The art at the heart of Burning Man

By Caroline Carter

The photographer NK Guy has made a pilgrimage to Burning Man almost every summer since 1998. During those weeks at Black Rock City in the Nevada desert, when more than 65,000 people join together as citizens of a temporary hedonistic world, his lens was drawn to the incredible sculptures, installations and performance art that the festival has become famous for. The result is “Art of Burning Man”, a weighty—and wonderful—200-page collection of his photographs.

If you haven’t been to Burning Man, perhaps you would struggle to imagine a Steampunk fire-breathing octopus, the “Lost Tea Party” (a camel train of oriental teapots on wheels) or “Omar Kabish the Fish” (which is actually a car). Or to understand the epic scale of the 50-foot “Trojan Horse” being pulled along by hundreds of “slaves”. And who could believe that someone would build a half-size replica of an American revolution-era frigate complete with functioning rigging, and ride—by sail-power—around the desert on it?