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Ever since I heard about Burning Man, I was curious and in wonderment about it. I found a local group and joined. There was a callout for building help, I'm good at that so I offered. Ever since then I've been hooked and have gone from not being an artist, to feeling comfortable to calling myself one. Below is a line up of Art Ive built or co-built.
Burning Man 2014 - Caravansary
Burning Man 2014 - Caravansary
Artist - Tom Woodall (aka Rock)
More Pics Here
The Supreme Ultimate
This colossal Yin-Yang symbol rose from the Playa, solemnly inviting all to slow down, zoom out, and attune to the ineffable magnitude of present reality and its perpetual state of flux. Saturday morning, a spark bloomed into destructive flames, and consumed the monument, ultimately instantiating the completion of a full cycle of ebb and flow.
The structure was built as 4 - 12 x 12 sections. It was as thick as a 2x6 and sheeted with 5/8' plywood. The cloud sections were stenciled on by Rock and I cut them out with a jigsaw. On Playa it was built and erected with a long arm offroad forklift. It was held in place by 4 - 4' ground anchors. It was burned early Saturday morning with minimal fanfare.
Mini Man - Regional Art
The Mini Man was a replica Effigy for the Tri-City Regional, Freezerburn. He was built to be about 8 feet tall. His skin was 1/8" strips ripped from many 2x4s. This process took quite a long time. The strips were applied with staples attached to his skeleton. He even had his own heart. Check out the photos!
Artist - Oz Wilcox
Burning Man 2015 - Carnival or Mirrors
Burning Man 2015 - Carnival or Mirrors
Artist - Matt Melnicki
Love Tester - Honorarium Art
A sculpture of a spinal column with stylized vertebrae will be installed with a five-headed cobra on top. A kiosk at the bottom will allow participants to test their un-enlightenment (lack of meditative state) by holding a biosensor grip which causes chakra-colored lights to darken.
I helped design the structure and then co-built it on Playa. I was the burn lead and it was my first attempt at electrically ignited colored flame effects. Needless to say, the first try didn't work so well, with 3 of the 7 vertebra not lighting correctly. Nevertheless the burn was amazing and went off without a hitch (No Pun Intended)!
Artist - Oz Wilcox
Kitties from Outerspace - Regional Art
A Tri-City Regional Burn theme was Kitties from Outer-space. So, naturally I designed and built a 14' rocket, with 2 fuel pods for a special kitty (stuffed) to blast off!
Burning Man 2016 - da Vinci’s Workshop
Burning Man 2016 - da Vinci’s Workshop
Artist - Matt Melnicki
Out Late
My good friend Matt is gay and had never told anyone ie. came out. So he dreamed this up. He procrastinated the heck out of the art and ran out of time to build it. He called one day and told me...
1. It has to be an owl.
2 It has to be cute.
3. Have a bookcase in it.
4. Im Gay written on wings.
5. Has to be awesome.
So I, one weekend drummed up some ideas and bingo bango, Fremont was born. His wings were doubled so that words in front were not backwards and so they could be lit. The body was a Wine Barrel representing Washington State where we all came from, his head was 14 pieces of wood, each a different size, stacked up to make a round head. He sat on the old generator box we used for Love Tester
Fremont was a small owl facing out into the deep playa (away from the man) with its wings spread open, bearing a highly personal message. Inside its belly was a cabinet with books of "remix poems" Matt had composed, designed, and printed -- using other people's words to (finally) express what he had been unable to say with his own words -- that he was gay.
Burning Man 2017 - Radical Ritual
Burning Man 2017 - Radical Ritual
Artist - Oz WIlcox
Little Dirty Secret
Little Dirty Secret (LDS) - A small tiny elementary school desk was atop a deck, much like an alter, and had a wall, much like a Golden Plate, and a beehive at the top. These symbols come from a religion I grew up around (Mormon), which is actually really full of dirty secrets, and Radical Rituals; think Polygamy, Drinking all your Beer, etc. It doesn't represent any of those, it is just similar because after the realization, the name was LDS, Little Dirty Secret. From afar it had big LED lit letters that said LDS, from afar it looked like a large phallic symbol flashing LDS, up closer it was a gold block, and a beehive up top, which also is a giant boob. The desk was in back of the block, the block had instructions on it, and also the full words of Little Dirty Secret giving the meaning of the LDS on front. It was meant to have one person at a time, because most people wont reveal their LDS to anyone at all. It was ALL Anonymous and names or symbols will never be used when printing a book of them.
Artist - Mike Eros
Margareta Appalachia - Honorarium Art
I was the Burn Lead, Fast Liaison and Safety Man for this project.
"Margareta Appalachia" was a 22-foot tall wooden sculpture of a woman in Korean dress, carrying a drum and raising a peace sign up to the sky. Her flowing traditional-style dress will be decorated with shards of West Virginian coal tailings affixed into a repeating ornamental pattern, and she will stand amidst Appalachian hills.
A mine shaft will be built into the train of her dress which allowing participants to access her interior reflection room, in which will be a sound + sculptural installation of a Carboniferous rainforest, rising out from the glittering black coal mine walls.
This piece was inspired by Mikes sister Margaret Eros Eileen Shifflett (1973-2001).
We are planning to theatrically burn the piece (including the coal) at dawn toward the end of the event, at Burning Man 2017, "Radical Ritual", with a special reveal to celebrate reunion and reflect upon peace.
Burning Man 2018 - I, Robot
Burning Man 2018 - I, Robot
Artist - Oz WIlcox
Big Dirty Secret
Big Dirty Secret (BDS) was the second art piece in a series of Dirty Secret Art. 2017 Little Dirty Secret was the first and was a huge sensation.
BDS was 10L x 12W x 10H Box. A door lead inside, a participant would find a rather large desk that accentuates the "Big" in BDS. In the drawers they'll find, dirty mags, whiskey bottles, little black books with mistresses' phones numbers, and other items that the office inhabitant would rather not divulge.
Everyone has a secret. Most everyone has a job. Lots of folks are in mundane offices, laden with Motivation Posters, Calendars, Pics of Family Members and fun office accoutrements. This is where secrets are most often kept. LDS was the kids' art, BDS is the Adults place to share their Dirty Secrets.
Burning Man 2019 - Metamorphoses
Burning Man 2019 - Metamorphoses
Artist - Oz WIlcox
Tiny Dirty Secret
Tiny Dirty Secret (TDS) - was the third art piece in a series of Dirty Secret Art. The 2 previous were Big Dirt Secret and Little Dirty Secret in which each were a huge sensation. They gathered thousands of Dirty Secrets and are always a cool place to sit and chill
TDS was an 9"x9"x 58" pedestal much like a mailbox. It was made from high grade quality hardwoods, and finished with a smooth dust free surface. A tray folded down from the front and reveal a writing surface, Pens, and Dirty Secret Cards. On the top there was be slot to drop in the card. It was small, quaint and beautifully interesting.
Everyone has a secret, this will be the place to write them down and release them.
Burning Man 2022 - Waking DreaM
Burning Man 2022 - Waking DreaM
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