It started out nice, as it often does. This year our set-up was much the same as last year. The DateTrike with the solar canopy was ready to go from last year. Once again we took the RV, the DateTrike in the trailer, with the plan to also set up a tent and to resurrect last year’s collapsed shade structure. We hit the gate a couple of hours before the midnight bell and were asleep on the playa in the RV by 1:00 AM. We awoke to a beautiful day, and in the morning set up our camp.
It didn’t take long for us to have some fun. We stopped at the White Trash Superstars bar on the Esplanade for drinks and temporary tattoos.
A quick selfie shows us ready for the week with the giant pink inflatable tiger “#Vagra” in the background.
We had a couple of nice days on the playa before the first wind storm. There was much notable art to be discovered. Of course the Man and the Temple are always first rate attractions. For this year’s Animalia theme the Man temple was a bee hive.
My little thumbnail descriptions, the name of the art piece, and artist names comes from the Burning Man 2023 Art Installations guide. Go there for more info and get an idea of just how much art I’m leaving out. A click on the pictures will make them bigger; use browser back button to return to the story.
Monday morning we took the DateTrike out to the trash fence looking for the far out art. On the way we met a couple of nice fellows from Buenos Aires, chatted about the DateTrike and the feasibility of climbing the “BitCube.”
Having pedaled a while, it was time to relax in a living room and watch “Playa TV,” the name of the art piece.
Maybe next time we should take the train… as Black Rock Station makes its appearance again this year.
Here is a map of Burning man showing the city layout, radiating from the Golden Spike where the Man is erected. The diameter of outermost Kraken street is about 2.2 miles across, with the innermost Esplanade about half a mile from the Man.
Our trip to the trash fence culminated at the apex known as Point 3, with pristine Black Rock desert behind a beautiful burner.
The panoramic mode on the camera strangely compresses the lines of the trash fences, looking back toward the city.
Typhoone and Shady chilling in the art piece, “Anostraca,” at Point 3 with Decoy the photographer, whose choice subject is vintage VW busses.
Notable art on the playa this year includes “Jíbaro Soy…” by Puerto Rican artist Mark Rivera.
The iconic Puerta Rican farmer-laborer was inspired by a Raphy Leavitty protest song of the same name.
Over 500 people were involved in creating “1000 Hands,” a giant, beautiful fabric piece symbolizing a world, racked with climate change, on fire.
The figure “Awakening” out of the ground is also a camera obscura. Slipping through an ear, you enter a dark room where the sculpture’s eyes project the playa scene inverted on the back skull wall.
“1000 & 1” are robots frozen in time, by Tyler Fuqua Creations, Eagle Creek Oregon. The wood one has the wrench, the metal one the ax.
The Animalia theme brought some animals to the playa this year.
As we venture out to the Man, the Dust Bunnies on the Date trike meet “Mona,” the pink rabbit by Miao He from Shehong, China.
Here is Ellen communing with “Axolotl Frequency,” made by a couple of artists from Mexico City.
One of my favorites this year was “Burden of The Beast,” by New Orleans artist Walker Babington, all built with materials salvaged from previous natural disasters.
This little creature surveys the outer playa without a mention in any of the art guides, but Animalia it is.
“Spider Trap” ready to catch errant visitors.
The remarkable eyeball, “Nazar” is sight created by Sukant Panigrahy and Sandeep Manyam with the Discovery Collective in Mumbai, India.
The Temple was again a beautiful creation that gave a chance for all of us to spend a moment in remembrance of those not with us any more. The poignancy and love expressed on the temple walls leaves you breathless and without a dry eye.
There was another memorial out on the playa that also elicited tears.
Ukrainian artists erected “The Hedgehog Temple,” a moving memorial to aspiring Ukrainian artists and burners that were lost in the war. The steel anti-tank “hedgehogs” under the piece were from the streets of Kyiv.
Art cars are an important part of the art scene on the playa. Here are a couple of nice ones.
It was a blue moon the playa when we were there, making for fun photos.
The moon above Robert Wickland’s “Hold On.”
The first couple of days on the playa you will often catch the artists completing their installations. Here David Lombrozo from Mexico City, lead artist on the “Cactus of Life,” shows us his piece.
The art at night can be just magical. Here is the “Cactus of Life” sparkling at night.
I really liked these fire art pieces by the Los Angeles art collective Firecup & Victory of the Surreal.
This giant clitoris explores the “Tip of the Iceberg” of poorly understood female anatomy. The artist, Melissa “Syn” Barron, is from Oakland & Big Sur, CA.
You could not miss the glowing “Earth, Moon, and Mars,” visible across the playa at night.
Besides touring the art, there was music to be found on the stages in town. In the heat of the day the Reverbia stage on the Esplanade was a good chill spot.
Here is Ellen giving us one of her original songs at Song Dust Sing on the Reverbia stage. We also found good live music at the Minstrel Cramp where we sat out some bad weather listening to Scott Joplin and Chopin played on the piano. But out favorite place was RootPile, the home of some very good bluegrass in Black Rock City. We had a front row seat so I took the opportunity to make the video below. — Give a little listen!
Thursday afternoon was overcast and we went out looking for fun, but soon weather drove us homeward. We sat for a bit at Burners Without Boarders on the Esplanade looking out onto the playa as winds picked up.
Friday morning broke overcast on the playa. After a brief morning excursion about the playa, we headed back to town. Spatters of rain spurred us homeward and we spent the time watching the storm build and the winds come up again listening to music at the Minstrel Cramp near home. When the rains started in earnest we retreated to our camp.
Dry inside our RV, we watch as burners slog through the mud. The playa surface turns into wet modeling clay that sticks and slips with every step.
After a few hours of heavy rain the sun came out and gave us a playa rainbow. In our camp, the winds had lifted the rainfly on our tent and soaked our sleeping bag so we moved back into the RV for the duration. It rained most of the night but Saturday morning arrived just overcast and muddy.
We spent most of Saturday (normally the day of the Man burn) holed up in camp drying out our gear and playing cards.
By Saturday evening it was possible to follow in the trails made by others and not get excessively muddy. A few folks made the move to leave even though the gate road was officially closed.
We made one last excursion on foot to the neighborhood church Saturday evening. Overnight there was only a brief shower. In the morning we packed up the trailer and watched as more intrepid travelers headed out, despite the gate closure. We joined the exodus around 10:00 AM which was mostly uneventful until within a few hundred yards of the highway when we came to two “rivers of mud.” Crossing was accomplished by plowing through at a modest rate of speed, totally mudding everything that had previously been washed clean by the rain, but we were out. We missed the Man burn, but avoided the inevitable exodus rush once the gates were finally opened on Monday. Will we be back next year … ?
Squash Practice 