Temple of Together by Caroline Gh0sn and team at Burning Man 2024 – Photo via IG, follow @plainjane.
Art & Architecture–Curiouser & Curiouser was the overarching theme of Burning Man 2024. “In those timeless moments of not knowing when we’re entirely consumed by curiosity, we experience our most profound learning, growth, and creativity,” explained the organisers. From these thoughts, the famed festival thrived in Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis that, every year, rises from its ashes in the middle of the Nevada desert. Mesmerising installations, otherworldly shrines and quirky art and architecture projects… Check what we liked the most!
In Wonderland, for tea time!
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Alice in Wonderland inspired many of the installations and architecture. We fell in love with the surreal ‘murdered’ clock by Andrea Greenlees and Andy Tibbetts, a whimsical 22-foot tall, climbable installation topped by an oversized tea cup hosting up to six irreducible tea-party animals. “Time has stopped, and now it will forever be Teatime!” Mushrooms for wannabe caterpillars, psychedelic butterflies and mythical creatures, including a giant horned rabbit, populated the festival.
Mariposa by Christofer Schardt – Photo via IG, follow @szindy.
Inspired by the Down the Rabbit Hole saying, Darrell Ansted and Katie D’Arcangelo invited visitors to a journey into the unknown, igniting curiosity and discovery. A tunnel of steel rings pulsated with LED lights. At its end was a giant polygon-faceted rabbit clad in reflective stainless steel and an interactive dancefloor tuning with dj-sets’ groove.
The Burning Man Pavilion
Burning Man Pavilion by Jen Lewin Studio – Photo via IG, follow @jamenpercy.burn.
The epicentre of Black Rock City was the Burning Man Pavilion, which featured eight gracefully curved, canyon-shaped timber tentacles. Designed by Brooklyn-based artist and engineer Jen Lewin, the installation invited visitors through sweeping stairways and ramps that led to various vantage points. “Rather than fixating on a singular ‘centre,’ participants are encouraged to navigate, meander, and explore each area.”
Temple of Together
Temple of Together by Caroline Ghosn and team – Photo via IG, follow @templeoftogether.
Oakland-based artist Caroline Ghosn teamed up with architect Maisa Sader to build the Temple of Together, a mesmerising light-filled shrine made of repurposed materials fusing Neo-Gothic, Art Deco and Lebanese weaving techniques. “When I was a kid, I used to sit on a Lebanese Khaizaran chair, dreaming about becoming an artist,” explained Ghosn. “Temple of Together is about the light that emerges when we come together with all parts of ourselves and the oneness we share with every other living being.” Two giant praying hands invited visitors into the inclusive shrine, which rose 70 feet above the playa.
I’M FINE
I’M FINE installation by Oleksiy Sai – Courtesy of Ukrainian Witness.
“Despite the war and the hardship, I’M FINE.” Ukrainian artist Oleksiy Sai‘s installation is about resilience. Made up of street signs, fences, and gates, all punctured by bullet holes and damaged by shrapnel, the installation reflects the physical destruction caused by the ongoing war and tributes the resilience of Ukrainians. I’M FINE was presented by the non-profit organisation Ukrainian Witness. The artwork “symbolises the dual realities of normalcy and ongoing conflict experienced by Ukrainians.”
Nova Heaven
Nova Heaven – Photo via IG follow @tribe_of_nova and @novaheaven_org.
Nova Heaven was a heartfelt tribute to the 405 lives lost at another desert festival, Supernova, which was raided by Hamas terrorists on October 7th 2023, in Israel. “The installation/memorial replicates the Supernova’s iconic shade structure, symbolising the very essence of our event: friendship, love, and freedom,” explain producers Omri Sasi and Sarel Batavia, who teamed up with the Supernova festival’s artists, including the designers of the fabric pattern for the original shade structure. “Nova Heaven was a place of remembrance and resilience, featuring 405 angels bearing the names of the victims and the powerful message WE WILL DANCE AGAIN.”
Penumbra
Penumbra by Art Builds – Photo .via IG by @art_builds
San Diego-based collective ArtBuilds created Penumbra, a striking geometric presence with a skeletal form. A wooden monolith under the sun, a shadow-casting lantern under the moon. The tower structure cast dynamic shadows upon the desert floor, creating a poetic dance of light and darkness. Participants could control the height of the light with a wheel, making it an ever-evolving spectacle that beckoned all to engage, climb, sit, and converse.
Return to Sender: Time Capsule
Return to Sender at Burning Man 2024 – Photo by Lani Beadle.
The Return to Sender: Time Capsule project by Lani Beadle invited Burners to write a message to their future self on blank postcards. In ten years, everyone who participated can return to the same spot to open the time capsule together. “It’s a chance to reconnect with the person you were and see how far you’ve come. If you can’t make it back, your postcard will be mailed from the desert, sent on a journey to find you, wherever you may be.”
Sky Gazing
Sky Gazing by Patrick Shearn, Poetic Kinetics Studio – Photo via IG by @janeshamaeva.
Sky Gazing by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics Studio was an aerial canopy of ribbons made of colourful fabric. The mesmerising installation seemed to float with the wind, creating a dancing kaleidoscopic cloud. Underneath, a gentle sound murmured like a rushing river of vibrant colours.
Black Rock Observatory
Black rock Observatory – Photos by Tom Varden.
Black Rock Observatory was Burning Man’s planetarium for dreamers wishing to sneak peek into the universe. “We are a tourist office for the rest of the universe. Our mission is to inspire science literacy and introduce people to the wonders of the cosmos.” Designed by LA-based architect, inventor and ‘burner’ Gregg Fleischmann, the observatory was built with interlocking CNC-cut plywood, steel and canvas. Read more…
Sky Portal X Station II
Sky Portal X Station II by Gregg Fleischmann – Courtesy of Gregg Fleishman.
Art meets maths for the Sky Portal X Station II by Gregg Fleishman. The LA-based architect, artist and inventor built a climbable three-sided pyramid crafted from birch using precision CNC routers. The structure comprises a three-dimensional network of square panels intersecting corner to corner, defining additional planes that create truncated octahedrons, one of the “Archimedean solids”.
Nebula Shroom Grove
Courtesy of Understory Creative.
Understory Creative, a London-based collective of Colombian architects and designers, created the Nebula Shroom Grove, a mushroom forest intertwining with a cloud-like ecosystem. Textures, shadows, and lighting invite attendees to enter a portal to a world where the line between reality and imagination blurs. “Nebula seeks to be a beacon of support for those who have been affected in their mental health by loneliness, transmitting the message that they are not alone and that there will always be a space for them in the community.”
Tree Circle
Photo via IG by @eirarchitecturestudio and @alquem.sonic.enchantment.
We are infinite, the tiniest puzzle piece of a cross-generational narration, believes Eira A. Mooney of Eir Architecture Studio and artist Alquem. The Tree Circle installation “reminds us of those who were here long before our grandparents were born and who will stand tall long beyond the passing of our children”. Seven hollow tree trunks made of bamboo create an intimate square for communal gatherings. Like fractals, each trunk creates a circular space within themselves, and together, a communal area bathed in a soundscape of deep primal frequencies.
I’M FINE installation by Oleksiy Sai – Courtesy of Ukrainian Witness.
Agaric Argileh by Becca Lortscher and Lampe – Photo via IG, follow @bratosiewicz.
Sky Portal X Station II by Gregg Fleischmann – Courtesy of Gregg Fleischmann.
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