This is going to be a very long post! Please keep reading/scrolling because there are lots of photos of the artworks on display! They follow a recap of my time in the desert. There are more than thirty images of various pieces toward the end of this long post!
I went to 2026 Burning Man for "build week", the event, and just one of several days after the event during a time called "strike". It was an adventure that started with an invitation. Octopolis, an honorarium Burning Man project, wanted my Lace Forest to be part of its art installation. I was provided an event ticket, a vehicle pass, and early arrival credentials. On Friday, August 21st, I drove to Springfield, Illinois to join a caravan headed west where we'd meet a larger crew coming from California.
In California, the metal structure was built in sections. In Illinois, there were workshops for volunteer stitchers to help construct some of the fabric skin that would cover the creature. All this was transported to the Black Rock desert in remote Nevada. The landscape is known as a playa, a very dry prehistoric lake bed covered in salty, alkaline silt. "Build week" was the time when a team of welders put the parts together and the "skin" was finished. But first, we had to set up camp!
For me, this meant arranging the inside of my van so that I could sleep inside it with the six, forty-gallon tubs containing The Lace Forest. (The Lace Forest wasn't needed until the creature was fully constructed! That was later in the week!) Setting up my camp also meant setting up my new solar powered generator. Four panels went on the roof. I brought plenty of water, lots of clothes, and had buckets for trash (known as "moop" ... "matter out of place".) Dozens of YouTube TV videos were watched in preparation so that I knew to bring headlights, a single speed beach cruiser bike, a couple bottles of vinegar (to dilute with water and spray on myself and anything else covered in the dust!), goggles, dust masks with extra filters, a plate, utensils, and a cup to which I'd pasted a copy of my driver's license ... because carding people before serving alcohol is important ... even for senior citizens like me! My packing list was long! LOL!
So ... this is what was built, a giant mother octopus! Most of the fabric was white and off-white but the lighting (both interior and exterior) made the structure shift in colors ... just like a real octopus! This photo above was taken at dusk.
This one was obviously taken at night. There were openings in several of the arms so that visitors could crawl up inside. One arm had a plastic slide for a fun, easy way to exit. Solar panels provided the power for the constantly changing colored lights
Twenty-eight of my fifty-four lace strands were installed under the platform on which the mother octopus sat. Attached were illuminated "eggs". Walking through all this suspended lace felt "other worldly" and very much like my original inspiration! Once upon a time, I visited the Monterrey Aquarium and fell madly in love with the kelp forest. Here at Burning Man, the lace truly functioned like the safe haven for octopus eggs, like a "kelp forest"!
Lots of people played inside the octopus. Others climbed the metal structure. Yet, many were fascinated with the "kelp".
I visited the site at least briefly every day. This beautiful young lady was posing for her friend. The couple told me that the lace was their favorite installation and I asked if I could take her picture too! She wasn't the only one using my work for a photo op!
But before the octopus was ready for the public, there was LOTS and LOTS of work to do. Aur Beck's AES trailer was transformed into a sewing station. It got nicknamed "Solar Aur's Sweat Shop". I worked from eight to eleven hours every day during build week. We joked that I was paid at 3:00 PM with a mango flavored popsicle! Sometimes, I had to stitch while wearing googles and fabric over my nose and mouth due to the sand and wind.
Some of the sewing was on ten "gores", shapes that would wrap around a spherical structure. There were ten of them ranging from nineteen feet in length to twenty-four feet. These were attached to the top of the octopus head before the head was picked up by a crane and put onto the body!
This was only one of several crane hard at work on the playa. It took over fifteen minutes to adjust the head correctly! Later, another crane was used to attach the driftwood "eyes" onto the front of the octopus.
All the hard work paid off because the installation did manage to withstand the extreme wind, the several white-out conditions, and even a day when it rained! The photo above was taken after the rain.
The photo above shows just how wind and rain managed to totally infiltrate the interior of the structure. Sand is very much a reality at Burning Man. Even now that I'm back in South Carolina, I am still struggling to remove it from every crack and crevice of my van! LOL!
The wind and rain did tear some of the "skin" but ...
... under the platform, the lace was actually holding up quite well. Because this is a desert, evaporation is quick. Within a couple hours, most of the water was gone.
The situation at camp was worse! It took more than a day for the water to evaporate from under the shade structure. Living at Burning Man isn't for the faint of heart. During my two-and-a-half weeks, I got one shower and two "steam baths". I am grateful for the over-sized disinfection wipes I brought! I used almost every one of them! I am also thankful that my camp provided two meals a day, coolers of ice water and "sweet water" (with added hydration powder), and several other amenities!
I am also happy that I brought a single-speed beach cruiser instead of a more expensive e-bike. The mud created from the playa sand is not like ordinary mud. It is like clay, very sticky! It does not rinse off easily. (I did not attempt riding my bike in the mud like others did! Like whoever rode this thing!) I brought green waders for such an occasion. Each footstep was like exercising! It seemed like at least ten pounds of mud was attached before the weight of it fell off ... which just meant more mud started to stick! At least it didn't last long!
Rain isn't the only weather causing issues at Burning Man! There were at least two days when the wind and sand caused hours of white-out conditions. They didn't stop me. I just had to go slower (or stop altogether until I could see more than five yards in front of me!) Believe it or not, there was another art installation just on the other side of this cathedral piece but it wasn't visible when I visited!
Riding out into the deep playa was easy. The wind was at my back. Riding the other direction meant I walked my bike! Believe it or not ... there were other art installations just beyond this view. Slowly but surely, I went to as many as I could find!
For a while, I sought refuge in one of these pyramid structures. That's my bike in the photo!
There was another aluminum looking sculpture behind this couple ... only it was totally obscured by sand!
I did happen to come to the perimeter fence surrounding Black Rock City, the name of the "place" for Burning Man. It was on the day of the annual 50K race. Believe it or not, I witnessed at least four totally naked men running despite the white-out! Yes, clothing is optional at Burning Man. If it weren't for the unusually cooler temperatures during the event, I'm sure there would have been more people opting to go nude.
At one point, I could see the swirling cyclone of sand moving in my direction and sought shelter in this art installation.
The entire piece was made to appear as an ice fishing hut from Minnesota! The details were amazing and so very, very fun. I felt like I had stepped into the movie Grumpy Old Men.
I will include lots more images of art installation later in this long blog post but it is now time for me to write about the "main event"! The Man!
The foundation structure was amazing. Even Gaudi would have been proud of this architectural masterpiece built by a dedicated crew from lots of wood, both new and salvaged. There was almost always a line to ascend to the upper platform but I stayed on Eastern Daylight time and went very, very early one morning! Getting up at 5:30 to 6:00 at Burning Man has plenty of advantages ... just getting photographs without dozens of people!
There was one staircase going up and another coming down. The view from above was amazing!
Around the base were several artworks. I would have really loved to have saved this collage of photographs mounted Klimt-like into a dress for a masked angel, but ... alas ... the entire structure was scheduled to burn on Saturday night.
Before 9:00 PM, all the "mutant vehicles" and "art cars" surrounded The Man. The competing techno music and neon lights were exhilarating. People danced with friends and strangers. There were fire dancers and aerialist. All of Black Rock City pulsed with positive energy and anticipated excitement until fireworks announced the start of "the burn".
The firework display was awesome. People cheered as The Man's arms went limp and the wooden base was engulfed.
It took more time than I anticipated before the piece collapsed into a raging circle of flames. Honestly, the many videos I watched before coming couldn't capture the event.
I took plenty of pictures of the various "mutant vehicles" that surrounded the crowd. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I hitched a ride on a giant yacht and walked through "a shark".
With hundreds, I danced to the fire display from El Pulpo, one of the most iconic symbols of the entire event. Made from scrap metal (like lots of muffin pans and other household items) on a 1973 Ford F-250 4x4 chassis, this octopus shoots propane-powered flames and has moving tentacles. It always attracts a crowd.
Even while walking around The Man on Burn Night, there was no way to see all the "art cars", smaller vehicles like this duck! I did get to ride on a "flying carpet" car though. Each one was the product of a great imagination and a lot of mechanical know-how! From what I learned, many are stored in warehouses outside Reno ... until next year.
Early the next morning, I returned to the burn site. It was stunning to see the tangle of metal among so much ash. By the way, The Man and The Temple are not the only artworks that go up in flames. On Friday night, a two-part installation called TitanicSend was burned close to midnight. I watched that one too!
So ... mentioning The Temple ... this was a very spiritually charged place. I visited every day during the week. Each day, more and more items were added. There were tokens of love expressing the heart-filled loss of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, and friends. There were calligraphy lists of names ... people killed in wars, in cases of domestic violence, to drugs, to cancer, etc. There were wedding dresses, t-shirts, shoes, and other articles of clothing. Pictures of dead cats, dogs, an iguana, a bald eagle, and other animals. Long letters and short notes were stapled everywhere. There wasn't a way to walk through The Temple without tears. At all times, a Temple Guardian watched those visiting and made sure there were staple guns, magic markers, and paper available. One night, a concert grand piano was on site. Mournful, improvisational music was being played. The only way to hear it, however, was by wearing one of the provided headsets. It made the experience even deeper.
In contrast to the exuberant joy and noisy atmosphere that surrounded The Man, The Temple was burned in total silence. It was a solemn occasion. Tears streamed down the face of a Russian man who I sat with. He'd noticed that I was alone and offered me a place on the small, plastic tarp he brought. We said next to nothing and I only snapped this one picture while we stared at The Temple. Thousands of others were doing the same ... quietly, with respect, and as a community.
After the amazing architecture gave way to the ground, the Temple Guardians who had maintained a safe zone around the structure allowed everyone to walk more closely to the burning flames. The heat radiating from the fire was physically in contrast to the cool night temperature. (Most nights were supposed to hover in the mid-fifties but this year was much colder. I generally wore mittens and socks in my van!)
The Temple burn signaled the end of 2026 Burning Man but the next day began "strike". I worked all day at the giant octopus. The skin was removed and rolled. Other things were packed. The crew was served dinner on location. By the end of the day, all that I could help with was accomplished. Of course, the welders had plenty more to do! It took several more days to take the creature apart, load the pieces on a trailer, and restore the playa to its natural setting.
But now is where I share some of the artwork that most impressed me. My favorite piece was undoubtedly Mangrovito, a metal tree from Mexico City. A twenty-minute sound composition played while the hidden LED lights transformed the piece into various color combinations ... but I didn't know that when I first came across the piece during build week.
I was simply impressed with the high quality of craftsmanship in the individual parts.
I loved how it all came together and was seemingly growing from the desert. It was first rate in the daytime!
Later, I visited at night and sat on the provided benches to listen to the music and watch the tree subtly shift in choreographed shifts from one color wave ...
... to an entirely different mood!
Before arriving, I visited the Burning Man website and was so excited to see Zak Ove's name among the honorarium artists. I've followed his work (especially his fiber art featuring colorful crochet stitched into giant wall-sized circles) for a couple years. His sculpture, Mothership Connection (or called Aikido, The Mothership Connection on the Burning Man website) had already been seen in London, New York, Miami, and Detroit. I was stunned that he was really there in Nevada working with a crew and a crane. Most amazing was the way he acted like any other artist ... flipping open his phone to show my pictures of his latest work ... all sorts of monumental wall pieces made from repurposed motorcycle jackets!
The Mothership Connection had interior lighting that blinked on and off. It was grand!
Everyone loved Paula Arunda's Playa Penquins!
I met a couple of fiber artists wearing ice dyed garments. They had gotten married just the day before! Apparently, lots of people get married at Burning Man. For a city numbering more than 40,000 to 60,000 inhabitants, lots of things happen each year. Occasionally, a woman gives birth. There's a hospital for such an event or for the numerous injuries and illnesses that unfortunately happen. This year, three men actually died. Thankfully, I only saw happy people dressed in all sorts of outrageous costumes and having a great deal of fun!
This tightrope walked was not among the dead despite how badly it scared me to watch him! Now ... I'm just going to include randomly selected photos of other art! There are something like thirty images and, believe it or not, they don't include all of the artwork I saw. More unbelievably, I didn't see everything! Every day on social media, I see pictures from Burning Man of art installations I never saw! So ... just keep scrolling down for some of the ones I did visit! Also unbelievably, almost none of these artworks had signage! Without the app or booklet that came with an entry ticket, there was no way to know the title or artist/art group associated with each piece. People were simply expected to come, see, interact (climb, open drawers, leave comments in provided books, etc ... when appropriate), and enjoy. I really don't know exactly what I saw or who to thank for the experience ... but this was also a "positive". That information didn't matter with the reality of coming face-to-face with the results of creative effort and high-flying imagination. The Burning Man website does, however, list the art installation HERE.
I climbed to the top of this picnic table and took ...
...this selfie ... with my bike on the ground way below!
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