Burning Man 2016: DaVinci Meets the Playa

August 28th - Sept 5th

DaVinci met the playa – and yes, Paris Hilton did too. The heiress arrived in the dust along with slightly under 70,000 other people by car, RV, plane, and, in my case, the Burner Express Bus, direct from Reno's McLellan Airport, straight to the Playa.

The Bus Depot

This was the first year I traveled to the event without the bookends of solitude the drive in and out had provided me in previous years. The bus from McLellan was occupied by about 70% "virgins", first timers to the burn. My seatmate had arrived at the airport with a large piece of luggage ill suited for trekking across the alkaline desert. The Burner Express Bus deposited us at the Depot where shuttle buses were supposed to carry us closer to our camps. They had not arrived by the time I decided upon "radical self reliance", a burner virtue, and took off on foot. My seatmate had made contact with her camp not far away – I hate to report this – by text. Cell phones were indeed working. All of us were now available on the playa, where once no communication with the outside world was possible. Paris was busy instagramming as she rolled in the dirt. (That's a traditional ritual of entrance for first timers.) Even my dentist called me out there. The playa is no longer so far away. Unfortunately.

It was a strange year in some ways, but a beautiful year to ride out on the playa. It was very flat and hard with few areas of deep sand to push through. There were no white outs, and very little wind while I was there. I was a little sad about that. I felt more like a tourist and less like an intrepid reporter. There were rumors of camp rivalry, of one camp hijacking another; cut electric lines, glued doors. And there were just so many people. A mass of humanity. The BLM authorized the event to allow 70,000 ticketed people.

In spite of it all, the event still managed to inspire - and did so mostly through the immense and quirky creativity of the artists involved. I rode out and was in my element, biking with big sunglasses, decorated Aussie bush hat, bandanna and boots to see the Man, the Temple and all the weird and lovely art in between that I could find. Here is some of what I saw out there.

The Man, ala DaVinci, with arms and feet spoke-like on a wheel

Looking up at the Man from below

The Man's companion, Guardino Leone, by Kevin Clark

Guardino Leone from the front.

I loved this piece - it was like an art deco mini pyramid. Pics of the inside below.
(artist unknown, please contact us if you can identify!)

Inside the triangle...

A spiral someone made on the floor.

Detailed diva - from outside.

Chronosydra, a reverse hourglass that ran for the week of Burning Man 2016.
By Kate Greenberg and Dust Crusaders.

Another favorite of mine - I wound the ribbon and tried to type but it was pretty dried out.
(artist unknown, please contact us if you can identify!)

Inside the typewriter...

Giant dreamcatcher looms in the midst of the playa.
(artist unknown, please contact us if you can identify!)

And the Moon was out there too!
(artist unknown, please contact us if you can identify!)

A blind house/ship? I think I saw a man reading a newspaper on the balcony.
(artist unknown, please contact us if you can identify!)

Awakening by Ryan Elmendorf and Nick Geurts. You could go inside the head and look out of the eyes. "Using optical lenses in the eyes, the head is a stereoscopic camera obscura that focuses light from the outside," says their project description on the Burning Man website. The lenses projected views from the playa onto hanging canvases inside.

Yours truly in front of another favorite, I'll call it the Key to Secrets.
(artist unknown, please contact us if you can identify!)

How it works and some good advice.

Detail of art.

And finally, the Temple. (Temple Project — by David Best and the Temple Crew)

People come here to say good bye to someone, to grieve, to commemorate. Every inch is covered with meaning.

The center of the Temple.

I got a lift home with another burner, and here's where my year was especially different from previous years - my car was already clean!

You might also like:

• Desert Art Out on the Playa
• Out and About on the Playa: Burning Man 2008
• Burning Man 2010 - Revelers Return to Black Rock City

 

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