Burning Man Art

From Daliesque to Mandalesque… Burning Man Art

/ Curt Mekemson / 8 Comments

it isn’t unusual to find artists at work during Burning Man. This Burner was creating a painting at Center Camp.

I want to express my appreciation to WordPress for featuring my Burning Man Mutant Vehicle blog on Freshly Pressed. It is truly an honor. 

Art is often the focus of my Burning Man Blogs. This year I have featured sculpture, mutant vehicles and costumes. Paintings of various types are also common in Black Rock City. They range from mural to mystic. My blog today will take a quick look at Burning Man’s non-sculpture art.

Salvador Dali would have stopped to appreciate this work.

I am heading out to Burning Man as this blog is posted. I am excited… almost as excited as I was when I made my first journey in 2004. Burning Man lists 354 art pieces for 2012. Ninety-three are scheduled to go up in flame. There will be much to blog about. Internet service is limited at Burning Man. I will blog from there if possible. Otherwise check back in a week.Thanks for stopping by.

A vacant fence becomes an excuse for mural art at Burning Man. I like the bright colors and the facial expressions on the fish and sea horses.

Luna, AKA Peggy, checks out a giant BUNNY in this mural. Odds are it is connected with the Billion Bunny March which makes its way through Black Rock City.

Eastern mysticism often makes its way into Burning Man art. Several huge paintings were on the inside wall of a 20 foot high tent. They were lit up by the sun much like a stained glass window in a church.

This painting had the feel of a mandala to it. I felt myself being drawn in.

I’ve already featured the photo montages of Montage Camp but I like their work enough to post two more.

What I like so much about the Montage Camp artists in Black Rock City is their ability to capture the feel of Burning Man.

Many art projects in Black Rock City are interactive. I caught Luna checking out her image in a kaleidoscope.

I found these mirrors at Burning Man created a Picasso-like Cubist self-portrait.

The Whimsical Art of Burning Man

/ Curt Mekemson / 3 Comments

What’s not to like about this lovely face? Burning Man art often comes with a sense of humor attached. See what’s attached to this face below.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of the artists who display their art at Burning Man have a sense of humor. I mean anyone who is willing to brave hundred degree plus weather, unending noise, towering dust storms, minimal bathing and a week of well-used porta potties must have a sense of humor. Right?

I like the word whimsical. It means to be playfully fanciful in an appealing or amusing way. It also means acting in a capricious manner. Both seem to fit Burning Man. Each year I wander around Burning Man with my camera in a totally capricious ramble looking for amusing art. I am never disappointed.

Here’s the body attached to the face above… a suave sphinx.

Art doesn’t get much more whimsical than these sculptures created by Pepe Ozan.

This dog by Pepe Ozan was particularly amusing. My friend Ken Lake, a noted contrarian, immediately climbed on the dog and rode him backward. Imagine trying that at a museum.

I keep coming back to this rabbit in my blogs because he makes me laugh. Isn’t that a OMG expression on his face? There is an annual bunny parade at Burning Man where a thousand or so people put on rabbit costumes and hop around Black Rock City.

Dragons are common at Burning Man… no surprise there. But this guy struck me as more whimsical than ferocious. After dark, his fire-breathing personality takes over, however.

Here’s another sculpture with scary potential that I found humorous. His creator, Diarmaid Harkan, named him Metaluselah but I dubbed him Pitchfork Man.

Certainly a see-through goat with trash in his stomach qualifies as being fanciful. Check out the shadow.

This violin fiddling hare was found in Center Camp, which is always a great place for art. (Photo by Don Green)

This amply endowed Statue of Liberty welcomed visitors to Silicon Village. Apparently her baby default mode was off and she and an ear piece for translating guy speak. Silicon Camp has over 200 members, most of whom come from Silicon Valley.

One day I was wandering around Black Rock City, I found a camp that specialized in photo montages. There must have been a dozen works and each captured a unique slice of Burning Man. Check out this photo carefully. What you see reflects the fun of Burning Man.

And finally, the Peripatetic Bone insisted on being included in this section on whimsical art. He jumped on the nose of my noble steed, Horse with No Name, and declared the horse was a Unicorn. “Art,” he claimed, “is the process of changing the usual into the unique.” I told Bone he looked more Rhino-like that unicorn-like. He said, “Whatever.”

Burning Man Art: A Celebration

/ Curt Mekemson / Leave a comment

Burning Man is about… well almost anything you want it to be. For some it is a deeply spiritual journey, for others it’s a seven-day party. One thing it is definitely: entertaining. I view it as an adult Disneyland filled with art; a modern day happening that challenges both the mind and body.

In this blog I provide a brief sample of art I have photographed during my seven trips to the Black Rock Desert. I am amazed at the variety of art and its quality.

Over the next several months I will feature different aspects of life at Burning Man as the date of this year’s event approaches in late August.

Bird Sculpture

Dragon head and part of its 50 foot body. At night his body and mouth shot fire into the air.

Friendly Pooch

A Daliesque photo collage captures the feel of Burning Man including the looming desert mountains.

One of the more impressive sculptures: two oil tanker trucks welded together.

Oriental temple.

Supplicant

And who could object to the sentiment. My wife Peggy, who is indeed a Mom, forms the centerpiece.

30 foot statue of nude woman.

30 foot statue of nude woman.

The Man. Standing on top of a tall tower, he will be burned at the end of the week.