- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Denver and help keep the future of Westword free.
We're a world away from Burning Man Festival in Black Rock City, which took place this past weekend in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, but that doesn't mean we can't get a taste of what we missed. Our West Coast Sound counterparts were on hand and took a slew of pics, allowing us to live vicariously through their photographer, Curious Josh. If you haven't already, check out the festival's ten creepiest masks, or keep reading for fifteen badass GIFs from Burning Man.
See also: - GIFs of the coolest concert security guard in the world, who works at Red Rocks - Ten Coachella dance-move GIFs to make you feel good about yourself - Ten awkward Electric Daisy Carnival dance moves from this past weekend in Las Vegas - Burning Man's ten creepiest masks
By Josh "CuriousJosh" Reiss
Snakes or Ropes is a type of fire poi (a tethered, swinging weight) which uses a straight length of flaming Kevlar rope attached to a chain.
In honor of the Fertility 2.0 theme, David Best designed the beautifully intricate 2012 Temple of Juno named after the Roman goddess of fertility. Many consider Sunday night's solemn temple burn one of the week's most moving events.
Everyone pitches in to make Zachary Coffin's "The Universe Revolves Around YOU" work.
Climbing is encouraged on "Timing is Everything / 24-7 Timestar" by Charlie Smith. As people clamber on the sculpture, their movements generate a wave of embers intentionally designed to project in response to the piece's movement.
"The Cubatron Core" is Mark Lottor's incarnation of Cubatron 3D Display technology, which first appeared at Burning Man in 2004. It's 26 feet in diameter and 18 feet tall, with 80 tubes of 48 lights each, adding up to 3840 total lights.
"El Pulpo Mecanico" returns one year after premiering at Burning Man 2011, entertaining crowds with its fire-breathing mechanical octopus.
Flow artist Marvin Ong demonstrates a loose style of club spinning outside Sacred Spaces village.
A rotating double-helix of lights, just one of the many things you can find while wandering Black Rock City at night.
A fire tractor pauses for a moment on the playa before lighting up the night sky.
Motion-sensing hand controls drive music and video at the "Space Pallete."
Ruby Bettencourt and Jeff Howe's "FLIP" is an 8 foot diameter convex hand plasma-cut steel mandala that you can flip by hand. The creators hope it's a "quiet beacon calling for contemplation and meditation."
Fire poi, tethered flaming weights that are among the flow arts' most popular fire tools.
Burners gather underneath the light of a glowing purple tripod.
Fire fans offer a much larger flame than the majority of fire tools, and often can't be held in the straight down position without burning the spinner's hands.
"The Ego Project" from Laura Klimpton and Michael Garlington continues Laura's series of larger than life words which in previous years included MOM, OINK, and LOVE. Attendees gathered in a large circle to watch the burning of this popular piece saturday night after the burning of the man.
See also: Photos: Ten creepiest masks at this year's Burning Man festival
Keep Westword Free... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Denver with no paywalls.
