burning man — the temporary metropolis erected annually in nevada’s black rock desert — officially comes to an end today, september 5th, with the exodus of 70,000 ‘burners’ and a fiery finish. guided by the ten principles — first documented by co-founder larry harvey in 2004 — participants build the city, experience the constructed community and take part in the making of mind-bending artworks across the desert landscape. these creative installations have become an important aspect of burning man culture, with mutant vehicles, art cars, and the annually-built temple forming venues and visionary works for burners to experience and enjoy.

burning man art installations
‘the temple’ by david best | photo by leah feldman / @petdrleah
(main image) catacomb of veils by dan sullivan / image © michael holden, @michael.holden.photographer

 

 

this year’s art theme ‘da vinci’s workshop’ draws from the historic convergence of art, innovation and enlightened patronage that erupted in europe during the italian renaissance. featured projects endeavored to recreate this fusion of art, science and technology, making black rock city ‘the epicenter of a new renaissance’. as burning man officially comes to a close, we take a look at some of the most mind-bending installations and architectural artworks to land on the playa this year. 

burning man art installations
‘the temple’ by david best 
photo by randy haron / @2ndfloorguy

burning man art installations
‘the black rock lighthouse service’ by jonny and max poynton
photo by david bechtel / @davidjohn84

burning man art installations
the ‘747 project’ touches down in black rock city
see more about the installation on designboom here

burning man art installations
one of the ‘art cars’ at burning man 
photo by bjarke ingels / @bjarkeingels

burning man art installations
‘HYBYCOZO‘ sculpture by yelena filipchuk & serge beaulieu

burning man art installations
‘awakening’ by ryan elmendorf and nick geurts
photo by david bechtel / @davidjohn84

burning man art installations
‘grove’ by saba ghole and shilo shiv suleman
photo by leah feldman / @petdrleah

burning man art installations
‘magic’ by laura kimpton and jeff schomberg
photo by anthony ngu / @angulife

burning man art installations
‘medusa madness’ by reared in steel
photo by mélodie monrose / @melodiemonrose

nina azzarello I designboom
sep 06, 2016

  • At what point did Burning Man shift from ‘indie spiritual celebration’ to ‘marketing opportunity and celebration of entitlement via conspicuous consumption’?

    Epicurus_The_Sage says:
    Sep 07, 2016

  • comment to above post by epicurus: When GREED took over

    monte cazazza says:
    Sep 11, 2016

  • I call it The Polluting man. Been there Twice and now I know for sure: NEVER AGAIN! One of those things which do not add anything of value to this world.

    Giovanni says:
    Sep 13, 2016

  • What the criteria regarding materials used, ignition technology and clearing up without harming the natural environment?

    Sumita Sinha says:
    Sep 14, 2016

have something to add? share your thoughts in our comments section below.

comments policy
LOG IN
designboom's comment policy guidelines
generally speaking, if we publish something, it's because we're genuinely interested in the subject. we hope you'll share this interest and if you know even more about it, please share! our goal in the discussion threads is to have good conversation and we prefer constructive opinions. we and our readers have fun with entertaining ones. designboom welcomes alerts about typos, incorrect names, and the like.
the correction is at the discretion of the post editor and may not happen immediately.

what if you disagree with what we or another commenter has to say?
let's hear it! but please understand that offensive, inappropriate, or just plain annoying comments may be deleted or shortened.

- please do not make racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments.
- please don't personally insult the writers or your fellow commenters.
- please avoid using offensive words, replacing a few letters with asterisks is not a valid workaround.
- please don't include your website or e-mail address in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion.
- please respect jury verdicts and do not discuss offensively on the competition results
(there is only one fist prize, and designboom usually asks renown professionals to help us to promote talent.
in addition to the awarded designs, we do feel that almost all deserve our attention, that is why we publish
the best 100-200 entries too.)

a link is allowed in comments as long as they add value in the form of information, images, humor, etc. (links to the front page of your personal blog or website are not okay). unwelcome links (to commercial products or services of others, offensive material etc. ) will be redacted. and, ... yes, spam gets banned. no, we do not post fake comments.

forgot password

 (21 articles)

PRODUCT LIBRARY

a diverse digital database that acts as a valuable guide in gaining insight and information about a product directly from the manufacturer, and serves as a rich reference point in developing a project or scheme.

art news

james turrell interview on 'the light inside people' james turrell interview on 'the light inside people'
oct 16, 2018

james turrell interview on 'the light inside people'

#art

in this second edition of 'creative strategies' — a series of artist interview documents produced by designboom in collaboration with novelist anne philippi — »

in this second edition of 'creative strategies' — a series of artist interview documents produced by designboom in collaboration with novelist anne philippi — james turrell discusses life in cities, being a quaker, and of course light, the kind that you might 'only know from dreams'.

#art

all art news