Black rock Observatory – Photos by Tom Varden.
Architecture – If stars can watch us from above, this year the free spirits of Burning Man festival can look back to the sky at the Black Rock Observatory. “We are a tourist office for the rest of the universe.” Explains David ‘Zoom’ Newhouse, president of the eponymous educational non-profit organization. “Our mission is to inspire science literacy and introduce people to the wonders of the cosmos.”
The astronomical planetarium was designed by Gregg Fleishman, a Los Angeles-based architect, designer, artist and inventor whose work is largely informed by geometry and functionality. Fleischman is also a veteran Burner and has created many mesmerising installations, temples and sculptures in Black Rock City, the temporary metropolis in Nevada’s Black Rock desert that hosts the festival.
The observatory is built with interlocking CNC-cut plywood, steel and canvas. It houses an eight-foot tall Dobsonian reflector telescope, and several other smaller telescopes that participants can use to plunge into the starry nights of Nevada’s Black Rock desert.
Burners can explore the lava channels on the Moon, the Orion Nebula, the rings and moons of Saturn, as well as distant star-birth regions, galaxies with a trillion stars, and supernova remnants. This year there’s also a solar telescope in the afternoon.
“Black Rock City is a lot like space. It seems like a giant sometimes: hard to navigate, it wants to kill you, it’s more than you can take in and understand. When you set out into the open playa, it’s like pushing off into the white abyss. You land on these beautiful outposts where it’s warm and cozy until you set off again into the void.”
American astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan once said that “we are all made of star stuff.” Indeed, all the elements in our bodies come from the Earth. The Earth and Solar System coalesced from the Solar Nebula, the remnant of an exploded star.
“Black Rock City itself is a human observatory. Whether we’re looking inward or outward is debatable when we look at our fellow burners. We look inward at ourselves and ask how can we change for the better and be more responsible to each other. We look at each other for inspiration.”
“The Black Rock Observatory provides views that expand minds, widen perspectives and open consciousness. Viewers will take home memories of distant vistas.”
Burning Man takes place in the temporary metropolis of Black Rock City and can be actually seen from space. After Festival, the Black Rock Observatory will continue its tour and mission to bring Science to Art Festivals and places where it needs champions. “We look forward to stargazing with you all soon!”
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