Race Point Publishing Blog

Visitors to Black Rock City this year are lucky enough to bear witness a 72-foot high hug. Two intertwined, larger-than-life human figures are the same scale as the Statute of Liberty and tower above the playa to form one of the central works of art at this year’s Burning Man festival.

“The Embrace,” created by The Pier Group is not just an ode to love and real human connection: it’s also a functional building space, with spacious interiors where Burners can seek shelter and spend time together.

Matthew Schultz, a member of The Pier Group, said, “We hope that ‘The Embrace’ inspires people to be in awe of what we can build together. It’s about cherishing each moment, it’s about being here in the now, being present with the people you care about, with the people you love.”

“The Embrace” is so full of hope, so full of love and acceptance and a spirit of deep connection that it will surely bring tears to even a stoic reveler’s eyes.

2. Bliss Dance (2010) and Truth is Beauty (2013)

Each of these massive sculptures depicts a female nude in a state of joy. The first, Bliss Dance, appeared on the playa in 2010, followed by Truth Is Beauty in 2013. Artist Marco Cochrane imagined the sculptures as a series of three, designed to call attention to the treatment of women and to depict them in a state of beauty, safety, and self-acceptance. Inspired by the traumatic assault of a childhood friend, he dedicates this series to the empowerment of the female, which he believes would return the world to a more peaceful balance.

Cochrane credits the open-minded culture of Burning Man for inspiring the sculptures. “I’m trying to demystify nudity. I see how free women are on the playa, how they can possess a playful energy here that they cannot do in real life.”

The simple beauty and power of these joyful women inspires such revery that they are likely to inspire tears.

3. The Temples (Multiple Years)

The most visible symbol of inspiration and praise in Black Rock City is the Temple, which is always situated at the very top of the city, in the open playa due north of the Man. The Temple is a deeply spiritual place, one that offers a sacred space for contemplation, free from religious or denominational tenets. Its design changes every year, but its meaning remains the same: a place for the community to celebrate the gifts of life, reflect on the past, remember loved ones, and relinquish sadness to the flames that ritually engulf the Temple and close the event on Sunday night.

The Temples are a monument to spirituality and if the humility and inspiration you feel when you walk in to the sacred space doesn’t fill your eyes with tears of awe, sacrificing the temple to the fire on Sunday night will certainly awaken cathartic emotions.

Inside the Temple of Whollyness in 2013.

The Temple of Wholiness, 2013

Temple of Juno, 2012

Temple of Hope, 2006

4. Crude Awakening (2007)

The power of Burning Man is that it doesn’t let attendees off the hook. It holds attendees responsible for maintaning the edicts of the festival, including sharing and radical inclusion. Through art, the festival also can call attention to heart-breaking environmental problems and societal ailments while recognizing that attendees are both part of the problem AND the hope for a solution.

“Crude Awakening,” in 2007, did just that. From Burning Man: Art on Fire, “A highly political statement formed the philosophical centerpiece of 2007’s “Green Man” theme. A dramatic commentary on the international dependence on fossil fuels, the installation featured a 90-foot oil derrick, surrounded by nine giant seven-ton sculptures of salvaged metal ignited with flames and worshipping at the altar of oil. Each of the figures represented a different ethnicity in postures of supplication in a diverse array of religious traditions.”

This art will bring tears to your eyes when you realize the powerlessness we have in the face of big business, but it also should rally in you a call to power so vibrant and urgent that you can dig deep and make the changes you need to make to, quite literally, save the world.

5. The Man (Every Year)

Every year at the close of the Burning Man Festival in Black Rock Desert, the playa is lit on fire. In tribute to the festival’s name, the man is burned. Every year, people return to their lives a little wiser, a little freer, and with their creative energy pumped up and flowing.

Burning Man attracts a community that so many of us are so desperate for as we go through our daily lives, go through the motion of our careers and glide past our family members without the deep spiritual and creative connection we need to thrive.

“We will always burn the Man,” declares the mission statement of Burning Man. The creation of this tradition, and the foundation of a community that is completely dedicated to the values of this festival is, without a doubt, powerful enough to make you cry.

“As if you were on fire from within, the moon lives in the lining of your skin.” — Pablo Neruda

Credits for the photography and many quotes from this blog post to Burning Man: Art on Fire, written by Jennifer Raiser, introduction by Larry Harvey, with photographs from Scott London and Sidney Erthal.