Massive dust storm approaching...

PT, our resident Ranger, came by with a 15 minute warning to "batten down the hatches" for an approaching dust storm with winds of up to 60 mph possible! This was the stongest wind storm I have experienced out here, and it was a total white out. I could not see the car parked 5 feet from where I was sitting. And the wind was literally howling! Right after the wind settled down, and light started returning, I stepped outside to witness a stunning rainbow......

Burning Rainbow!

This brilliant rainbow turned into a complete triple rainbow! One of the largest and most vivid I have seen! I set out on my bike to chase it as it moved across the playa with the passing storm cloud.

Crude Awakening

This was the most ambitious art installation I have ever witnessed. The first part was the statues... each one intricately pieced together and porprtionately beautiful. The second part of this installation was the flame throwing aspect of the statues. The tall standing woman shot flames from her hands... the kneeling woman had flames which would consume her whole body etc... And the third part was the oil derrick itself. Built on site throughout the week it reached 9 stories high, and had an inner staircase spiraling up the inside of the tower. For one 24 hour period people were able to walk the staircase to the top platform, for a more interactive experience. Once a night this piece would give it's performance... the statues would all fire up and you could walk around amongst them as they shot flames and burned. Amazing. The oil derrick was set to burn Friday night, and we were all eagerly anticipating that show!! The name of the whole installation was "Crude Awakening" and the obvious metaphors and symbology need little explanation. As a people we worship oil, and this lust is literally burning us alive. Anyone have any furthur insights to share?

Sunset on Friday

The New Man... erected!

The new Man was erected on Thursday night, and finally illuminated Friday evening. This was our only night to enjoy his tender green glow.

Giant Lotus wedding party

This was a two story metal lotus flower, which you could climb up and sit inside. This also created a beautiful space underneath the blossom... great for shade during the day, and, apparently, weddings at night.

Night riders...

Art cars light up the playa.

Friday night... small pyramid burn

Everyone was a little let down after the oil derrick burn was canceled, so smaller burns that would normally not draw a huge crowd were packed with folks jonesing to watch something burn. This was a 25 foot tall replica of a Mayan pyramid.

Crude Awakening... the final Act

The nine story oil derrick was supposed to burn Friday night, but due to high winds, it was postponed until Saturday night, after the Man burned. We all raced out to the giant derrick to await what we were told was going to be a display of the largest flame thrower ever invented. The ignition of this flame thrower unleashed yet another mushroom cloud on us... this one even bigger and more percussive then the one at the Man! One of the more awe inspiring moments of my life so far, touching me on many different levels. The mushroom cloud went off, and the flame thrower shot up a 1,000 foot wall of flame straight up the middle of the oil derrick, and continued to burn for about 5 minutes. It took the tower about 15 minutes to finally fall... leaving only the statues, now praying to a charred pile of dust....

Lighting up the night...

The Man burns!

After the pretty fireworks show, the Man was set ablaze in a giant mushroom cloud... turns out it was the year of mushroom clouds as high art...

Grandparents visit Oregon family in late Summer.

The new Man...

...under construction. The diamond shaped object is his head, and you are looking down the inside of his chest.

A real junk show...

Corner jazz-man

Life-sized kaleidoscope...

A beautiful piece of art, and good fun too!

Big green Playa thing

The Psycho Patrol

Never fear...

Around the Green Pavillion...

Surrounding the large Green Pavillion that was underneath the Man was a large grove of art "trees"... The trees remained all week, though the top of the Pavillion was eerily empty from Tuesday night through Friday evening, as The Man was prematurely burned late Tuesday night in an act of arson that left people in a state of shock, and minus one, very badly burned idol. The original Man (or what was left of him) was taken down from atop the Pavillion, and a new Man built in his place, which was re-erected and lit by Friday night. Just in time to be burned to the ground Saturday night!!

Giant Domes...

... these particular geodesic domes are home to popular all night dance parties.

Temple of Self-Expression

This temple was also at Horning's Hideout for the String Cheese Incident festival last month.

Art cars...

Artists also worship oil.

Tea Kettle Tree House

Out in the middle of the playa, close to our camp, was this large, two-storey tree house made out of metal. The whole structure was sort of a giant pressure cooker. When it was running, the steam would continually build and release pressure, with the steam leaking out of certain pipes causing a whistling sound, like a giant tea kettle. This whistling sound was very loud, and could be heard from quite a distance, sounding similar to a steam train.

Wheelin' out of camp...

Going for a ride to see what we could see...

The Temple of Forgiveness

... only hours before it was burned to the ground, people were still filling the temple with all things, emotional and physical, they wanted to be burned away with the flames...

Out-running the dust storm...

Making new friends on the playa.