The most amazing part of Burning Man, at least according to someone who has never been, is that it is ephemeral by design. Some 70,000 people descend on Black Rock City, a barren playa in Nevada, and when they leave, every scrap of human evidence leaves with them. That’s impressive for any old camping group but astounding for Burning Man, an art event where people erect unbelievably huge structures that will exist for a mere nine days (unless their work is admitted to the Smithsonian, that is).
In recent years, we’ve seen more architects and artists building large-scale installations at the festival. This year’s slew of architectural interventions included work from artist Benjamin Langholz, architect Geordie Van Der Bosch, motion graphics designer Ashley Wilkie, designer Michael Tsaturyan, and others.
For a peek into those works of art, the one-man creative agency Shalaco Studio filmed this three-minute tour of Burning Man 2019’s art, first spotted by boingboing. As Shalaco puts it, he traveled 200 miles during his visit and still didn’t manage to see everything.
The video takes us on a very MTV Cribs-style tour, with plenty of fast-forwarding and 360-degree spins around objects. It’s certainly presented less as high art than a binge-worthy cable show. That said, you can still get a hint of the event’s austerity, the sculptures, the mostly empty sand, and the soft mountain ranges framing it all as a backdrop—a near-transcendental effect quickly grounded by copious amounts of blindingly white, bare butts.
In any case, Shalaco has plenty more Burning Man videos to enjoy on his channel, including a serious look at how GPS-equipped volunteers scour the playa, inch by inch, for any remaining trash.
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