Burning Man, an annual week-long event devoted to countercultural principles and art, offers a rich context for studying art, consumption, religiosity and spirituality, subcultures, collective action, and organizations. During the week leading to the Labor Day holiday, 80,000 persons gather in the Black Rock Desert to form Black Rock City, one of Nevada's largest, albeit temporary, cities. Toward the week's end, the event's eponymous bonfire consumes the Man, a 40-foot-tall, neon-decorated, wooden figure that stands at the city's center.