WAKING DREAMS ART
Oh! The Wonders!
2022 was Black Rock City’s biggest art year. The playa exploded with mind-bursting installations. Each was a unique journey for artists and crews, many of whom had faced exceptional challenges in recent years.
2022 ART BY THE NUMBERS
- 420 art projects placed in Black Rock City
- More than $1 million granted to Honoraria artists and the Temple in 2022
- 84 Honoraria artworks (up from 70 most years), including 48 projects from 2020 and 2021 as part of our Art No Matter What program
- 24 artworks with flame effects
ARTISTS FROM EVERYWHERE
- 17 U.S. states
- 42 artworks from 22 countries, including: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States
Desert Arts Preview — in BRCvr
Our yearly Desert Arts Preview event introduced the Honoraria artists and creations destined for Black Rock City. A playful addition, BRCvr welcomed all to their virtual playa to experience 50 of the 2022 Honoraria artworks.
“Making art at Burning Man is a kind of Faustian bargain. We spend months of time in maker spaces, garages, and backyards, so that we can spend a week or two working 14-hour days, breaking our bodies in an environment that is as inhospitable as it is beautiful. We do this only so that we can make something that will (god willing and the river don’t rise) satisfy Diderot’s demand that the artist ‘move me, surprise me, rend my heart, make me tremble, weep, shudder, outrage me, delight my eyes afterwards, if you can.’
“In return, we really get only a couple things: the knowledge that we have made something that mattered to someone, and the deep personal bonds that can only be forged by being part of a community that is making something impossibly beautiful in an environment that is impossibly difficult. It is a very weird bargain. It is also the best deal I have ever made.“
~ Jerry Snyder, lead artist for “The Midnight Museum of That One Time at Burning Man” (Burning since 2004)
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“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
~ NELSON MANDELA
Supporting Diversity and Sustainability
The art that awed, challenged and delighted us represented who we are and what we value, as Burners and as citizens of the world.
GREATER DIVERSITY
In keeping with our Radical Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (R.I.D.E.) initiative, we supported diversity among Black Rock City Honoraria grantees, resulting in a record number of projects by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists.
AN EMPHASIS ON SUSTAINABILITY
We put mechanisms in place to support artists whose work integrated recycled materials, used renewable energy, or spoke to the theme of sustainability:
- Providing solar technology to power 14 art projects, including the Temple
- Funding the Solar Library, a solar-powered battery charging station for artists
- Linking artists to the Renewables for Artists Team (RAT) for help switching to solar
MEET THE HONORARIA ARTISTS OF WAKING DREAMS*
Of 84 projects:
- 20% had a lead artist of color
- 36% had a lead female or non-binary artist
- 36% had an emphasis on environmental sustainability
*Based on information Honoraria artists voluntarily shared in their proposals
“Art has an amazing capacity to heal and transform, connect and unite. ‘The Afterlife’ shed an alternative light and culture on death — with blacklight! — depicting the ethereal realm in colorful glowing beauty. The Honorarium grant allowed a dream project of an immigrant-POC lead and an all-queer group of artists to come to life.”
~ BLITZY, CO-LEAD ARTIST ON “THE AFTERLIFE” BY THE AFTERLIFE ARTISTS COLLECTIVE (BURNING SINCE 2011)
