-clear was given for the Burners to go into the flames.

 Some looked more suited to handle fire than others.

 Someone set loose some kind of lightning bolt, briefly illuminating the area. After it faded, it was back to the flames on the burning wreckage and embers. I had to teleport to other events that day, but it was obvious what would happen later: the flames dying down and nothing left but embers, charred pieces of wood, and a few parts that had fallen off, seemingly untouched by the fire.

The "Burning of The Man" would take place again at 6PM. In the past, both The Man and the Temple had three burns on their respective days, sometimes called the Pacific, European, and American burns. But this time there would be only two

The following day would be the other highlight of the festival, the Temple Burn. This will be in another article.

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes from Burn2

By Gemma Cleanslate

My second visit to the playa at Burn2 led me to the roadways so I could view some of the many marvelous installations that are there . I stopped off at some of my friends’ builds . First I stopped at Davinci’s Parachute created by the invited artist Cica Ghost and picked up my own parachute . The bust of Davinci is a work" in progress."     http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Opal/248/104/25

Across the way I marveled at the wonder ship by Danger Lytton designed so closely to the original drawing .  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/9/97/24

 Next I stopped over to view Leondra Larrson’s Transformation by the 5th Element which alchemists believed was concentrated in the spirit or the ‘dust’ and fitting to be celebrated in Second Life on the Playa. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Black%20Rock/152/8/25 

 Nearby I went through Davinci’s Whymsical  Garden designed by Cordelia Cerise. Here I found tributes to Davinci’s diverse interests planted , anatomy, art, inventions, science, architecture, and aviation all depicted in one place.Be sure to walk through. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Black%20Rock/69/129/24

 The work of ÐαN™Şίℓνзrşмίtђ Ϯ (GuitarDan Silversmith) I found amazing. Check out the machines displayed on his installation. and don’t miss the ones inside the museum. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Limbo/16/199/25

 These are just a few of the many builds you will find on the playa at Burn2. There  so many to visit or view from the flying ship . You have until Monday to see it all.
Don’t forget to check out the performances going on during the week. The calendar is here along with all the information to help you understand what Burn2 is.
http://www.burn2.org/calendar

Gemma Cleanslate

Press Day At Burn2

By Gemma Cleanslate

 I had a wonderful time at Press Day at the Burn2 sims. I met my friend Leondra Larsson, a Ranger and builder  at the entrance and was greeted also by Molly Nakamori, one of the official greeters. The theme this year is Davinci’s Workshop. 

This event is described, ”BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man Regional, the only virtual world Regional out of more than 100 Regional groups worldwide, and the only Regional to burn the Man! This unique virtual Regional spreads the culture and Ten Principles of Burning Man year-round in Second Life, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall - a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.” Many volunteers work year long to put on this event. 

The area in the center this year is filled with the Center Camp which remains mostly in its usual form but is surrounded by the “Man” by Pygar Bu,’‘ The Temple’ by Toady Nakamura, and a lovely home for the Lamplighters. I visited with the Lamplighters for a while and watched them perform before I joined in. iSkye Silverweb, who is a lead for the event distracted me from my purpose and I spent time there playing instead of working! LOL .I did find out that the Lamplighters will be doing two processions a day after the opening Saturday morning at 10am slt where you will see them perform. They will be at the burning of the Man and the next day, The Temple next weekend.

I was able to take a tour of the sims in a flying machine. As I flew over in a device that is reminiscent of Davinci’s famous drawing I saw so many marvelous plots that made me feel I was back in the day of the artist. You can catch this traveling machine near the Deparment of Mutant Vehicles where you can also find some fun machines to travel along the roadways. I visited the DJ Stage where there will be parties every day during the event. I did see Toady sitting in the temple enjoying her work. She was happy to build the temple but told me that iSkye made the Da Vinci Printing Press/Censer where you can leave messages to be read while the temple burns. iSkye spent many hours preparing it Toady said. 

I also ran into some friends whose parcels I will be visiting during the week and will write about. I stopped to pick up some gifts at the gift area you will see near the entrance so don’t miss those. The greeters have a whole backpack of goodies for you too. Here is the entrance to get you started. Have fun and plan to visit often during the week.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/164/33/25

 Gemma Cleanslate