This time of year has come! Burning Man, an annual arts festival, started at midnight on Sunday. It's time to bring back the false claim that San Francisco is empty during Burning Man. If you are reading this, you are probably not on the Black Rock Desert's dusty playa. But we looked for the best stuff from Burning Man 2022 that we've seen posted on social media.
THIS YEAR'S BURNING MAN
There's the Burning Man effigy for the year 2022! It is green with yellow and blue accents, and as usual, it has a vague connection to the vague theme of the year, which is "Waking Dreams" this year.
An artists' statement says, "To show sleeping dreams, the ornament (the five spars that go up from the Man's pelvis) was topped with softly glowing rings that showed the phases of the moon." "These discs float above a sea of neon light and move with the moon's tides. They represent the deep waters of the realm of the unconscious."
THE TEMPLE
This year, the Temple would rather be called The Empyrean Temple. It was designed by Laurence Renzo Verbeck, an architect from Colorado. People, the Paiute tribe, and the Burning Man Project are asking again this year that you don't put cremated human remains in the Temple area.
GAIA
Gaia by sculptor Marco Cochrane seems to be one of the most talked-about new pieces of art this year. You may have seen his work in the Bay Area in the form of statues of naked women. Here is a drawing of the full version, and here is a version from the warehouse that is only half done.
AUTUMN SPIRE
Autumn Spire by Eric Coolidge is one of the Burning Man Honoraria installations for 2022. (meaning they got a grant from Burning Man to build it). You can see it in this set of photos from Burning Man 2022, but you have to click through a few to get to this one.
@janeshamaeva
THIS NICE REST AREA FOR CYCLISTS
This same set of Instagram photos from Burning Man shows us a pretty cool place with benches to stop and rest on your bike ride.
@janeshamaeva
SCULPTURES OF DANCING SKELETONS
We don't know who made this work, but these sculptures of dancing skeletons are popular for a good reason.
THE SILVER STATUE
At this year's Burn, the silver statues of couples seem to be the kids' favorite Instagram trap. There are at least two sets, and couples can pose with them and say, "Hey, we're doing the same thing!"
Selena Mattei