Burning Man: Art on Fire

by Jennifer Raiser, Sidney Erthal (Photographer), Scott London (Photographer), Larry Harvey (Introduction)

Overview

Every August, tens of thousands of participants gather to celebrate artistic expression in Nevada's barren Black Rock Desert. This vastly inhospitable location, called the playa, is the site of Burning Man, where, within a 9-mile fence, artists called Burners create a temporary city devoted to art and participation. Braving extreme elements, over two hundred wildly ambitious works of art are created and intended to delight, provoke, involve, or amaze. In 2013, over 68,000 people attended - the highest number ever allowed on the playa. As Burning Man has created new context, new categories of art have emerged since its inception, including Art to Ride, Collaborative Art, and of course, Art to Burn. Burning Man: Art on Fire is an authorized collection of some of the most stunning examples of Burning Man art. Experience the amazing sculptures, art, stories, and interviews from the world's greatest gathering of artists. Get lost in a rich gallery of images showcasing the best examples of playa art with 170 photos. Interviews with the artists reveal not only their motivation to create art specifically for Burning Man, but they also illuminate the dramatic efforts it took to create their pieces. Featuring the incredible photography of long-time Burning Man photographers, Sidney Erthal and Scott London, an introduction from Burning Man founder Larry Harvey, and a foreword from Will Chase, this stunning gift book allows Burners and enthusiasts alike to have a piece of Burning Man with them all year around.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627883931
Publisher:	Quarto Publishing Group USA
Publication date:	08/17/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	43 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jennifer Raiser is a writer, nonprofit leader, and Burner. Burning Man: Art on Fire (2014/2016/2023, Quarto/Epic Ink,) is a love letter to her happiest place on earth, Black Rock City. Known on playa as CocoCabana, she volunteers with the Black Rock Rangers and Gate, Perimeter, and Exodus departments; she has served as the Treasurer and Board Member of the nonprofit Burning Man Project since its founding. She is the author of In the Spirit of Napa Valley (2015, Assouline) and The Art of Being Bill: Bill Murray and the Many Faces of Awesome (2018, Quarto/Race Point Publishing), and has written extensively for the San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, and numerous other publications. Previously, she founded Raiser Senior Services, managing luxury retirement communities as described in her book Designing Retirement Communities for the Future (1998, John Wiley and Sons). She has gratefully served on thirteen nonprofit boards. She earned both a BA in English Literature and an MBA from Harvard University. A San Francisco native, she lives near the Presidio with a superabundance of pets, books, and costumes.Sidney Erthal has had his camera poised for the past seven Burns which is how Burning Man aficionados carbon-date their experience with the festival. Born and educated in Brazil, he has lived in the San Francisco Bay area for the past decade.Scott London is a longtime photographer of Burning Man, and his photos have appeared in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, GQ, and National Geographic Traveler. He is the former host of NPR's "Insight and Outlook."Larry Harvey is the Founder of Burning Man and Burning Man Project. He currently serves as head of the Burning Man Project's Philosophical Center, conceives the theme of the Burning Man event each year, and determines the design of the Man and its base. He is passionate about books and art, and resides in San Francisco.Will Chase is a writer best known for his role as publisher of Burning Man's online newsletter, Jackrabbit Speaks, and as editor of The Burning Blog. He is also a long-time art curator and arts consultant through his company, Will Chase Arts.Leo Villareal is an artist who works with light and scale. He has created numerous iconic works including Multiverse for the underground walkway of Washington's National Gallery of Art, Hive for New York's Bleecker Street subway station, and The Bay Lights, spanning the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland.Jennifer Raiser is a writer, strategist, business leader, and Burner. She has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, Harvard Business School, and her online magazine, SFWire.com. She serves on the board of the Burning Man Project, volunteers as a Black Rock Ranger, and welcomes participants aboard the Kazbus Mutant Vehicle.Sidney Erthal is acclaimed for his photography, with a special emphasis on spontaneous portraiture. He has spent the last decade engaging with and photographing the people and phenomenon of Burning Man, and he works with the Documentary Team welcoming journalists to Media Mecca.Scott London has been documenting Burning Man for more than a decade. His award-winning images have appeared in books, newspapers, and magazines worldwide, including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, GQ, Elle Decor, Marie Claire, and National Geographic Traveler. In addition to his photography, Scott is a longtime print and radio journalist and was the former host of NPR's "Insight and Outlook."

Editorial Reviews

"Burners wait all year to travel to a remote desert where they create stupefying art and build amazing sculpture - then burn it all down a week later. Fortunately, someone took some pictures!" - Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman)

"Burning Man: Art on Fire provides a fine authorized collection of some of the amazing art work of the Burning Man annual gathering, collecting the sculptures, art installations, and stories from attendee artists and presenting a gallery of some 200 images representing the best of Burning Man creations. From photos to an aerial-view poster, this pairs full-page color photos with discussions of how each piece was created within the Burning Man festival. From silicon rays that use technology and art to the outer limits of self-expression to the creation of Burning Man temples, this is a fantastic art book packed with full-page color images all paired with discussions and packed into an oversized coffee-table creation accessible to art collections and individual fans of Burning Man culture alike." — The Midwest Book Review, California Bookwatch: November 2014

"The desert festival known as Burning Man has evolved far beyond its 1990 origin as a simple party on a San Francisco beach centered on the immolation of a humanoid wooden sculpture. Now taking place on a dry lake bed in Nevada, the event is a giant noncommercial hedonist blowout for thousands of people revolving around a climactic incineration. This volume is an opulent photographic exploration of the artistic side of the celebration ranging from static sculpture to fire-breathing mutant cars. Short prefatory essays define Burning Man's history and ethos and give brief glimpses of the design and construction of the varied pieces on the unbelievably difficult terrain of the desert. The sculptures are as various as the minds of the creators and include free-form blobitecture, steampunk vehicles shooting flame, giant comic-book pirate ships, filigree steel female nudes, 40-ton granite boulders suspended overhead, dragon-shaped aluminum can smelters, vast wood and canvas temples, and a multiplicity of personal expressions designed to enhance the experience of the attendees. VERDICT The lush photography and fine printing will appeal to art and nonart audiences and the breezy text is aimed at inclusion rather than erudition. Whether you like the art pieces is a matter of taste, but this book is a great way to experience a bit of the thrill." - Library Journal

From the Publisher

02/01/2015
The desert festival known as Burning Man has evolved far beyond its 1990 origin as a simple party on a San Francisco beach centered on the immolation of a humanoid wooden sculpture. Now taking place on a dry lake bed in Nevada, the event is a giant noncommercial hedonist blowout for thousands of people revolving around a climactic incineration. This volume is an opulent photographic exploration of the artistic side of the celebration ranging from static sculpture to fire-breathing mutant cars. Short prefatory essays define Burning Man's history and ethos and give brief glimpses of the design and construction of the varied pieces on the unbelievably difficult terrain of the desert. The sculptures are as various as the minds of the creators and include free-form blobitecture, steampunk vehicles shooting flame, giant comic-book pirate ships, filigree steel female nudes, 40-ton granite boulders suspended overhead, dragon-shaped aluminum can smelters, vast wood and canvas temples, and a multiplicity of personal expressions designed to enhance the experience of the attendees. VERDICT The lush photography and fine printing will appeal to art and nonart audiences and the breezy text is aimed at inclusion rather than erudition. Whether you like the art pieces is a matter of taste, but this book is a great way to experience a bit of the thrill.—David McClelland, Andover, NY

Library Journal