Ninth Stage

You can argue that Burning Man jumped the shark in 1995 when it first had a theme. But since then the themes have been broad and classical such as “Good and Evil” (1995), “Wheel of Time” (1999) and “The Vault of Heaven” (2004).

Last year the theme, “Hope and Fear: The Future”, seemed to turn political but you can certainly argue otherwise.

This year the theme is “Green Man”. Green as in eco-friendly. So, at a time when the current hobgoblin of little Ecologists is atmospheric CO2, at an event where the founding idea and name comes from turning a pile of nicely sequestered carbon into an atmospheric carbon-dioxide thermal pillar of carbon-felony proportions, they are going to have “Green” as the theme. Now that is truly jumping the shark-shaped “art car”.