www.sfgate.com: Burning Man is over, and Black Rock City is no more. The last embers of Burning Man’s temple burn have gone out, and the city’s inhabitants have vacated the desert through a dust storm and hourslong traffic jam. But even as the desert festival plans to leave no trace in the Nevada desert, it leaves a colorful trail of photos in its wake.
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Now I personally can't say that I know anything about Burning Man, what it's about or the philosphies, just that people spend some time in a desert and they burn somethings by the end. I also couldn't say that I would ever want to go, but seeing these pictures convinces me just a bit. Some of my favorites were regular everyday things that made larger, like the big stroller and my personal favorite of all the sculptures (?), the big banana. Something I'm interested to know is how long the install on some of the pieces took as well as how long the design and build periods were. Some feel very thought out and intricate while others feel more organic and thrown together. I'd also curious of what the cultural significance the outlandish sculptures hold, with some being usable as vehicles and others stationary climbing structures what do these hold to the community? With many festivals there is often quite a lot of trash left behind by the patrons left to be cleaned up by someone else, I can only imagine that Burning man is no different. I wonder though if the creators or designers also strike these structures or leave them in the desert for someone else to worry about.
Very intrigued by the cover photo, it immediately drew my attention. The first picture is of two men on top of this huge rabbit-like sculpture. The rabbit also has antlers and parts of it light up. The next picture is a huge banana, it looks like an inflatable? There are people posing in front of it with banana costumes on which I think is super cute and funny. There is another photo that looks absolutely stunning and unreal. It is a temple, almost like a skeleton of a temple, and the sun is setting behind it so you get this beautiful image of the rays peeking through the cracks of this temple. This picture looks like it was straight out of Game of Thrones. This is then followed by a picture of two people sitting in this ginormous stroller that has got to be at least twenty feet tall. I’d want to take a nice nap in there, especially if there are nice rays of sun keeping me warm. There are so many more insane photos such as blown up planets, and a tiny saloon, and a shipwreck. This is incredible.
The art is stunning and so are the photos. A lot of these play with scale and do it really well-- the banana, the people in the stroller, the planets, the grasshopper, etc. The names of the pieces add to it and provide insight, but also still allow the viewer to interpret the art and "solve" the puzzle of deciphering the meaning. I really like art like that. I feel like by being forced to think about it, I develop a deeper connection.
I looked more into "Sonapse", the one that looks like a small pirate ship that's elevated, and it's actually an instrument. He describes it as an "immersive audiovisual temple". The artist focuses a lot of his work on similar projects, making "musical instrument[s] designed to sit inside of". Unrelated to how cool of a concept that is on its own, it actually ties into tech theater really well. There's lights inside designed to take the audience on a journey. And it's built so the sound reverberates in a palpable way. These ideas of using non-verbal stimuli to tell a story is a huge part in designing theater as well.
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