2002 Art Installations

Perhaps the most mysterious of all nautical legends, the great sea-beast Anas Vulcanus — and the priceless treasure it is said to carry — has drawn countless sailors to their doom throughout the ages.
A true creature of antiquity, Anas Vulcanus was first described by the ancient Greek Polyanatidaes, the world’s first oceanographer poet. In his epic work "The Erniad" Polyanatidaes wrote of a giant sea-bird "adorned wholeover with feathers of fiery gold" that appeared alongside his ship as he was returning to Thrace at Dawn. Fixing him briefly with "bright and unblinking eyes" the great beast vanished beneath the waves as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind three long golden feathers in its roiling wake. Several of Polyanatidaes’ crew immediately leapt from the ship to claim the sinking treasure, but those who reached it found themselves being pulled under by the weight of the priceless plumage. None of the men let go.
Still rumored to exist somewhere beyond the farthest reaches of The Unknown World, the true location of Anas Vulcanus is known only to the bravest and most adventurous of seafarers. For those who attempt this journey and succeed, great riches — and great temptation — await.
URL: www.fluxdesign.com/vulcanus/

A large clamshell surrounded by sequenced el wire waves contains a headless Venus figure and a wig. Participants can don the wig and stand behind the figure to be photographed as Aphrodite herself.

Inside of a blue sea is a burning-finned fish made of hand-gathered sea glass, humanity’s trash that the ocean has beautifully returned to us.

Built on a flatbed trailer, this 35′ giant musical instrument interweaves elements of a Spanish galleon and a mythical aquatic creature, incorporating in its design a neo-gamelan set and a large battery of alternative percussion and playable rigging. Evocative lighting will be provided by two large torches above the stern. Equipped with a concealed sound system, this vessel has been designed to host musicians over the Captain’s cabin, while offering a large space for dancers, fire performers and singers on the main deck. Four ladders up the masts and cross-cables between them make the rigging an inviting field for aerialists and adventurous participants.

The Aural Reef Project is a fully interactive sonic playground. A UFO-shaped room will contain a variety of art objects including sea plants, octopi, jellyfish, Atlantean mannequins, and a captain’s wheel. As participants touch, poke, stroke, rub, spin, bend and caress each item, a signal will be sent to a central Brain which will play musical tones, voices, loops, etc. A video camera will be able to “read” the participants and send information to the brain as well. Depending on the movement and color of the participants, different music will play. As each person touches an object, the music from a different item that someone else is touching might be changed. Perhaps the tempo will increase, or the sound will be swallowed up into nothing. In effect, the entire Reef is a living instrument.

The serenity and awe of a whale encounter off the northern California coast is captured in electro-luminescent wire, animated against the darkness of the playa. This solar-powered animation will illuminate every few minutes and will be seen by those who are patiently waiting or are lucky enough to catch a passing glimpse, similar to a real whale encounter. Creating no waste and consuming no resources in the process of creating active art is a step that we feel needs to be addressed in the Burning Man community and the world at large.

A 20′ long wave constructed of various wood items and recycled lumber will range in height from 2′ to 12′ at the peak and will feature surfboards scattered across its surface.

This project is inspired by the legendary Dead Sea Scrolls, which were found in a cave in the Judean Desert in 1947. They’ve become the focus of many scholarly debates regarding their origin and their significance to Judaism and Christianity. I want to know what the citizens of BRC have to say today. What words and images do they have to convey about our present times and about our community? We have created a stationary platform, an easel if you will. The drawing surface is 12’x4′ with a canvas roll stretched across in the form of one large 80-90′ scroll. Each day the citizens of BRC will be presented with a new section of the scroll to mark on. Hymns, paeans, and benedictions will be provided by a small portable sound system.

Inside of a shady tripod rests a treasure chest full of surprises and drinking water.

Carpal Tunnel is a 12 foot in diameter, 20 feet long rotating tube lined with fluorescent fish. As you walk down a bridge through the center you experience strong vertigo and feel swept up in the spinning school of swimming fish. You may also create your own fluorescent fish from materials provided. At night the tunnel will glow from the inside with black light like a giant test tube/aquarium, and by day the plastic will transmit sunlight so the interior will suggest snorkeling with fish on a reef.

A 30-foot long whale basks in the deep playa, singing whale songs and offering a small chill space in its belly.

A giant octopus, 35’ tall and 60’ wide, will explode through the surface of the playa from the depths of the Deep Sea. Eight welded metal wire frame tentacles will provide innumerable vantage points and opportunities for exploration. Three platforms on the perimeter of the Giant Octopus are each equipped with 6 propane cannons that shoot 10’-20’ high bursts of flame. Midi conversion software allows us to trigger the cannons in a syncopated percussive sequence.

URL: www.madagascarinstitute.com

The cupola is an interactive installation located beneath the man in the upper chamber of the lighthouse. Relevant to the navigation of the city, it is a compass by which to find one’s bearings. It blends together notions of a compass, the constellations, sea monster maps and radar.

The Divine Birth of Imagination is a series of paintings which fit together to form an altar celebrating life and its ever changing forms, working against routine, boredom, confusion, and limits, pushing us to seek the things that have not yet been discovered.

Four mobile carriage-like steel vessels marking the cardinal directions around the Man and containing burning wood will be pushed across the playa while ablaze and will act as performance areas for the fire conclave as well as other groups of performers.

URL: www.playahearth.com

An open metal framework structure of squares, triangles and rectangles is hung with various sizes of hoops, grids, lines, panels and pendulae that are used to denote geographic and stellar landmarks. Its initial orientation is on the center of the Elemental Commons, a graphic re-interpretation of the Periodic table of Elements, on the Floor of the Eye Sea. Its secondary orientation is to magnetic north, using a hand magnetized needle and water dish. Its third orientation is to The Man. In its lower sections clear landscape viewing panels have parts of the horizon outlined on them, with geographic features of the Playa named. A compass rose hangs from overhead, navigational degrees outlined on the hoop, and true compass directions as well as the magnetic poles are identified.

A world of flaming flowers, cacti and trees, surrounded by white sea foam clouds, Fire Island consists of three sections: the Flower Garden, including a floating lily pond and firefall, a weeping willow tree, flaming copper flowers, a shadow light cactus garden and two propane fire cannons; the Fire Fan featuring six flame-throwers which open and close in a midi-controlled sequence, and the Flaming Lotus Senior, a kerosene cannon.
URL: burningart.com/lotus/

This 16′ diameter light sculpture consists of 4 concentric rings of strobe lights. Eighty strobes flash in patterns and rhythms that suggest stars, some sort of cosmological device, a ship’s wheel, a point of (dis)orientation, swarming particles, a biological system, a swirling vortex or light shimmering on water. This work, while highly abstract, makes reference to both the natural and the synthetic. Pointed out to the vast desert, it attracts wanderers from across the playa with its constantly shifting pulses.
URL: www.villareal.net

Fish Tale/Grunion Spawn includes six 6’ tall metal fish tails wiggling in the wind, at least one with human female attributes, placed randomly in an attractive configuration within a 40 foot diameter circle. A small stage camouflaged as a sand dune contains a sound system and lights powered by solar cell and battery. The community will be invited to tell fish stories at scheduled times.

An enormous inflatable bubble will be anchored in the Unknown, where participants may enter it and experience its vast cocooned interior. At dawn each day, weather permitting, the bubble will be released and allowed to travel slowly across the playa like a huge rolling drop of water.

On the back wall of our Café will be a 6’x200′ printed vinyl mural depicting a fantasy world of floating characters traveling from the depths of the sea to the sky to outer space and back to earth, finally landing at Black Rock City.

Dadara’s Fool’s Ark, the Transatlantic Project is a 15-meter-high and long wooden boat built in Amsterdam at the Over-het-IJ-festival and then transported to Nevada to burn in the desert. It’s a mix between the classic sailing ships roaming the oceans in the Golden Age (Flying Dutchmen) and a Dadara fantasy ship. It’s an open structure which invites people to use the boat as a playground. You can climb onto the first deck and we have three rooms which can be used as a bar, exhibition space etc.
I imagined a voyage undertaken in a time long, long ago in a place far away, a journey which for some reason came to a sudden end. And now all those (light) years later the boat is still stranded in what seems to have turned into a desert.

URL: www.dadara.nl/foolsark/

The GaneshaFish sits on a seashell throne with a blacklight mobile aquarium below. He is based on the elephant boy Ganesha in Hindu mythology; we reverently mutated him with a mermaid’s tail to give him the abililty to swim around obstacles.

130 wooden fish mounted on poles and 25 wooden and ceramic migrating birds populate this marsh where participants can sit down at a table to write and draw.

A 14′ long wooden dolphin rides a rebar wave, and is festooned with strips of fabric on which participants have written wishes.

This steel and wood deep water angler fish lures its victims with its illuminated angler.

Located far off in deep playa near the edge of the world at 0 degrees, Grotto Light is a beacon for those far-flung from their home harbors. The red and green-blue constellations of glass, metal, and kinetic mirror fixtures describe the port and starboard sides to help navigators find their way from one side of the Deep Unknown to the other. The Grotto, a domed chamber constructed from the ribs of ships, thatch, and stucco with rocks along the lower base of the dome, is a temporary safe haven and a meditative resting spot for tired mariners. In the center of the Grotto is a small shrine for lost souls, guiding spirits, and those lost at sea. At the zenith of the dome is a blue stained glass and steel rosary window depicting the swirling waters of the deep and the light of the heavens above. The grotto is decorated with miniature ceramics to depict the hidden and secret world of the grotto located far off in uncharted waters.

We will create a collection of large scale 4-foot by 8-foot paper mache masks that resemble the enigmatic MOAI, the huge stone monuments which are found on Easter Island. These will be constructed of recycled paper products and refuse salvaged from the advertising industry as an examination of the transformation of waste. THE HEADS are designed to camouflage the unsightly but necessary porta-potties which are placed out on the open playa, as well as those at greeter’s station, in a way that is both attractive and informative.
URL: dragondebris.com

Hippocampus — half horse, half water serpent — arises, leaping from the calm surface of the playa, summoned for the duration of Burning Man, before plunging once more underwater. She is the Elemental Guardian of the West – the Spirit of Water, sturdy enough at the shoulders for riders to dream they are riding across the shimmering sea, towards the great city of Black Rock on the shore.

Inside an icy structure a stained glass iceberg is enshrined. Sometimes unexpected things force us to confront the cold hard realities of life. This installation explores how we might find warmth and beauty in such events.

A 14′ tall translucent jellyfish will mesmerize people with colorful glowing light. Complex patterns of morphing colors will pulse from the Jivin’ Jelly’s bioelectric nervous system. The Jivin’ Jelly can also be charmed by sound and rhythm, responding with changes in its light emitting organs.

A rock garden contains a lovely pond made of helically stacked glass panes. In its depths one may see koi fish.

La Contessa is a 40′ long, two-masted, fully-rigged mobile Spanish galleon. Built and crewed by the Extra Action Marching Band, it will sail the seas of Black Rock City transporting, entertaining, and indoctrinating all those who board her. On her decks musicians, singers, dancers and aerialists will perform, and in her hold the Soiled Dove, a cabaret run by women, will delight visitors.

The Laser Beacon is part of the Lighthouse supporting the Man. Four laser beams emit from the Lighthouse in the four cardinal directions, marking north, east, south and west. The beams end on towers at the periphery of the city, effectively dividing the city into quadrants. Each beam is on constantly, except when it flashes off one, two, three or four times periodically to identify itself (once for 3:00 or 90 degrees, twice for 6:00 or 180 degrees, three times for 9:00 or 270 degrees, and four times for 12:00 or zero degrees). The beams mark boundaries between zones of the city, link disparate parts together, and lead into the center, illustrating imaginary meridians. They are landmarks in the night sky.

The Last Stand is a place far off, a frame of mind, a zone in the twilight, a refuge, a barrier, an island… a jungle, shelter, and storm f interaction for the visual, audio, and sensory perceptions. A jungle with dozens of trees and sculptures will be the setting for evening lights shows and specialized music concerts.
URL: www.dandasmann.com

The head of Leviathan , a rotating black matte sphere, four feet in diameter, with eyes of blue, green, purple and yellow light, sits atop its barnacled and sand-encrusted body, from which long, spidery tentacles randomly writhe, lift, and extend seeking connection, communication, with other highly-evolved life forms. As an offering, lost treasure arises with it, providing common ground, a place for non-linear communication to commence spontaneously between creatures terran and sub-marine, as well as those undecided. Rising with the beast, four spire-towers of moving, playing light float above the Playa surface, held aloft on the tattered mainsails of woebegone journeys. Similar sails anchor rows of curved benches from which visitors may follow Leviathan’s ever-turning gaze. A central sculpture, rough-hewn of many a storm-tossed night, also arrests the collective imagination and provides an inward focus, a dreamy port for the soul…

You are afloat on a sea of light and sound. You float, you sway, you are lost on the wild sea. Suddenly you see an island, lapped upon by waves- waves of light; waves of sound; the collective brainwaves of a hundred conscious minds. As you interact, your waves become the sound, become the light, and become the eternal sea. Light Wave, an interactive laser sculpture/instrument, is an 8 foot cubical aluminum frame containing 60 low-wattage (class IIIa) lasers, emitting beams. As the beams are broken by different people’s actions, a light/soundscape is created, and the harmonies depend on the participants and how they play them.

This polychromed welded metal kinetic sculpture features an anamometer supporting 12 triangular mirrors which rotate and radiate reflected sunlight in all directions, similar to the beams from a costal lighthouse. Dust in the air will help show the beams of light, as they sweep over the playa like the spokes of a giant wheel. This machine uses only the wind and sun for its power.

The Lily Pond embodies earth, air, and water in its depiction of a vibrant aquatic environment. The pond is made up of almost 300 life size copper lily pads floating at about knee height above the playa. By night, the pads will illuminate the ground beneath them. As people move about in the pond, their motions will cause ripples, undulations, and color shifts in the light cast upon the ground, in effect, simulating the motion of waves on water. Some of the lily pads will also sport hand-blown glass lotus flowers, which will glow and change color as well. Beneath the pads, some dozen or more porcelain koi will lurk, also glowing softly, and upon some of the lily pads wire dragonflies will sit, their fiber-optic wings flickering in the night. Both the koi and dragonflies will be responsive to activity in the pond – too much activity will cause the fish to go dark, or the dragonflies to appear very frenetic.

Linguistic Islands consists of five translucent oval-shaped structures, illuminated from within, and based on the chiton. The body of this small tide pool dweller is low and oval and is covered with slightly convex shells. It is very sensitive to light, often hiding during the day and emerging at night. The outer shells will contain poetry. The islands will be arranged in a small archipelago with enough space between them to walk around each piece. On Thursday a little after sunset, there will be a performance of sound and poetry among the islands.

Imagine you’re looking up from the bottom of a water garden. Giant cattails tower over the entrance. Huge water lilies arch over you. Lily pads float on an imaginary surface of water. Lotus plants hover, their roots curling down to form chandeliers. Yellow fires dance in the buds of the plants and cast shimmering ambient light on the Playa.
At the hour of nine the flowers will chime and the night sky will fill with fire. The plants are a timepiece that will announce the hour with a volley of fireballs ’til 3:00 a.m.
The floating plants with their chandeliers will create a ballroom. Musicians, actors, dancers, and performers are encouraged to participate in Life Below The Surface

An eleven feet high cone-shaped buoy contains an electrolysis vessel which produces a small hourly explosion colored by various additives. Its glow from the distance, flare, and report provide a beacon for those questing for discovery, and a foundation for a particular way of seeking our path through the unknown.

A barnacle behind the Temple of Joy contains a telescope focused on this 75’reclining mermaid. Half an actual figure, she is completed by the mirage effect.

You are wandering on the playa, perhaps alone. The day draws long, the air is heavy with dust, and the wind kicks up. In this dusty ocean, you see a bottle ahead, floating or bouncing in the wind — or if there is no wind, it is lying there beached. You come closer and pick it up to see a message. The message is facing out so you can read it after brushing off some dust. The message questions, puzzles, amuses, seduces and otherwise influences you. There are 48 bottles tethered to the playa, so it is likely you will come across another on your voyage. Each bottle has a different message, and is a friendly voice in the vast emptiness.

This Mermaid will be made of perforated steel, scrap metal, found objects and stand about 17 feet tall while she basks in the warm playa sun. Her hips will contain a secret chamber and her tail a slide. Burning Man participants will enter her from the front and feel the urge to relax in the cool, watery depths of her interior. Had enough of the shade? Then climb up the rope and wood ladder and venture out to the viewing platform discreetly cradled in the small of her back. Take in the sights within the city limits and beyond or take a ride on her slide. At night enjoy the ambiance of the cauldrons burning bright in her chamber or just admire her from afar with her entire body glowing softly with colored lights from within. She is considered the High Priestess in the Tarot; to the alchemist she is the Siren of the Philosophers, crowned and lactating the milk of enlightenment… She will surely lead many astray at the rocky shores of Black Rock City this year.
URL: www.brc-dpw.org/who/metric/mermaid/

Mermaids and Neptunes alike can be photographed inside this gigantic aquarium. Mermaids’ tails, seaweed, seashells, pitchforks and other aquatic props will be provided, but we encourage you to bring your personal props to make your own statement.

An 18’ long, 11’ high flying neon Squid sports 2500 watts of hot glass neon illumination surging through 450‘ of tubing in four colors and three patterns with sequencing and pulsers. At night the Squid will appear to be floating 9’ in the air.

The New World is a collection of three canvas and bamboo structures. They open up like fans onto the surface of the playa. The larges of the three, La Rificolona, was seen at Burning Man last year. The three structures will have distinct interior environments with distinct activities related to their individual theme. Some activity ideas include shadow play, projection, music, all of which will be designed for interactivity. They are ships dedicated to the great explorers of our generation.

This purple octopus features open pipes at the end of each of its arms which can be struck to produce tubular tones. The arms are different lengths and each produces a different tone, so a group of players can create melodies.

A minimum of six oversized clam shells approximately 6′ in diameter lie on the playa with 12 to 15 large pearls scattered nearby. The shells will be natural in appearance, some partially buried in the playa as if a receding tide has recently left them exposed. The pearls will be iridescent, translucent and inscribed with short messages imparting the wisdom of ages. The pearls will be subtly illuminated at night by an internal light source. One two-part shell (top and bottom) will contain a clear pearl which will contain a small rotating effigy of the Burning Man.

A 40′ by 20′ high spinnaker cloth wave undulates and breaks like a real wave, its top lit by el-wire to give 3D visual effects. With a simple pulley system, the participant stands on a surfboard mounted on an anchored inner tube (or movable base)… allowing lifelike surfing movements and sensations. The surfer will be enveloped by surf music and wave sounds.

Beyond the mist and beneath the volcano lies the underworld sea of dreams ome true. Games and whimsy await the well attired. Ride the Abyss- the Spinning Disc, play the Shoot the Moon Inertia Game, save a life at the Shipwreck Booth, lasso a Seahorse, perform on the Aquarium Stage, and have a drink at the Bathoscope Bar.

Like a ship tethered to the largest theme camp at Burning Man, this creation will ferry the wandering souls to the salvation offered by the Center Camp Cafe. Illuminated at night it will beckon with a wild dance of color, providing a doorway from the dark, a safe harbor for the night, a gathering place, rest, entertainment and a good cup of coffee. From the red hot wave-like minarets to the cooler climate of an ocean-blue dome, the colors migrate across the structure like a fractured rainbow. But as with most plans, the tides change things; inevitably certain organic imagery rears its head anchoring the wildness into the ocean’s earth. The saturation of color explains itself best as a feast for the eyes. As one passes into the doorway there will be an arched stainless steel entryway filled with images dredged from the depths of the floating world.

URL: www.snowcrest.net/finleyfryer/

In Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Queequeg, near death, carved an intricate coffin to carry him into the afterlife. His carvings conveyed to this son of a cannibal king all that had true meaning in his life. The idea of religion was presented with such dignity by Melville that eventually the coffin served as a life buoy to Ishmael, ghost author of Moby Dick. This interpretation of Melville’s coffin for Queequeg celebrates the diversity of deliverance, via nine stylized fish/angels, one of which forms an organ bench. The other eight spring forth from a functional church organ. Overhead is a sail and on the sides are tall wooden poles, representing both the curves of a ship and the ribs of The Whale. From the prow of the ship springs a replica of Moby Dick. Participants are welcome to play the organ.

A small unoccupied raft, surrounded by sharks, floats on the playa. There is a notebook on the raft which contains an entry by its former occupant. Participants can add their own entry.

River Willow Shadow Spiders are created from bent river willow branches with heads of river willow root. The seven spiders are creatures of the floating world of the river, representing the seven continents of the world. Their cast shadows are each unique and different, as the world is diverse.

Natural materials of the water/river landscape of the interior mountains of California are represented in this sculpture, a large shell made of bent willow roots and branches. It holds a globe of the world made of forest floor lichens of soft greens to browns hich depict the oceans and large continents. Lime lichens appear in the many trouble spots around the world. This healing pearl in a wise old shell, a gift to the world and to Burning Man, finds a haven in the Temple of Joy.

A 40′ diameter compass with a kiosk in its center contains information needed to locate satellite fly-bys and flares, as well as planets and other visible astronomical entities. The kiosk also contains a sundial on one side and a moondial on the other.

A gigantic Aeolian harp — 170′ by 35′ — made of piano wire strung between 19′ tall towers utilizes playa winds to produce haunting sounds, varied in pitch and volume by wind speed.

The Ship to Ship project is about creating the experience of sending a message to another planet. This is an experience in three parts, creating, approving, and sending.
We will have recording booths at several key locations. The basic message will be a standard media format file captured by any PC audio recorder or web cam package. Messages will be limited to 30 seconds or less. Remote web access could also upload messages. It will be interesting to see what people say to the stars…
The beam is the most impressive part of the project. A 7000-watt xenon short-arc bulb will be modulated to produce peaks of a billion candlepower. The beam modulation will be obvious, a simple mapping of a person’s voice directly to the brightness of the beam. The beam projector will be mounted on a dual axis platform that can accurately direct the light toward chosen stars. The projector will cycle through the starside queue, picking locations that are far enough above the horizon to be illuminated safely. It will rotate through the possible targets, selecting different messages during the night as stars rise and fall. The three stages of sending a message into space will create a sequence of feelings about being creative, about daring to broadcast something personal and unique to the greater world. Some people will be deeply touched and changed by this experience. Some will think about this world being our single lifeboat in the great dark sea. Others will wonder if anyone might hear the messages and respond.

URL: www.quantalink.com/ShipToShip2.htm

Siren’s song is an 8′ high Aeolian organ made from plastic soda bottles and PVC. The random melodies produced by the wind will float over the playa, luring Burners from the floating world.

From across the playa, sweet whisperings and delicious melodies call out to participants, drawing them inexplicably towards the beyond. Drawing closer they see, in stark contrast to the harsh and acrid playa, lush, Rubenesque sirens whose clean white exteriors and elegant lines hearken visions of Renaissance goddesses. Lounging languidly, the reclining sirens reach six feet in height, and stretch out 12-15 feet lengthwise. One crawls, one reclines, and one sits with legs invitingly spread. Honeyed melodies mix succulent song with a capella arias, impossible promises, and sexual murmurs. Edgy spoken word is sprinkled throughout to lend a biting twist.

This 3D zoetrope is a 16′ turntable with plaster cast swimmers mounted in sequential movement around the perimeter of the disc. When people start the turntable rotating, a strobe light flashes in sequence with the advancement of each piece, so that the figures appear to be swimming.

Fiberglass dolphins appear to be jumping in and out of the playa surface, to remind us that we are not the only life form with beauty and brains on this floating planet.

The Spielzeug Treasure Chest is a pirate’s chest filled with toys and goodies for those who venture out into the Unknown. Voyagers will be rewarded with a gift from the chest, and encouraged to leave something behind for the next explorer to find. Next to the treasure chest will be a ten-foot-tall palm tree that dimly lights up at night to guide the curious.

Constructed of tubular carpet tubes and a paper mache head, Surfing Man will be mounted on a sailboard. At night he will surf the playa, brilliantly lit for all denizens of the deep to see. He will burn in a fiery wipeout.
URL: www.tshrew.net/mcg/hearthome.html

On a tiny island in the middle of our bay, you’ll find a cove — an estuary where the river meets the ocean. This is the fragrant cradle of life in the bay, where fish return to breed and birds return to nest. The swamp belches gas from time to time, and when the gas ignites it burns in beautiful patterns as it rises into the sky. The fire has attracted a family of alligators, who invite you to join them as they circle at the edge of the swamp to watch the spectacle.
URL: www.firegrid.com

The Temple of Joy will be an approximately 30′ x 30′ structure, the topmost spire of which will reach 100′ into the Black Rock sky. As planned now, it will have a second floor viewing platform approximately 20′ off the ground approachable by one of two wooden staircases. The temple will offer several altars, an ascending series of roofs, and hanging from the center will be a magnificent 20′ long Pendant of Insight made of colored glass and wood — viewable from the raised platform.
The Temple will be built almost entirely of recycled wood and materials and covered with elegantly carved panels. Over the winter, 4000 volunteers from across the country took on the task of carving a five foot square piece of Russian birch plywood according to one of David Best’s designs. Though we try to pre-assemble as much as possible before arriving in the desert, it will require nearly two weeks on the playa to complete construction.
Like last year’s Mausoleum, known as the Temple of Tears, the Temple of Joy will be a place to commune with the passage of spirit. It will also be an embarkation place for voyages to the Great Unknown. Bells and mirrors will abound in the Temple of Joy, and we invite visitors to take time here to reflect upon the gifts we have received from those we love, both living and dead, and to consider how these gifts have changed our lives. Pilgrims to the temple may bring tributes to the givers of these gifts, and they may inscribe messages that memorialize this passage of gifts upon its many-storied walls.

Abandoned by the sea, freed from its timeless imprisonment to ancient gods, transformed by the hard and fiery desert, The Thermokraken awaits. Standing 23 feet tall it looms above the flat plane of cracked alkaline. Shorn of ancient obligations and transformed from fluid to arid life the Kraken erupts in fiery defiance. Once delicate, now hard. Once sustained by water: yea, created in water, now sustained by fire: exultant in fire. The Kraken sings its staccato song in pounding fire rhythms, spitting hallucinogenic fire across its lonely lifeless landscape. Once many: now three life sustaining, sun drinking crystal pods growing from its trilateral trunk cackle in luminescent multicolored harmony. The Kraken’s rhythm builds and builds, layering its pyrotechnic song higher and higher ’til its screaming heart erupts in a vertical orgasm of flaming fury, howling its defiance to long-dead gods and exulting in freedom and transformation.
URL: www.therm.biz

The Transoceanic Aphrodite rises ten feet from the desert sea-floor flanked by two giant jellyfish that draw the sleeping crescent Moon from the sky. Little stars upon the Moon sing in celebration of the fusion of the cosmic sea with the desert ocean. Sculpted in a sensual, classical style, she is a celebration of the alluring women of Burning Man, and a tribute to the pioneering spirit of the Playan explorers, whose vision is akin to the pioneering visions of all explorers, both inner and outer. She beckons the adventurers of Burning Man to explore the unknown, and promises a bounty of beauty and wonder, sensual rapture, and inspiration for the voyage onward.

The Trawler will catch random art floating about in the Burning Man world, much like a fish trawler catches debris floating in the sea. A mobile of giant fish hooks, 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide, constructed of sturdy metal pipes and chains, the mobile will support up to 16 pieces of art. The Trawler is a doubly interactive toy for the playa allowing anyone to play with the trawler and tug on the pieces of art and have the art wiggle and float in front of them. Also, we invite artists to come and contribute their own art and then rebalance the mobile!
URL: deepstupid.com/2002

Three small, shallow round metal trays filled with water will contain legible lines of text about blame. Viewers can submit new text, inspiring thought about our responsibilities and our willingness to accept or deny blame. The project demonstrates one of the many undercurrents beneath the floating world.

The video buoys will consist of a TV, video play-back device and power supply in a mobile pedestal-base. The buoys will be a bout 4-foot-high and interactive as they will react to the proximity of the traveler. They will play a soft groaner loop and be lit with a blue light; as travelers approach the sound and lighting will change. A video loop will be playing on a small monitor mounted in the buoy.

“Hast thou seen the White Whale? In your dreams, in great books, shown from a glowing lantern of pictures? In an old tale long and often told, to be sure, but elsewhere and outside? Hast thou seen the White Whale, leeward perhaps? Coming toward the City, across a plain as great as the whale is white, seen it through the white spray, not bowing to the dry wind?”

We are caught in the whirlpool of life. We separate as we move out from the source, yet attached, we spiral throughout life only to be pulled back to the core. The rising vortex on the playa invites us to take a seat among the group and bear witness to the gravitational pull that keeps us together. The rising and setting sun will fill the whirlpool and connect its inhabitants with the life giving energy no longer available from the playa waters of the distant past.

A large picture frame decorated with objects from the sea provides a window onto the playa, the man and the art installations behind it as well as a photo backdrop for playa portraits. On the bottom portion of the window is a cut-out photograph of ocean waves, creating the illusion of the playa floating on the sea.

Three jellyfish domes hang from slightly curved metal posts secured into the playa.The domes contain speakers and are outlined in el wire. In the ground are blue LED lights in a grid pattern creating our sea. We are a little jelly oasis that travelers get sucked into. We host performances by P.A.N., puppet shows and other strange happenings by people looking for a small and strange venue. We provide shade during the day and strangeness during the night. We also have a jelly mobile that we use to transport zooplankton to jellyworld.

Discover omnidirectional underwater flight at the tetrahedral pyramid, Ze Arc of Hawaii, a virtual marine mammal aquarium in spatialized audio and stage-mounted low-frequency ambient water vibrator array. Please come in your black light best to “Ze Cirque of Ze Luminous” at Ze Arc Sunday night after the Burn at midnight for eruptions hosted by Pyrosutra and friends. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the Burn join us early mornings and late afternoons at Ze Arc to create a playa earth sculpture of the Pacific Ocean’s “ring of fire.” You and a friend can create one of 400+ volcanoes and craters of the Pacific Rim. We will create a scaled representation of the ring, volcanoes and craters 8o feet in diameter to encircle and enshrine the pyramid Ze Arc as the volcanic fire-force vortex of Hawaii rising through the waters of the Pacific.