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nighttime art |
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Burning Man 2005: nighttime art
Wednesday 31 August 2005 (continued)
One of the joys of my year is the time I get to Ranger. Once the family is asleep I don my pack and head out, combining a swing and graveyard shift. Sleep is not my forté at Burning Man :-)
Here are some of the sights of the night, starting with The Machine.
 Headspace (by Michael Matteo & the MatteoVision Team, Los Angeles) is a three-dimensional head, about ten feet (3 m) high and about as much off the ground, onto which is projected the features of a participant. It's more impressive than I'm making it sound. (In the background you see The Man, lighted in pink and green.)
 In no particular order, as my Drunkard's Walk (a computer science in-joke) takes me around the playa, are other sights, starting with the Flight to Mars. On each side of the main entrance are narrow walk- and crawl-ways, festooned with textures and objects. It's mind-blowing, but not for those with claustrophobia or backpacks.
 Near one playa art piece was a complex arrangement of lights and beam-splitters, making a series of light spikes in the dusty playa air. This panorama doesn't really do it justice; mea culpa.
 The next two photos are of an art piece which had altars on each side, each filled with objects of affection and significance. They were a pleasure to behold, especially with the great number of detailed items.
 The red side was easier to photograph, but both sides were thick with allegory.
 This pentagram was projected onto the playa surface from a suspended ball. It wobbled ever so slightly as the breezes caressed the ball, making jittery lines on the uneven playa surface.
 On the same theme, perfect imperfections, someone made a miniature city from water and playa. Ankle-high and truly awe-inspiring. Made even more perfect by its impermanence, a Black Rock mandala.
 Lastly, the Chairway to Heaven. The participant, seat attached to the tower, is raised up high by a series of counterweights. From the top, about 70 ft (20 m) up, the view must be spectacular. Unfortunately I was never in the area when the seat was in service.
 Finishing up, here's a bit of still life on the playa: a generator and a bicycle.
 One thing I wasn't able to capture, but which bears mention, is the display of a software package entitled "Virtual Playa", in which you can fly a helicopter over a simulacrum of the city. I watched someone fly the helicopter through Center Camp, and up and out through the middle, between the guy wires. While we're up at night, let's see more playa nighttime.
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