What Goes Up Must Come Down: Womantree and Burning Man 2024
taking down all the things
After spending months planning and building, and a week or more in the Black Rock Desert installing, what goes up must come down. While yes there are a number of large significant burns like The Man, The Temple, and other burnable pieces like this year’s Safety Cone, much of the large art is packed up and taken away to be stored.
A dusty Temple Burn Night on the Mighty Zenith Mutant Vehicle
An entire city full of services, stages, music, and incredible art for a population of 70k goes up in less than a month with most of it going up during Build Week.
View of the Temple Burn from atop the Mighty Zenith– often you couldn’t even see the glow
Then, after Burn Week, a week later or less, it all comes down with most camps beginning strike on Saturday and finishing on Sunday to leave without a trace on Monday or Tuesday. Honorarium art projects like Valerie Mallory’s Womantree aren’t allowed to come down until after Sunday at midnight.
body parts formerly of Womantree collect sand dunes during strike Burning Man 2024
Following howling winds and rain during Build Week, Burn Week weather in 2024 was exceptionally mild meaning highs in the 90s, no triple digit days, and gentle breezes… until we didn’t. The winds came up Sunday afternoon and they were brutal during the Temple burn which we tried to see from the roof of the The Mighty Zenith aka The Big TV Set (pictured above)
Valerie Mallory mid-strike during a pause in the dust storm
We found some respite in the wee hours until noon Monday when it returned with a vengeance as we tried to strike Valerie’s art as well as Minstrel Cramp. Read more about Valerie’s art here.
skeleton of Womantree in a dust storm
detail Womantree by Valerie Mallory Burning Man 2024
a dusty art predator in a very dusty vw van after Temple Burn
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