The first Burning Man in 1986 saw Larry Harvey and his friend Jerry James building and burning an effigy of a man on San Francisco’s Baker Beach. There are multiple explanations for the why. Since then Burning Man has become a global community and a unique creative festival that attracts over 75,000 people to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert every year.
Who would have thought that 30 years later, this utopian anti-establishment movement would eventually become emboldened in an exhibit at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man is an opportunity for museum-lovers to experience the spirit of a festival that I think most are not accustomed to. I found it ironic how mainstream and consumerist this exhibit is especially since it has been highly anticipated. However, I was awed and glad to be given this amazing opportunity to appreciate the creative spirit and ingenuity of the Burning Man movement.
Paper Arch, commissioned specifically for the Renwick is a 15-foot-tall installment made of wood, fabric, paper, and found objects.
As you pass under the Paper Arch, you are greeted by Truth Is Beauty, an 18-foot-tall woman made of mesh wire and bathed in a bright light. This ephemeral woman in the nude is supposed to “de-objectify” women.
On display throughout are elaborate jewellery and costumes worn by Burners, smaller pieces of creativity, and videos and photography taken over the years. I particularly loved the START sign. There is also the interactive installation, Shrumen Lumen, which features three huge psychedelic origami mushrooms that open and close when a visitor steps on a special pad on the floor.
On the second floor of the exhibit, The Temple is gorgeous and ornate featuring intricate walls and altars. Here we are encouraged to take a moment and reflect on loss. There are multiple small wooden plaques on which we are invited to leave our thoughts and memorials, an act meant to heal.
The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.
Pablo Picasso
A lover of mangoes. A woman - smart, without pretense, lefthanded, Afropolitan - navigating this thing called life. An unapologetic believer in social justice and karma. Choosing to radiate positive energy and be true to myself. Here, my musings.
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