Introducing the 2018 Black Rock City Honoraria

It’s time to really kick off the 2018 Burning Man season. Behold! Here are this year’s art installations selected for Black Rock City Honoraria Grants.

Applicants really embraced this year’s I, Robot theme. We’ll find all sorts of clever and not-so-clever forms of artificial intelligence, paired with every type of robot under the sun.

Robot Resurrection by Shane Evans and Robot Crisis Unit

We’ll have the opportunity to interact with a whole host of science fiction creations, from a blockchain-based self-replicating plantoid life form to a mural-painting robot from Estonia; from a musical robot who pulls inspiration from the weather to a mechanical brass band of sousaphones. Other theme-related projects include a key-shaped encryption device incorporating dozens of locks and keys, 404 Technical Support which asks the question, “Who will provide technical support to the robots once they have taken over?”, and R.U.R. 18, a collaborative collection of robots designed by children across Burning Man’s global network. Lots of artists were inspired to name their projects something related to the theme — everything from Ei Robot to iSheep to EYE-Robot. Prepare yourselves for an experience that invites you to examine and explore our personal and cultural relationship to technology and AI.

What About Non-Robots?

Baba Yaga’s House by Jessi Sprocket Janusee and Baba Yaga’s Book Club

Other projects will emphasize a more organic feel. Baba Yaga’s House, based on the old Russian fable, will be a life-size recreation of the chicken-legged hut of the ancient witch. There will be two unusual birdcage experiences: one, an ornate birdcage on its side with entwining flowering vines and flora and flaming flower fire pits. The other, a birdcage enclosing a white-picket-fenced home containing a bizarre world that explores the concept of space and time. Indonesian Wayang Kulit puppets will dazzle us with their shadows, while the Tree of Life will superimpose the energetic structure of the human body, the physical structure of a tree, and our connection with the cosmos.

Pan Genius by Amy Munson

Other pieces will incorporate movement and spectacle, like the Color Wheels, a sensational parade of a dozen metallic wheels each day at sunset. A collaboration between Sacramento and Reno, the Great Train Wreck will stage a moment from railroad history when trains were ceremoniously destroyed for public entertainment in head-on crashes. Yep… it’s gonna be a train wreck folks!

Long View by Don Kennell & Arctic Burn 505 – a polar bear made of white recycled car hoods

Still others will interpret the living beings around us. Animals are always a popular theme, but check out how many species will be represented this year: a giant colorful chameleon, a polar bear made from recycled car hoods, a gleaming eagle, a Tibetan dragon, an encapsulated octopus, a flaming rooster, musical dragonflies, an articulated spider, a mechanical rearing horse, a Huichol-beaded dinosaur skeleton (what?!), and a cosmic turtle with a city built on its back — since you know how we love to build cities.

And these are just a few of the pieces that can be easily crammed into categories. There’s so much more where that came from!

Come-Million by Eran Weissenstern

Returning Favorites

Many of your favorite Black Rock City artists are coming back for more, including Michael Christian, Dana Albany, Charlie Gadeken, Iron Monkeys, Charlie Smith, Christopher Schardt, Mr and Mrs Ferguson with the evolution of their penny-covered sculptures (now with nickels and dimes!), the FoldHaus Collective bringing a fantastic new undulating origami creation, and Mark Lotter of Cubatron fame who will wow us with the Hexatron. Christian Ristow is bringing a fantastic seated robot deity entitled With Open Arms We Welcome That Which Would Destroy Us.

Step Forward by Miguel Angel Martin Bordera and Carros de Foc

And remember last year’s project Step Forward, the amazing 20-foot articulated puppet girl named Euterpe that charmed us all? Well this year she’s invited her grandfather Alberto to accompany her in BRC, and we’ll get to enjoy the two of them together.

A Note About the Temple

This year we created a new grant program just for the Temple. The Temple isn’t dependent on the annual theme, so we were able to adjust the timeline and start the submission process earlier in the year.

In December we announced the 19th incarnation of the Temple: Galaxia, designed by Arthur Mamou-Mani from the U.K. We are thrilled that work has been underway for several months already to build this spectacular structure.

The Illustrious Grantees

Burning Man Arts is funding BRC art to the tune of $1.3 million this year, including these Honoraria recipients as well as the Temple.

Fourteen international projects received Honoraria grants: three in France, and one each in Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Seventeen of the Honoraria recipients are bringing an art installation for the first time, including three who have never been to Black Rock City. And no report on Burning Man art would be complete without mentioning that, of the 76 projects granted BRC Honoraria, 19 of them will play with fire.

Scriptorium by Gray Davidson and Majorelle Arts

Of course, most of the 300+ art installations in BRC are stuff people just do on their own, with or without outside funding. So peruse the 2018 BRC Honoraria projects, and if you have some vision that is missing from the list, you are warmly invited to make it happen.

Full project descriptions with images and links will be available later in the season.

RadiaLumia by the FoldHaus Collective

2018 Black Rock City Honoraria Recipients

>< Bridge (Gap Bridge) — Richard Latrobe-Bateman & Architect’s Vacation — Reno, NV

404 Technical Support — Darren Fitzpatrick — Dublin, Ireland

All Power to All People — Hank Willis Thomas & Kindred Arts — New York, NY

Baba Yaga’s House — Jessi Sprocket Janusee and Baba Yaga’s Book Club — Sparks, NV

Big Pollinator — Jakob Bokulich — New York, NY

Blacksmith Shop — Anton Standteiner — Truckee, CA

Bloom — Peter Hazel — Reno, NV

Cadence — Dana Albany — San Francisco, CA

Camera Lucida — Bill Evans — San Francisco, CA

Cirrus – A musical robotic soloist who pulls inspiration from the weather — Matthew Pagoaga & Shibumi —  Los Angeles, CA

Come-Million! — Amit Weissenstern & BatzBatz —  Brooklyn, NY

Cosmic Voyager — Martin Taylor & Chromaforms — San Francisco, CA

CROWN — Charles Gadeken — San Francisco, CA

Digital Dalang – Shadows Out Of Time — Ali Ardie & Digital Dalang Collective—  Jakarta, Indonesia

Dragon Fossil — Ryan Mathern — Atlanta, GA

DragonFly Instruments — Robert Hoehn & High Desert Wind Instruments — Acton, CA

Dust City Diner — David Cole and Michael Brown — San Francisco, CA

Ei Robot — Spencer Edgerton & LaunchPad — Tucson, AZ

Eight — Adeline Callaghan & Box City Pseudosciences — Reno, NV

Em-Pathos (EYE Robot) — Michael Emery — Santa Cruz, CA

Encrypted Data — Benjamin Vedrenne — Montreuil, France

ethereal fleeting — Lukas Truniger, Itamar Bergfreund & Bruce Yoder — Zurich, Switzerland

FloBot — Jessica Levine — South Lake Tahoe, CA

Free Squirt — Abraham Carmi Raphael & Free Squirt Camp — Agoura Hills, CA

Great Train Wreck — Debby Brower & Collaborative Artisan Reno-Sacramento (CARS) — Sacramento, CA and Reno, NV

Hexatron — Mark Lottor — Menlo Park, CA

ICHIRO “Sacred Beings” — Marianela Fuentes, Arturo Gonzalez & Sarahi Carrillo — Mexico City, Mexico

In Case We Miss Each Other — Ilya Barannikov & Soul Oceans — Pasadena, CA

iSheep — Bardia Saeedi & DC Regional Artists — Alexandria, VA

Jokeatron 5200 — Natali Leduc & American Consumer Consortium — Victoria, BC, Canada

Kim Chi — Shane Evans & Robot Crisis Unit — Denver, CO

Kinesios — Brad Norris & N/D Collective — Nashville, TN

Let U.S. Prey — Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson — Alameda, CA

Listen — Aaron Fowler & Erin Desmond — Gardena, CA

Long View, a polar bear stands in the desert — Don Kennell & Arctic Burn 505 — Santa Fe, NM

Luna Flora — Elana Novali & Acrosanti Cooperative — Mayer, AZ

MEGALOPHONE — Benzy & Megalocrew — Felton, CA

Musica de Playa — Kevin Necessary — Long Beach, CA

Myriapoda Robota — David Date & Art To Be Continued — La Selva Beach, CA

N-Spire — Roy Trammell — Beaverton, OR

OVER | GROWN — Iron Monkey Arts — Seattle, WA

Pan Genius — Amy Munson — San Diego, CA

Paraluna — Christopher Schardt — Oakland, CA

Plantoid Garden: A Blockchain-based Life-form, Featuring the Photo-synthesizer — Primavera De Filippi & Okhaos Creations — Paris, France

Point of You — Mihkel Joala & Pixel Ninjas — Tartu, Estonia

Project R.U.R. 18 — Danielle Kaltz & Detroit Replicant Factory — Detroit, MI

Quadrupod — Scott Pareteau — Sacramento, CA

RadiaLumia — Joerg Student & FoldHaus Collective — Oakland, CA

Rayactivation — Douglas Ruuska & Divide by Zero Labs — Brighton, MA

RE-CYCLONE — Martin Taylor & Chromaforms — San Francisco, CA

Rearing Horse — Barry Crawford — Elko, NV

Remembered Light — Dan Benedict & Derby Kinetic — Anaheim, CA

Resolute Arch — Richard Rhodes — Seattle, WA

Ring Theory — John Pertsch — Hillsborough, CA

Robot Resurrection  Shane Evans & Robot Crisis Unit — Denver, CO

Rossum’s Original Band of Tubas – R.O.B.O.T. — Roger Carr — Berkeley, CA

Sailing the Dead Seas: Rockin’ The Boats — Gabrielle “Gigi” Clark & Rituals Arts Collective — Oceanside, CA

Scriptorium — Gray Davidson & Majorelle Arts — Oakland, CA

Seesaw Wave Machine — Ryan Elmendorf and Nick Geurts — Wheat Ridge, CO

Singularity — Rebekah Waites — Los Angeles, CA

Sisyphus: Technology through the Ages — Dylan Fairbanks & Sisyphus Collective — Alameda, CA

Spider Sweet — Bryan Argabrite — Santa Cruz, CA

Stardust — Stephanie Paige Tashner — Richmond, CA

Step Forward – Joining Minds — Miguel Angel Martin Bordera & Carros de Foc — San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain

tbd — Michael Christian  — Berkeley, CA

The Altar Of Intentions — Daniel Strickland & Brazilian Burners — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Color Wheels — Philippe Freslon & Compagnie Off — Indre-et-Loire, France

The Orb — Bjarke Ingels, Jakob Lange, & NĀBO — Valby, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Spirit Dream Machine — Miguel Guzman, Iyvone Khoo, and David Gerstein — San Antonio, TX

The Tree of Life — Tyler J Rivenbark & The Institute for Human Creativity — San Francisco, CA

This too shall pass – Moondancer — Lekha Washington — Mumbai, India

Trace — Kathryn Greenberg — San Francisco, CA

Uncle Charlie’s Red Hot Cock — Charlie Blackcat Smith & Art of Such n Such — Atlanta, GA

With Open Arms We Welcomed That Which Would Destroy Us (Short: With Open Arms)  — Christian Ristow — Berlin, Germany

Worm Watch — South Bay Burners Art Collective — San Jose, CA


(Top image: Cosmic Voyager by Martin Taylor and Chromaforms Collective)

About the author: Katie Hazard

Katie Hazard

Katie Hazard (yes that’s her real last name) is the Associate Director of Art Management for Burning Man. She leads the selection, placement, and installation of over 400 artworks annually in Black Rock City and beyond. She’s been passionate about arts administration and grants management for many years; she has a degree in Art History from the University of Notre Dame, worked at the Art Institute of Chicago, and spent 10 years at Harvard University as a Senior Grants Manager. Katie’s first year on playa was 2000, and she volunteered for 10 years (DMV, Man Base Lighting, art build crews, theme camp organization, Fire Conclave) before joining the staff in 2013. Katie is also a certified yoga teacher and has been a practitioner of Buddhist meditation for more than a decade.

21 Comments on “Introducing the 2018 Black Rock City Honoraria

  • Lisa Ferguson says:

    We are so very happy to be part of this fine league of artists.

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  • Jered says:

    Congratulations to all of the grantees! I look forward to seeing these amazing installations in the desert this year…

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  • Paige says:

    Wow, wow, wow, wow! So excited to share this experience with you all.

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  • David Date says:

    I’m so excited to launch Myriapoda! Thank you for the opportunity to bring her to Playa!

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  • Stroker says:

    The Great Train Wreck! Hold on to your hats… creative carnage ahead!

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  • Abraham Carmi Raphael says:

    We are very excited to bring “Squirt”, a native species of Giant Playa Octopus, to the burn this year.

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  • Cap'n Jonny says:

    As a third year student at Black Rock University I signed on to help one of the above mentioned instalations.

    I am here to tell you all that if you haven’t participated in one of these projects you have no idea what a huge undertaking it can be. we have folks specializing in construction, engineering, lighting, kinetics, fund raising, art, performance and more.

    Just the planning is making my head spin.

    So when you go out on the Playa and look around, be amazed, not just by what you see in front of you, but by everything that went into making it happen.

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  • Over AHundred AllWeek says:

    Will the event be air conditioned this year?

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  • Danielle says:

    Any formal stats on the participating Artists?
    % female?
    % minority?
    Curious if the demographic has changed with the population increase?

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  • Goldie says:

    Great press information for my advance story for RV enthusiasts! Hope to be there.

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  • Goldie says:

    Great information on this year’s upcoming. Hope to be there!

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  • I’m super excited to be a part of this awesomesauceum list and show up with my mad-moon-dancing. EEeeeee! It’s going to be fabulous!

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  • Danielle says:

    Can’t wait to see all of these pieces! We’re so excited to bring Resolute Arch and experience it on the playa!
    https://www.instagram.com/rhodesworks_design_studio/

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  • Kent (POP) Davis says:

    Wow what a lineup it’s inspiring in a little overwhelming wear to help what to do ! This will be my first Black rock city experience looking forward to it immensely . I can’t wait to be out there enjoying all y’all’s energy ! It’s going to be a great burn!

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  • Mandy Wren says:

    Hello and wow! I finally found what I’ve been looking for. I just don’t have all the information of when to get there and really how to get there too. I live in WV and I’ve been writing on news story’s or anywhere I can about a lot and it sounds like last year and this year’s theme is what I’ve been talking a lot about. This guy Dave that wrote about change and how hard it can be but needs to happen. He wrote a hole lot of truth. If we can’t change the man… To me that means greed. Then this world will continue to be soaked with blood that shouldn’t be there and will find a way im sure without us being on this world but a way to fix itself. Just a little thought. I am trying to help even if it’s to wake one person from the blindness that is greed. If I never make it there I’m happy so many others have and will! Enjoy and inspire. Much love ✊✌

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