1996 Art Installations

All artworks in these listings will be presented by these artists on the open playa in Black Rock City. Honoraria Art H has been awarded a grant by Burning Man Project. Registered Art includes all other projects that have registered for placement on the open playa in BRC. You can learn more about the BRC Art program here.

Buddha Head

by: Elise Fried
year: 1996

The wire Buddha head is created by Elise Fried with the help of her neighbors on the playa. She hopes it becomes a benign and blessing presence for you to see the world through.

City of Dis

by: Pepe Ozan
year: 1996

Tour Satan’s private estate whose somber towers enclose the Ultimate Pit — a hidden and unhealing wound, this chasm is a fountainhead of boundless rage, appalling shame, and unendurable loneliness. But that’s not all! This is real! — not like in the movies. More thrills await. Witness the arrival of a soul in Hell, a tribal opera, and an insect ballet.
URL: www.burningmanopera.com

Forest of Fire and Ice

by: Jim Mason
year: 1996

Wander through a phantom forest of burning trees. Glinting ice, encrusted on the tangled boughs, drips slowly into a cauldron of fire. Loiter here and listen to the eerie strains of cello and djeridoo.

HELCO

by: Installations and performances by Kal Spelletich and Seemen, Christian Ristow, John Law, Maya Hayuk, Serena Irwin, Flynn Mauthe, Kimric Smythe, Robert Burke, Tanya, Nick Spelletich, and many other beloved helpers.
year: 1996

HELCO, a supranational conglomerate, is the official sponsor of this year’s Burning Man festival, and also our theme. Enter the Inferno through the neon Gate of Hell, courtesy of San Francisco’s Seemen. Visit HELCO’s corporate headquarters, a demonic strip mall dominated by The Helco Tower, Starfuck’s, Caca Bell, Joe Camel and Submit. Witness Cerberus, Hell’s voracious three-headed hound, as he consumes your favorite packaged products. See the battle between HELCO and Burning Man – who will win possession of our event?
URL: www.burningman.com/art_of_burningman/helco_gallery.html

MudHenge

by: Lisa Galli
year: 1996

Lisa Galli’s contemporary interpretation of Stonehenge is a ring of graceful sloping monoliths which enclose a mud pit. Worship here and wallow daily.

Ozymandias

year: 1996

"A vast and trunkless leg of stone stands in the desert." Behold Ozymandias, romantic relic of a vanished civilization. The pedestal inscription reads "Look on my works ye mighty and despair!"

Piano Bell

year: 1996

Enter a world of pianos at Steve Heck’s Piano Bell, a two-story structure built entirely of pianos. Steve, a piano mover, has a deep attachment to this instrument and provides you with a place to pluck, beat, and strum the exposed strings of old pianos. Have a drink at the interior bar while you’re at it.

Pyramid of the Camera Obscura

by: Chris de Monterey
year: 1996

Crawl through a mysterious labyrinth. See a panoramic view of our encampment cupped like a spectral pool within its secret chamber. Based on a design first conceived by Leonardo da Vinci. A playa landmark since 1994.

Stupa: The Processing of Hope

by: Paul Windsor
year: 1996

Behold the towering Stupa of Limbo. This graceful and imposing pyramid of books and stone will align on a grand axis with Burning Man.

Tinseltown

by: the LA Cacophony Society
year: 1996

The LA Cacophony Society brings you Hollywood as you’ve never seen it before — a gleeful spectacle of flaming Entertainment Industry icons. See the World’s Largest Celluloid Pyre. See Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, and Mickey Mouse wallowing in Molten Sin! See shrieking starlets, the exploding box office, and the climactic Detonation of the Oscar.
URL: la.cacophony.org

Twenty Foot Man

by: John Henault and Josh Mong
year: 1996

This musical giant plays the various instruments of which he is made.

Water Woman

by: Ray Cirino
year: 1996

Find her at Stonehenge and bathe between her legs.