Burners blithely ignore the fact that they are about to be attacked by the world’s largest cockroach. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson)
They grow things big in Texas. Just ask a Texan. But I never thought that the folks from the Lone Star State would fess-up to having the world’s largest cockroaches. Apparently they live in Houston. Regional Burners from the area brought a replica of one to Burning Man. Eventually it was sacrificed to the fire gods, burned up. But, hey, that’s what Burners do, right?
Houston was one of 24 locations from around the US and world that brought art to Burning Man 2013 to represent their regions. The Dutch bought a windmill, for example. Utah had a rock arch. Sacramento featured a riverboat and Reno a wedding chapel. You get the point.
The Netherlands brought a windmill to represent their regional group in Holland. (Photo by Tom Lovering.)
Burning Man is big on regionalization. Groups are now located in areas ranging from France to Taiwan and Israel to South Africa, as well as all over the US. Their art this year was organized in groupings around the Man and burned simultaneously on Thursday night. It made quite the bonfire.
A front view of the Texas Cockroach. The media center was set up to teach facts about the cockroach, such as they will be around long after humanity has gone the way of the big lizards.
Utah chose to represent one of its famous rock arches, the type you find in Arches National Park. It also featured petroglyphs, a subject I have written on in my blogs. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)
One thing Utah has a lot of is beautiful rocks. I took this photo at Arches National Park.
Nor could I resist posting this petroglyph I found at Dinosaur National Monument given Burning Man’s 2013 focus on aliens. This guy and his dog are about as alien as you get.
I may have seen this guy walking by our camp. I am surprised Utah didn’t include him on its arch.
Idaho produced this sculpture that they named Marvin. (Photo by Tom Lovering.)
Reno appropriately produced a wedding chapel. My parents got married at a Reno wedding chapel. But did it make me legitimate? Hmm. (Photo by Tom Lovering.)
Sacrament brought the Playa Queen, which represented the Delta King, a Sacramento Riverboat that once carried passengers between Sacramento and San Francisco. Before that it had carried rice. It was brought over from France by the grandparents of a friend of mine, Jean Snuggs.
I found New York’s piece, a representation of the iconic top of the Chrysler Building to be particularly graceful.
There was something fishy about New Orleans.
Peggy and I were particularly interested in Lithuania’s regional work, which featured birds. While we were at Burning Man, Peggy’s sister, brother and cousin were visiting with relatives in the country. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)
Our connection with Lithuania’s art brought us back to watch it burn on Thursday night.
The piece comes tumbling down.
The glowing remains of Washington DC’s pyramid stand behind the embers of the Lithuania’s work. 22 other regional pieces were burning at the same time.
NYC’s art piece burns on the right.
The East Bay Area’s structure burns.
I’ve included this because of what appears to be an eerie face burning at the bottom.
Beth and Tom Lovering, along with Peggy, glow in the firelight from the burn.
NEXT BLOG: The incredible ceremony surrounding the burning of the Man.
Wandering through Time and Place 