The dust has finally settled in the Black Rock Desert, both literally and otherwise. Black Rock City, the largest temporary urban encampment in the world was 45,000 strong this year and for the first time made a full� official effort to go green.� From the unfortunate hanging suicide of a participant to the surprising and subversive early burning of The Man, the festival was even more out of the ordinary this time around.
Crude Awakening was the most talked about art piece related to the Green Man theme. The above images, by Marc Merlins, show the breathtaking view-at-night from on top of the oil platform down on the fire-breathing sculpures below, as well as the sculptural set during the appearance of a strange series of rainbows across the Playa.
However,� critics have suggested that Burning Man 2007 failed to go green, despite the organizers’ best intentions. Though the event has always been indirectly funded by corporate money (indirectly during the Dot Com boom) this year corporations were allowed to directly supply the event with materials and structures, which has also aggrevated some participants.
It is easy, though, to either wax ecstatic or blindly criticize the festival without seeing it in its true shades of grey. At the end of the day, pictures� of Burning Man reveal it to be filled with creative and bold art and art cars alongside serious attempts at environmental sustainability. So long as it remains an ongoing social, cultural and environmental experiment, it will hopefully remain interesting and dynamic, evolving to test new boundaries and� raise new� questions.
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Posted by Urbanist October 12th, 2007 Architecture, Guerilla Action, Urban, Urban Art, Urban Images, Urbanism Comments: 8 |
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Comment from Wendy Withers
Time: October 12, 2007, 10:48 pm
The pictures are marvelous. I’ve always wanted to go to Burning Man. Although, I don’t do drugs or drink, so I’d probably have to find a pretty boring part of the compound to stay in.
Comment from WebUrbanist
Time: October 12, 2007, 11:20 pm
Hah, Wendy, so glad that was the first comment! Actually, though a lot of Burners do use drugs or drink there are a lot of straight-edge ones as well - including groups of conservatives and even Mormons! It is a truly eclectic mix of individuals, and one certainly doesn’t need to party hard to have a great time and enjoy the artwork. You shoul go!
Comment from CaptainPlanet
Time: October 13, 2007, 11:03 pm
I wonder if the Crude Awakening exhibit might have had anything to do with the movie by the same name… http://www.oilcrashmovie.com
…which is also on youtube.
Comment from Kevin
Time: October 14, 2007, 1:22 pm
Agreed with WebUrbanist. The first year I went, I was totally straight edge, for a multitude of reasons. But I feel like going completely sober that first year enhanced the impact of the event. I took a very spiritual sentiment from BM’01, and when I went back the next two years, I felt firmly grounded in the values of the experience, even as I was drinking the gifted booze handed to me on a school bus cum house music bar/nightclub.
Comment from Flash
Time: October 20, 2007, 2:26 pm
I love the pics I have Pretty much the same ones, This was my 1st burn and i had one hell of a time, Ive been home sick sense i left :(
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