Monumental sculptures, some you can climb on, are among the most popular art works at Burning Man.
I am going to be on the road for the next few weeks, so I decided to produce several blogs that might be of interest to my readers but would be easy for me to do: Voila—The Best Of Burning Man series! I’ve now been to Burning Man for ten years starting in 2004 (and will be going again in 2015, assuming I get two tickets and a vehicle pass). Each blog will feature a top ten category such as top ten sculptures, mutant vehicles, etc.
Now, this is important. 1) These are from my perspective. Other people will have different points of view. 2) I never see everything that is available to see at Burning Man. There is simply too much. So it’s quite possible that I have missed some really great things. My apologies. 3) I missed 2011. 4) These photos are not in order of choice. How could I choose? (Grin)
Basically, this series will include a brief introduction and then my top ten choices. There may be captions on my photos, or not. Finally, while Peggy and I have taken the majority of these photos, I have also included photos from Tom Lovering, Beth Lovering, Don Green, and Ken Lake… all members of our ‘tribe,’ and friends.
Series 1: Monumental Sculptures
There is so much great art at Burning Man that selecting 10 would be impossible without some further breakdowns. So I am going to start with Really Big Sculptures. My criteria here is to feature sculptures that are at least 20 feet tall (with one exception). My top ten:
A close up of the art work shown above. I call it Fantasy.
This massive sailing ship was sunk half in the sand.
The classic female nude has always been a favorite subject of artists. This beautiful woman was over 50 feet tall.
Another Burning Man classic by the same artist.
The same sculpture at night. The colors were constantly changing.
This beauty was featured during my earlier years at Burning Man. Her hair was made from chains and fire shot out of her hands.
These two oil tankers welded together represented one of Burning Man’s pro-environmental themes.
This monumental couple was featured at Burning Man in 2014. It would later be burned.
People were invited to rest in the belly of this coyote that was howling at the moon and came with a wire brush tail.
A what’s-it sculpture stood on tip toes.
What this dragon curled around its egg lacked in height, she made up in length. And yes, she was a fire breathing dragon, as we discovered at night.
Another view. NEXT POST: Part 2 of my best of ten series: Smaller sculptures.
Wandering through Time and Place 
Big and marvelous. All ten. And the ten that didn’t make the cut. And the ten runner ups to those… It seems that every one of these is more spectacular than the next.
I like how you put that Bruce. It was really hard to make choices. This is why getting a ticket is such a big deal. –Curt
A stunning selection.
Familiar to you by now, AC, since you have been following me for a while. Having been to Burning Man 10 times, and having worked with and reviewed my photos numerous times, the still amazes me. –Curt
Incredible!
That it is Brigitte. –Curt
Aren’t they incredible!!! You can readily see why burning man is my favorite!!!!
They really are GP. The creativity, time, energy, and money that goes into creating the art speaks to how artists have responded to the event. –Curt
It’s is interesting to me, GP, since I have never figured out why, I am equally fond of disappearing into the wilderness for days or weeks at a time, and participating in events like Burning Man. I always enjoy taking first timers to Burning Man (or virgins as they are called) because the experience literally blows their minds. –Curt
I think you guess why their minds are blown! Mine always is and that is only from the photos!!
WOW, I can’t type today with causing a typo!!
These are incredible, each one more fascinating than the next!
Each day, Peggy and I go out 3-4 hours for the sole purpose of checking out art. At the end of the week, there is still more that we haven’t seen. –Curt
A great art show again. Amazing how people can be so creative together. You look at it and think; there is hope for the world after all.
There is a palpable energy there, Gerard, that you can feel. And the creativity extends though the whole event, as I will show in this series. –Curt
“Fantasy” looks so delicate — like cut paper. I think it’s my favorite, probably because it reminds me of the cut paper designs we used to do in school. Those were at the other end of the scale, but they’re still related to this beauty.
The one I don’t like is the black “what’s it” standing on its toes. It looks altogether too much like a big spider.
I thought of a spider as well, Linda. But it was a tiptoeing spider. 🙂 Fantasy (my name for it) was beautiful. I hadn’t thought of the paper cutting comparison but it is a good one. I think children love that because they can randomly snip away (at lest that was my approach) and come out with something beautiful, like magic… or fantasy. –Curt
That was my first thought too! That Fantasy looks like a paper cut out, and I worried it would blow away in the next dust storm.
These are simply astonishingly good. The photos and the art. I’m new to following you, so it’s a treat to see the photos from previous years. The very last photo is great, and helped me visualize the dragon.
These posts are simply a feast for me. I remember that wonderful boat – I have made several sculpture of boats have submerged, so this resonates with me, but I love them all.
I continue to be amazed at this. I just thought Burning Man was a sort of party/festival capped off by a giant bonfire. I had no idea this kind of elaborate artwork was there. Thanks for sharing.
Loved them all. Ingenious!
Just HOW they outdo themselves, each year, is beyond me.
They work all year at it, D. And some of the creations take two years. –Curt
WOW.
The sailing ship was phenomenal!
It truly was Koji. I visited the warehouse in Reno where it was made a couple of days ago. It is called the Generator and is filled with tools and everything else required to produce art. It is open for all artists and very impressive. I am going to do a blog on it. –Curt
Love the ship — absolutely blows me away. How do the monumental sculptures get there? I can’t even imagine all that goes into putting this even on. So glad you did this series.
Big trucks and in pieces. A whole armada works its way to Burning Man. Some assembly required. (grin) –Curt