The Running Man was a mechanical sculpture that
I constructed and brought to Burning Man in 1999 and 2000. This
articulated human figure was lit on fire and towed behind a vehicle,
creating the appearance of a person running while on fire. From
concept to execution, The Running Man was spontaneous, unpredictable
and slightly out of control. His purpose was nothing more than to
freak people out, but
The Running Man did, quite literally,
embody the sense of random and spectacular danger that is the
attraction of Burning Man for many people.
The Running Man has no message or purpose other
than creating an unexpected visual spectacle and eliciting an
immediate, visceral reaction from the viewer. His fiery "runs" were
not scheduled or announced and lasted only a minute or two, which
increased the random and surprising nature of the experience.
The Running Man was directly inspired by two
animated, bicycle-based pieces by artists unknown to me from Burning
Man 1998: the EL-wire galloping horse (See
www.1reality.org/horseweb/makingTheHorse.html)
and a flapping bird made of electric lights. These beautiful pieces
impressed me immensely and begged the very natural Burning Man
question: "How can I do that with fire?" I envisioned an articulated,
three-dimensional human figure. Running. On fire. The motive grew
into simply freaking people out. So
The Running Man was
conceived.
I built
The Running Man out of found metal from
vacant lots and roadsides. This arbitrary design constraint had no
purpose other than added challenge and the general appeal of
recycling/reuse and found-object art. Some of the more interesting
parts include nine bicycles, a bed frame, part of a wrought iron
fence, a big rig's air filter, refrigerator shelves, an airport
luggage cart and a barbecue grill.
Given the randomness of the materials, the creation of
The
Running Man was a spontaneous, trial-and-error process. My only
specific goal was to create a jointed human figure animated through
the action of a bicycle rolling backwards. When the bicycle rolled
backwards, the movement of the rear wheel would force the cranks and
pedals to rotate and, through a series of rods and levers, move
The Running Man's limbs.
The Running Man was originally wrapped in Kevlar
firewick and doused with liquid fuel. I hoped the firewick would
survive multiple uses, but much of it burned away after only one run.
Unlike firespinning, in which the flame is carried away from the
wick,
The Running Man's wrappings are entirely engulfed in
flames. He burned through $300 of firewick in his three 1999 runs. In
2000, he was wrapped in old cotton rags and T-shirts, which was much
better as the materials were free and also burned down to ash,
leaving almost no residue.
Wrapped, fueled and lit by handheld torch,
The Running Man
was towed behind a vehicle, ranging from a bicycle to an art
car. What
The Running Man looked like in action was less
interesting to me than people's reactions to him. Most people tend to
remember very clearly what they were doing and what they felt when
they saw him run.
Given Burning Man's larger attendance and necessarily improved
safety awareness in recent years, it would now be unwise if not
impossible to attempt such a highly mobile and entirely unconstrained
piece of fire art.
The Running Man now lives in the realm of
stories that start off, "I remember one year at Burning Man, ya know,
waaay back in 2000, I saw this one thing . . ."
The Running
Man is now happily retired, holding up vines in the garden,
daydreaming of blazing glories past.
Dan Ng, daredevilnospam at yahoo dot com
Web:
www.bweebweebwee.com/runningman/