Lorna Li | Green Marketing 2.0

Burning Man’s Green Man theme for 2007 inspired environmental art that was far more symbolic than sustainable. For example, the Crude Awaking installation was blown up in a giant mushroom cloud in order to ‘dramatize the worshipful relationship and dependence modern man has toward oil’. I can only imagine the amount of fuel it took to haul, install, and blow up a 99 foot oil derrick.

A favorite installation of mine was the wondrous Big Rig Jig by Mike Ross, which featured 2 oil tanker trucks in perfect acro-yogic balance.

The highly interactive swinging monkeys installation was another favorite of mine.

A troupe of child-sized monkeys were suspended from a merry-go-round wheel, at the base of which a set of congo drums was placed, inviting visitors to beat upon them in reckless abandon. Surrounding the merry-go-round was a ring of bikes. With several people rapidly peddling, the wheel begins to spin, and rapidly flashing strobe lights create the illusion that the monkeys are swinging overhead from bar to bar.

Of the art cars I saw this year, 2 are dear to my heart.

Photo courtesy of Duane Flatmo

Duane Flatmo’s latest Kinetic Sculpture, the pedal-powered Armored Carp, is made entirely of welded baking pans and other pieces of scrap metal also shoots flames.

The solar-powered Daisy (owned by the Cunninhams and friends) was an oversized tricycle with sails and a horn that sounded like a loud, drawn-out cow-fart provided an afternoon of entertainment and photo opps.

Elena Cunningham

John Cunningham

To see more Burning Man photography, visit my Green Man 2007 Set on Flickr.

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