ART INSTALLATIONS
The playa is a tabula rasa, a blank canvas upon which many a fantastic vision has been realized. Submarines, gigantic ducks, swimmers, fire-breathing thistles, serpents, chandeliers, grandfather clocks and balsa wood temples have emerged from the playa. We would like to see your vision! We welcome all participants to create art at Burning Man. You can place your artwork in your camp, but if you want it to live on the open playa, we ask that you register it with us.
We have two classifications for art on the playa: Theme Art is art based on our annual Art Theme. This art can be placed anywhere on the playa, but it's generally put along our city's walkways, which intersect the Man. Playa Art is art that doesn't relate directly to our theme. This art is placed anywhere on the playa except for the walkways. The deep playa is home to both theme and playa art. We will work with you to give you the placement you want. If you want to bring art to the playa ...
- First, read our Art Installation Guidelines.
- Learn about Playa Protection & Burn Scar Prevention.
- Learn about Creating Dangerous Art Safely and Lighting Your Art.
- Download, print, and fill out a registration questionnaire, then bring it with you to the playa.
- On the playa, volunteers at The Artery will assist you in your placement.
- Every year Burning Man issues a small number of grants for the purpose of partially funding specific art projects. Read our grants guidelines.
- If you need help with your project, publicize it on the Artwork and Performance section of the ePlaya Bulletin Board.
- Learn about past art installations in The Art of Burning Man.
Bay Area artist Larnie Fox built a 24-foot bamboo windmill on the playa in 1997, and sums up the Burning Man art-making experience as follows:
"There is a yet unnamed art movement that may prove to be of some significance, and Burning Man is close to its center. It often manifests itself as circus, ritual, and spectacle. It is a movement away from a dialogue between an individual artist and a sophisticated audience, and towards collaboration amongst a big, wild, free and diverse community. It is a movement away from galleries, schools and other institutions and towards an art produced in and for casual groups of participants, more akin to clans and tribes, based on aesthetic affinities and bonds of friendship. It is a movement away from static gallery art and formal theater and towards site-specific, time-specific installation and performance. It is a rejection of spoon-fed corporate culture and an affirmation of the homemade, the idiosyncratic, the personal. It is profoundly democratic. It is radically inclusive, it is a difficult challenge, and it is beckoning."
Most installations contain an interactive element which allows participants to fully engage with the piece, instead of viewing it from a safe distance as we are used to in our museum- and gallery-oriented world. Participants are encouraged to explore and interact with the art, and may well find themselves helping an artist to build a structure or performing some task to activate an art object. Touching, climbing, entering, spinning, engaging and exploring are encouraged.
- Playaquest, Operations Manager, Artery Council 
