PRINTLet it burn
May 8, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
I first learned about Burning Man, an eight-day long music and art celebration, from a documentary that came out years ago. The event is hot in more ways than one. It takes place in the scorching heat of the Nevada desert, and, as its name suggests, each year a giant wooden sculpture gets torched to the ground. Add to that the eclectic mix of music, muddy people, no running water and no source of sustenance except what you bring yourself, and what could be nothing more than an extra-long Coachella with some trippy flames becomes a downright adventure in self-reliance. Well, self-reliance plus entertainment.
Still, the distance and hardship of being there (seriously, no showers?) has kept me away. Fire art at loft parties in my hometown of Atlanta satiated my need for a blazing good time. Imagine my surprise to learn that for the past four years, I could have seen giant burning effigies and taken in a miniature version of Burning Man right here in a more accessible and much less hot mid-Missouri. InterFuse, the Midwest’s four-day homage to Burning Man, offers all the fire, nudity and sheer craziness that the curious need for a mild initiation to the original dream-come-true for the neo-tribal and pyromaniacal.
If, like me, life got in the way of heading to Boonville to take in our little local fire fest, Vox has given you everything you need to fool your friends into thinking you made it out, shed your clothes, danced around some fire caveman-style and experienced it yourself. Just take a look at the photos (don’t be afraid: we left out the nudity) to tell your friends what you saw, and read up on the story to answer all the questions they’ll have about what you’ve seen in years past.
But if you’re a bad liar, feel free to tell your friends to pick up a copy of the magazine to see it for themselves.
