mymodernmet.com: With Labor Day now past, another Burning Man has concluded. Black Rock City, the temporary site of the annual event in the northwest Nevada desert, was host to 70,000 participants from August 25 to September 2. Burning Man has a new theme every year, and for 2019 it was Metamorphoses—an idea intended as a “celebration of change and an exploration of uncertainty” and an “embrace of the elusive now.” To express the concept, there was an amazing collection of sculptures and, of course, festival fashion.
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Straight off the bat let me say this: I have never heard of Burning Man. Naturally, I was interested. Though the article really doesn't tell the reader what the festival called Burning Man is, it wasn't hard to google the festival and find their webpage. The festival itself is an interesting concept and I am glad it exists. This year's theme was 'Metamorphoses' which seems to be the theme for every artistic festival this year. That being said, it was interesting to scroll though the photos and discover what different artists interpretations were of the theme in the desert. The giant 4-story human head that was a 18 room maze sounded especially intriguing. The photos of the fashion was also interesting to see. It reminded me of Max Mad movies, where the clothing is apocalyptic and creative. The backdrop of the desert also reinforced that idea. I also scrolled through pictures of Burning Man online and found lots of photos of what looks like a trailer park in the middle of the desert. I guess that the participants and gatherers don't really want to travel out of the desert for the festival, which is interesting because the desert in August is, well hot.
Interesting read about interesting people.
I remember writing on a burning man article last year that was talking about some of the problems that they faced with over-selling tickets and having a hazardous venue which multiple participants were getting injured at the event as it was occurring and critiquing them fairly heavily for it. There are some serious issues to look at with the safety of participants but getting to see some pictures from the events (or shortly after it ended) I can more clearly see the value in the event itself. There were a lot of elements of the event that made it very visually striking. I thought the statues were really beautiful, but what I was really moved by was the outfits/costumes that people choose to wear. It seems that the level of fashion that many of the participants brings is cumulative of hours of work and not an insignificant amount of money either. I think being able to see pictures though just a glimpse into the event and not nearly to the full scale of the height of the festival gave me a better understanding of the festival itself. Though I still believe there are some safety issues that can be worked on to make the environment safer for all participants.
I have only known about Burning Man for about two years, I've never been, but I love the creativity and grandiosity as much as any participant. There is something about holding an arts and culture event in the middle of a desert that screams raw beauty—from the sheer size of Burning Man's installations to the plethora of materials used to make them, from the diverse range of people who attend to the effervescent fashion that they don.
My one complaint about Burning Man is their carbon footprint. Transportation of crew, installations, and 70,000 participants from populated areas to the remote location must require a lot of cars, trucks, and other gas-guzzling vehicles. Not to mention the larger-than-life effigy they burn each year that earned Burning Man its name, which is typically over 55 feet tall. Hopefully, the Burning Man committee will continue to evolve and develop new and greener ways to continue this event.
Up until this point, I had never heard of the burning man festival but having seen these incredible photographs it seems that it is an incredibly powerful arts exhibit. What is particularly striking, is the environment in which the festival is showcased. The combination of the desert location and the art seem to offer a dystopian, futuristic world look which goes along with their metamorphoses theme in place this year. The idea of exploration especially in areas that seem uncertain or scary is very relevant today in our political climate as well, proving even further that art is an incredible tool in social change. My favorite piece that I saw through the photos were the women who seems as if she were to be emerging from an egg. It is entirely made of wood, and it seems that the egg has been deconstructed and broken but not entirely. When I saw this piece, it made me think of the struggles of being female even today in 2019 and the progress we have made, but also have yet to make in order to achieve true equality.
This is definitely something I wish I could’ve experienced. I think that lack of connection with the outside world coupled with visionary people creates a pure form of art that is rarely encountered in our everyday lives. I’ve never been to anything like Burning Man, but I have been to a ton of music festivals. Reading more about the festival and looking at all of these incredible photos made me realize that my favorite music festival experiences have been rich with art, innovative technology, and people who are there to truly live in the moment. It must be so freeing to stay in a temporary city where you can wear whatever you want and only focus on the art and the people around you. This year’s theme “Metamorphosis” gave artists a familiar nudge to make art that is already so prevalent in society; the idea of evolving into something greater is an idea that artists have acknowledged for years. To see it expressed on such a vast scale is really really cool. My favorite image from this collection is definitely the woman swinging under the illuminated clouds (which was designed by a woman from my hometown, New Orleans!!) at 3 in the morning.
I’ve always found Burning Man to be a really interesting festival. There’s really nothing else quite like it. Hopefully, someday I will get to experience it myself! It’s amazing to see how artists interpreted the theme of “metamorphoses”. The theme really represents how much the world is growing and changing right now. I’m especially inspired by the sculpture of the woman breaking out of what I assume is an egg. I love how interactive the sculptures are. It must be so fun to climb on them and take pictures. The festival fashion is also super inspiring and cool. Looking through these pictures I couldn’t help but think of the recent Mad Max movie except more colorful and bold. It’s truly incredible to see these giant works of art and to imagine how much work is put in to this festival. We can only hope that there will be more interactive art festivals, such as Burning Man.
The festival image dump articles are always some of my favorite to come across on the Green Page. Every year, the themes, the materials, the concepts, and the progressions amaze me. This year’s theme of Metamorphoses lends itself to some truly stunning and transformative art and ways of expression. The fashion that originated to honor the idea is particularly evoking. I feel as though I am able to see different peoples’ definition of their own personal metamorphoses, which is a fascinating comparison and a very real expression of their inner selves. The way that light and shadow seems to interact with a lot of these pieces adds another dimension to the art and gives them a quality of movement that is rare with static art. I particularly love the swing set with the white orbs. The image feels so pure and dreamy. Additionally, the presence of fire in a lot of these pieces is rather compelling. The changing that occurs in destruction is as equal and powerful as that which occurs in growth, and this is a beautiful way to see that.
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