Burning Man 2011 Rites of Passage: New Art on the Playa

Burning Man 2011: Over 50,000 Revellers At The Temple of Transition.

Burning Man 2011: Rites of Passage

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There is a premiere at the Burning Man 2011, the annual event held in the Black Rock Desert (Nevada): the CORE project ( Circle of Regional Effigies).

The effigies are arranged around the base of the Man in a circle. This giant ring of effigies celebrates the Burning Man Regionals and their support to the Burning Man ethos.

The Burning Man Regional organizations were started in 1998 and their importance grew bigger every year, it could say this year they reached a peak with the CORE.

There are 23 effigies at the Burning Man 2011 plus “Fire Birds of the Fifth Direction” by Charlie Smith (four steel sculptures placed in the corners of the compass).

Lucky Lady Lucy (Las Vegas) known as 777, is the alien girl who inspired Larry Harvey to build the Man in 1986.

Alchemist Tower (Atlanta), artwork of  four tetrahedrons (earth, water, air, fire), seems to change its shape when is view from different angles.

Ouroboros (Austin), the Burning Flipside contribution, is an ancient symbol,  a serpent/dragon eating its own tail meaning self-reflexivity or cyclicality, constantly re-creation, the eternal return.

EffiTree (Victoria, British Columbia) sculpture that is half human, half tree spirit of the rainforest (one masculine, one feminine) was inspired by faces carved into the sides of the cedar trees at the Victoria’s regional event, Otherworld.

H.A.T.U. (Utah), the Hive Alembic of Transformative Universalities, is a Hive seated on a lotus flower gazebo with a phoenix rising out of a pineapple oblongata, another metaphor for Burning Man 2011 theme.

The Lighthouse (Great Lakes) is a metaphor for the “Rites of Passage” also a symbol for the Great Lakes region of Canada and the US.

Rite of Mountain Passage (Alberta) is a huge Lotus flower, nestled in a panorama of majestic Rocky Mountains, kinetic sculpture with moving Lotus petals, cycles of growth and bloom, travels and returns, beginnings and endings.

ThunderBridge (Portland) is an arched climbable structure reminiscent of the St. John’s suspension bridge flanked by two thunderbirds guarding the journey.

Mama Nola (NOLA), fetish doll for the entire playa, is a Voodoo doll housing a temple, an art gallery and an interpretive museum of New Orleans/Mississippi River culture.

Valley of Heart’s Delight (South Bay) stands for the flourishing valley replaced by Silicon Valley. The effigy is made of wooden “laptops”, and invited the community to embellish each one with a “screensaver”, signifying their own Rite of Passage.

Burning Sheaf (Saskatchewan) is  made of wheat stalks and symbolize regional rite of passage of harvest season and Burning Man’s annual festival.

Other artworks of Burning Man Festival are: The Bamboozler (Transformus) octagonal structure made of raw lumber, Carnegeia Gigantea (Arizona), iconic Saguaro Cactus, F-N Bourbon Barrel the beauty of Kentucky hills, The Ka Pilina Phoenix (Hawaii) the same design as the effigy at three Rebirth festivals in Hawaii, Lobster Bisque-O! (Maine Region), Playa Time (Vancouver) a Rite of Passage, being in the Now, inspired by Burn in the Forest, Mooseman (Toronto), Port of Fire (East Bay) ubiquitous giant cranes from the Port of Oakland, Quemaduras del Sol (sunburn) a golden sun effigy from San Diego, SCARAB Truck (Los Angeles) iconic Food Truck, Tree of Heaven by New York Burning Man Community, Dobharchu Dóiteáine (Ireland) dragon-like creature from Irish mythology half giant, half dog.

These effigies will burn on Thursday (September1) night as an introduction to the Burn of the Burning Man 2011.

 Photos credit: blog.burningman.com