Burning Man 2015 Favorite Moments (Part 1)

I love so much about Burning Man. But as a designer involved in construction, I am deeply awed by the process: huge art projects and a working city for 70,000 people are built from nothing, in a few weeks. Then as quickly, they are gone without a trace.

For artists, the challenge of Burning Man is mind-boggling. They must design, transport, and construct art that can make an impact on the vast scale of the Playa.  The art must withstand extreme weather conditions, wind, dust, temperature. (This year the multiple dust storms were "epic" even by seasoned Burners' standards).  Teams must erect the piece on site in less than two weeks leading up to the festival start. On top of those physical constraints, these large artworks are only possible through significant fundraising effort by the artists and their team, in a very short time.  All over the world volunteer crews work offsite for months, then move to the desert -- for several weeks in some cases-- for final assembly, which happens 80 miles from nearly anywhere, down a two-lane, poorly paved road.

It is a kind of miracle.  Every year.

When I arrived a few days before opening this year, cranes were high in the air over the Playa. Large art crews worked under massive floodlights through the nights. Two days before gates opened, WHAM: a white-out dust storm blew mightily all day.  The Playa is a harsh environment for anyone setting up a tent, much less operating a crane a hundred feet in the air, welding joints at night during a dust storm, or keeping propane tanks filled to a critical level.

Even the toughest dust and logistics are no match for the Burner Spirit though. This profoundly creative power was on glorious display everywhere. For over a week, the Playa was alive with fire, lights, music, interactive art, art cars, and wonder.

The Temple of Promise, by Jazz Tigan & Dreamer's Guild, got my vote for "Most Photogenic." 
It could NOT take a bad picture, day, night, dust storm, clear skies, even unfinished...

3 Cranes and 2 scissor lifts work on final push to complete the Temple.

The copper cladding on Temple's front glowed day and night.

I loved the shadows inside, day and night.

Backside of the Temple looked like a calmly resting animal.

Burners leave poems, photos, artifacts of all kinds in the Temple, to release memories,
good and bad, when the Temple burns on Sunday.
I watched a man completely undress, hang his uniform, make notes on the collar, 
& walk away naked.

The Temple is a good place to get rid of emotional baggage, literally.

Both the sun and the moon were great accessories in any shot of the Temple.

Mike Garlington's Totem of Confessions was the most intricate piece on the Playa, the most astounding for its rich detail. Hundreds of evocative photo images in all sizes covered the exterior.  The entire structure alluded to numerous religious traditions and sacred architectures.  I could have spent a week pouring through it and still missed so many exquisite details.  I simply adored it.  A total rush for any student of art history.

Totem's crown glowed at night.

One of Totem doors on right; Think of Ghiberti's doors on the Baptistry in Florence.

Door details on Totem

 

Inside the Totem were numerous peepholes, a confessional, a mountain of relics, all topped by a colored glass skylight.

A scene through one of many peep-holes.

Totem's small mountain of relics. 

Think church crypts, catacombs, reliquaries.

Many of the Totem's sepia images reside in our collective, deep-seated fears.

The last days before opening were a big push for most art crews. Despite the dust storms, and with some changes, the works came together.

Own Way, by a Russian team, Sasha Mironov & Sema Payan.

A Burner relaxes in top of completed Brainchild, by Michael Christian.

It took several days but Medusa Madness came together, by Kevin Clark

Storied Haven was one of the most romantic pieces, by Bree Hylkema & Five Ton Crane. 
Inside cozy rooms someone read stories aloud to Burners lucky enough to get in.

Blunderwood Portable by Cat & Cockroach Collective. Participants jumped on keys to type on the screen. 
You were as likely to see gibberish as to see poetry.

Marco Cochrane's R-Evolution was ready early for her closeup. 
She is the 3rd and final piece in his series of colossal women
at Burning Man. This year she BREATHED, in & out.

Look for Part 2 of my Favorite Moments (I've reached my allowance of images for this post!)

Really BIG ART, It's MONUMENTAL

I had the great (I could say huge, gargantuan, titanic) pleasure of visiting a collective studio on Treasure Island for a sneak peak at a few of the LARGE SCALE works of art underway for this year's Burning Man art extravaganza in the desert of Nevada. These works are conceived by individual artists, but created by an army of workers and volunteers, all lending their own vision and talents to create collaborative works on a GRAND scale (ok, that's just an understatement).  The results are breath-taking (ditto).
click here for more on Burning Man events & art.

Bliss Project's "Truth is Beauty" 2013; image from PlanetBibi.com

Artist Marco Cochrane and his wife Julia Whitelaw showed me around his Bliss Project. Bliss includes 2 (3rd is underway for next year) COLOSSAL sculptures of women--gorgeous, elegant, powerful, and empowering.  Marco understands at a profound level that the world would be a better place with more art in it. He has, in fact, very specific ideas of HOW the world can be better through art, & he and his fabulous wife Julia--general manager and key driver of massive logistics (in addition to her day job as an attorney)--are working them.

Detail of Truth is Beauty segment. See her metal armature "skeleton" through her silver screen "skin."

Pantograph on white tripod. Look carefully in the dotted red circles: see the 2 Pantograph arms; one follows the path carefully taped out on the smaller sculpture segment at center; the other arm determines precisely where the next larger/upscaled weld should be on the metal armature to the left--thus "growing" the scale of the arm segment shown here, in exact proportion.

The process of making the 3 Bliss sculptures is as fascinating as the result is stunning. Marco creates a "small" sculpture of a live model initially. Through repeated castings and using a Pantograph machine (totally cool, developed in 1603!), he GROWS the scale of his sculpture by welding a metal armature, in perfect ratio, from small to GINORMOUS. The armatures look like computer 3-D models come to life, yet are done entirely by HAND, with this machine based on 400+ year old technology. For the final armature, at 55-70 feet tall (!), Marco & team insert over 1000 specially designed LED lights. Finally he covers her in a silver mesh skin, which is hand tied and screwed on by an army of helpers. The detail of her shape is astounding. She is no simple model made large: she has the topography of a living person.

Segment of Truth is Beauty, looking down her spine, into her lacy armature, while she lies down across the studio

I was especially struck by how gorgeous both the uncovered armatures are--so mathematically precise yet fluid--and the SEGMENTS of the final work, even unassembled. The silver-skinned segments are like the massive statues of antiquity, now lying in pieces in the Roman Forum and on the Capitoline Hill. Yet when you look INSIDE, there is an intricate, lacy structure, aglow with colors. Marco's pieces shine with silver light, and radiate glowing color like they are ALIVE--this melding of the ancient and the totally modern is spectacular.

Artist Marco Cochrane with 3rd Bliss sculpture, under development. This lady will GROW during this year to over 70ft.

Marco also works on a "domestic" scale, beautifully suited for a house in need of sculpture. He is happy to make art for life-size--even table top--work.  Something to consider!
click here to learn more about his work or to contact Marco
click here for a really good interview with Marco about his background and inspiration

Bliss Dance, the first Bliss sculpture, now dances in perpetuity on Treasure Island for the public to enjoy--and you should! She is a marvel, day or night.

Thank you Affinity!