The Burning Man is fast approaching and its bringing it’s huge wacky arsenal with it!
Burning Man, the congregation grounds for the weird, wacky, creative and outright bizarre art forms. Black Rock City is going to witness thousands of people come together from August 28- September 6. This years theme interestingly is “Da Vinci’s Workshop”. The theme has inspired some of the biggest art contributors to put on their wild thinking caps and come up with the most jaw dropping ideas that are going to grace the playa this year.
Burning Man over the years has become more and more known for their famous art installations which are totally unique and stand out like extravagant yet creative structures of mind blowing art. This year is not going to be any different. We look at the 4 biggest contributors this year and their epic brainchilds!
1. The 747 Project
Credits: Big Imagination
Everyone knows the huge ass size of a Boeing 747. Now imagine that in the middle of a desert, hosting some inspirational talks, “emotional baggage drop off points” and just the pure awesomeness of the mammoth plane in the middle of nowhere. Over 2000 volunteers from all over the world are lending a hand for the creation of this project. Founders Ken Feldman and Jonathan Theo had bought a smaller dome version in the form of an installation to the playa in 2015 and Feldman recalled several participants coming up to speak with the crew and share the emotional impact the experience had on them.
The fundraising goal of $50,000 has been met – but this is only for transportation of the front 75 feet of the plane. To bring all 135 feet of this 747 to Black Rock City, the team needs to hit its stretch goal of $100,000. Phew, those are some huge transportation costs. This is going to be one hell of an installation! All aboard!
2. Black Rock’s Lighthouse Service
After a long day of going crazy you’re exhausted, battery is dead and you are totally lost. But don’t worry, the lighthouse is here to guide you home. The process of construction begins in California where raw materials are stacked in a warehouse in huge quantities. The plan is to bring a multitude of wooden towers, “a cluster of lighthouses jutting out from the ground like a growth of crystals,” connected together in the middle of the playa. This same gang had successfully installed a 30 foot lighthouse experiment at AfrikaBurn last month and they’re building a 60 foot one for Burning Man! Holy shit! Coiling patterns made from scrap shingles and molding will wrap around the lighthouses’ lumber exterior and a steel spiral staircase is centered inside to guide your climb to the top.
3. Catacomb of Veils
Credits: Dan Sullivan
Sounds a bit creepy doesn’t it? At 220 feet across and covering 17,000 square feet of playa area, Catacomb of Veils will be the largest art piece at Burning Man 2016. Also, the people on the teams working on the fire team at Burning Man have said that this is going to be the single largest thing that they’re ever going to burn in the history of the festival. And, hold on for this one, it’s apparently going to take half a MILLION pounds of fuel to burn this one! San Francisco-based architect and creator Dan Sullivan has created the structure to go “downward and inward” in the hopes that participants will have an emotionally parallel experience. The physical setup is “born from the idea that the act of descending downward into something is not a common experience on the playa. It brings about a more introspective and internalized kind of journey.”
Watching this beautifully large monument is sure to invoke tears for all the people who are going to do all the painstaking hard work to put it up. But, as is Burning Man’s tradition, it’s not about the structure; it’s the feeling. This one is going to be a sure shot winner!
4. The Space Whale
Credits: Matt Schultz
We’ve saved the best for last! Built form over 35,000 pounds of steel Matthew Schultz and The Pier Group are bringing the Space Whale to the playa. This would probably be a first for the playa to see some marine life grace its arid desert grounds. 1400 steel balls are being made on site at The Generator in Sparks, Nevada, with over one mile of welds. Featuring 200,000 individual, hand-cut pieces of glass, topping off at 50 feet tall and weighing over 50,000 pounds, the juxtaposition of the arid desert with this massive, oceanic artwork will be striking. One can’t even begin to imagine what the finished product is going to look like.
The structure is made using reinforced steel and glass which is capable of fighting back the harsh winds of the desert. In addition to the visual splendor, the whales will sing whale songs behind physics lectures from the likes of Einstein, Feynman and Hawking. WOW!
Let’s just hope all of these insanely amazing artists get the best of their art done before the Burning Man starts!