Museums: Renwick Gallery #2 (Part 1 of 2)

We returned to the Renwick recently to view a temporary exhibition entitled "No Spectators--The Art of Burning Man".

What is Burning Man?  If you know about Burning Man, then you won't be surprised by the extraordinary works of art that have been created for the annual festival over the years.  

In case you are not familiar with Burning Man, here is a brief explanation from Wikipedia:  Burning Man is an annual event in Black Rock City – a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert, north of Reno, Nevada. The late summer event is described as an experiment in community and art, influenced by ten main principles: radical inclusion, self-reliance, and self-expression, as well as community cooperation, civic responsibility, gifting, decommodification, participation, immediacy, and leaving no trace. The event takes its name from its culmination, the symbolic ritual burning of a large wooden effigy of a man on the last night of the event.

You can learn more about Burning Man in the photo below.

The Exhibition, No Spectators:  Filling the entire museum, the exhibition is a collection of experimental art that was displayed at Burning Man.  Much of the art is participatory, requiring human interaction to activate the art.  As you will see, some of the works require humans to propel or spin it.  Since the works are participatory, there are "no [mere] spectators."  

Some of the art is monumental, filling large rooms in the museum, and the collection is so large that some of the pieces had to be displayed outside the museum, in the blocks neighboring the museum.   

The shadow of Trust is Beauty

Another view of Truth is Beauty

The inner workings of Tin pan Dragon

The best part is that Tin Pan Dragon breathes fire.  Click here to see for yourself.

Street Signs:  We think Florentine street artist Clet Abraham would like the modified street signs pictured below.

The video below shows the Evotrope in motion.  

On a street near the Renwick Gallery, we spotted part of the Burning Man exhibition, a large bust of Maya Angelou entitled Maya's Mind.

We also spotted another Burning Man work of art called Future's Past.

A photo of Future's Past in the desert.

Next Up:  More Burning Man.