golden glowing man on bike

[zandelion]

hey...did anyone else see the absolutely glowing man on a bicycle riding on the playa? if so, please confirm that i wasn't so high that i was imagining him? and does anyone have a photo??? thanks

[clandyone]

Are you talking about the guy on fire, on the bike? He's a sculpture, parked on the back of a tandem bike and set ablaze while his creator pedals around. Quite amazing. I don't know if that's who you meant.

[judlew]

I saw it an was amazed.

[Ranger Mickey]

I have a few seconds of him on somewhat blurry video, but if someone wants to host it I'll export it to a video... email me at mickey (at) rangers (dot) org.

[Hoopes]

Are you talking about the guy on fire, on the bike?

The burning bike rider was one of the best pieces I saw this year. It was brilliant in conception and masterful in execution. I've also got just a few seconds of video. I wish I had more. It was truly a vision from Hell.

[zandelion]

Are you talking about the guy on fire, on the bike?

The burning bike rider was one of the best pieces I saw this year. It was brilliant in conception and masterful in execution. I've also got just a few seconds of video. I wish I had more. It was truly a vision from Hell.

low and behold! i found a picture of him on the bman site...image gallery, truly spectacular!! how does he do it???

[clandyone]

low and behold! i found a picture of him on the bman site...image gallery, truly spectacular!! how does he do it???

The burning guy is a sculpture made out of rebar, and covered with Kevlar wicking (kind of the same principle as poi.) The artist soaks him with white gas and then bikes like hell.

[Ranger Mickey]

You can see a tiny (108 KB) version of what I caught on videotape.

I'm not proud, but there it is.

QuickTime. Ought to be cross-platform. Someone tell me if it's not.

Save As if you really, really want it.

The full-quality DV version is 21 MB; available to those who really want it.

[TazGrl]

Considering the <ahem> state of mind I was in the night I saw the burning bicycle man, I thought it was a real person with some sort of cool pyro-suit on...and I was completely at one with that "reality". My boyfriend's giggling at my exclamation of incredulity was not (as I came to find out several days later) due to the amazing "technology" behind this pyrotechnic feat, but at the fact that I actually thought it was a real person on fire. I guess he didn't know just HOW hard I was trippin' that night... I still think that by the end of BM, I had seen so many amazing and extraordinary events that the sight of a man with angel wings flying down my street would have inspired nothing more than a "Hey, that's cool!" from me.

[TazGrl]

low and behold! i found a picture of him on the bman site...image gallery, truly spectacular!! how does he do it???

Which numbered set of pics is it in? I just tried browsing through them but couldn't find it...

[Ranger Mickey]

Considering the <ahem> state of mind I was in the night I saw the burning bicycle man, I thought it was a real person with some sort of cool pyro-suit on...and I was completely at one with that "reality".

I was high on nothing but life, and I figured the same thing. Hey, it's Burning Man. People on fire are no big thing. We even used one to light the Man on fire in, ummm, 1997?

Of course, he was standing on hay bales at the time, so it wasn't like torching a Mayan temple...

[clandyone]

I was high on nothing but life, and I figured the same thing. Hey, it's Burning Man. People on fire are no big thing. We even used one to light the Man on fire in, ummm, 1997?

'98. That was dope.

[naga brain]

[quote="TazGrl"]Considering the <ahem> state of mind I was in the night I saw the burning bicycle man, I thought it was a real person with some sort of cool pyro-suit on

-- Oh yeah, I know whatcha mean there. We sat and by the time that sculpture moved from 9 to 6 we thought "Oh geez that guy's gotta fall sometime soon. We howled with laughter on that one...but then we realized no it wasn't 'real' and collectively sighed our disappointment.

[TazGrl]

I was high on nothing but life, and I figured the same thing.

Out of the 7 days we were there, that was the only night at BM I actually delved into the world of psychedelics (shrooms), and to be honest I so paranoid about becoming too tripped out by sheer overstimulation that I was a bit apprehensive at first to do even that. That was around mid-week, so I was able to interact with the nightscape as a sober participant both before and after that night and compare the experiences. I loved being able to experience both the natural mental high of child-like wonder, and the "Fear and Loathing"-esque involvement of chemical enhancement. It's nice to know first-hand that chemicals are definitely not necessary to truly appreciate the alternate reality that BM offers...

[TazGrl]

...but then we realized no it wasn't 'real' and collectively sighed our disappointment.

Same here - when I found out it was a mechanical man I sorta felt the same way. But then I also felt a bit of relief to know that he wasn't going to end up in the medic tent, either...

[PleasureSean]

I remember this piece the first time it came out 2 or 3 years ago - blew my mind. I took some quick video that year, but you couldn't see the detail of the bike rider - it just looked like a ball of fire.

I had better luck this year.

Go to our camp's website www.garagemahal.org

and click on one of the videos and you'll see the golden glowing man on the bike.

PleasureSean
www.pleasuresean.com