Burning Man ablaze in Nevada desert

Katia Hetter
By Katia Hetter, CNN
2 minute read
Updated 10:14 AM EDT, Mon August 31, 2015
A city of 60,000 people rises from the dust each summer when the <a href="http://burningman.org/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Burning Man </a>festival starts. Photographer NK Guy's new book "<a href="http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05786/facts.nk_guy_art_of_burning_man.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank">The Art of Burning Man" </a>(published by Taschen) charts 16 years of the festival's art, including "Embrace" (shown here) by Kevan Christiaens, Kelsey Owens, Bill Tubman, Joe Olivier, Matt Schultz and the Pier Group (2014).
A city of 60,000 people rises from the dust each summer when the Burning Man festival starts. Photographer NK Guy's new book "The Art of Burning Man" (published by Taschen) charts 16 years of the festival's art, including "Embrace" (shown here) by Kevan Christiaens, Kelsey Owens, Bill Tubman, Joe Olivier, Matt Schultz and the Pier Group (2014).
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"For some people it's a big party, for others, (a chance) to work with a community of friends to build a massive project you could never do by yourself," says Guy. "For some it's a spiritual experience, for some it's the biggest brashest loudest rave you've ever seen. For some it's a chance to explore aspects of your personality and life you could never do at home. For others a chance to push yourself in ways you never knew you could."<br />
"For some people it's a big party, for others, (a chance) to work with a community of friends to build a massive project you could never do by yourself," says Guy. "For some it's a spiritual experience, for some it's the biggest brashest loudest rave you've ever seen. For some it's a chance to explore aspects of your personality and life you could never do at home. For others a chance to push yourself in ways you never knew you could."
© N K Guy/ Courtesy Taschen
Structures such as "The Temple of Transition" by David Best and the Temple Crew (2011) rise up in the desert for a week's time.
Structures such as "The Temple of Transition" by David Best and the Temple Crew (2011) rise up in the desert for a week's time.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
When Guy first attended Burning Man in 1998, "I wasn't prepared for what a vast bustling city of art and experience I'd find. It was like visiting a foreign country that you'd seen on a postcard -- nothing quite prepares you for the experience of immersion in such a culture."
When Guy first attended Burning Man in 1998, "I wasn't prepared for what a vast bustling city of art and experience I'd find. It was like visiting a foreign country that you'd seen on a postcard -- nothing quite prepares you for the experience of immersion in such a culture."
© N K Guy/ Courtesy Taschen
"It's like being transported to an alien planet, or walking onto a movie set when nobody is filming," says Guy. Shown here is "CS (Clock Ship) Tere" by Andy Tibbetts (2013).
"It's like being transported to an alien planet, or walking onto a movie set when nobody is filming," says Guy. Shown here is "CS (Clock Ship) Tere" by Andy Tibbetts (2013).
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
Guy's Burning Man photography started as "a desire to capture and interpret the incredible sights around me to help me process it, really." "Pier 2" by Kevan Christiaens, Matt Schultz and the Pier Group (2012) is shown here.
Guy's Burning Man photography started as "a desire to capture and interpret the incredible sights around me to help me process it, really." "Pier 2" by Kevan Christiaens, Matt Schultz and the Pier Group (2012) is shown here.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"The most powerful group of works would be the yearly temples (first created by David Best) that are constructed in the desert," says Guy. "They've become a secular sacred space, where people can gather to grieve and experience loss of any kind." "The Temple of Joy" by David Best and the Temple Crew (2002) is shown here.
"The most powerful group of works would be the yearly temples (first created by David Best) that are constructed in the desert," says Guy. "They've become a secular sacred space, where people can gather to grieve and experience loss of any kind." "The Temple of Joy" by David Best and the Temple Crew (2002) is shown here.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
Burning Man has given Guy "a sense of what teams of volunteers, guided by a common vision and goal, can accomplish. All without the usual structures of hierarchy, money, government, religious institutions, or corporations." "Remains of the Man" by Burning Man arts festival participant Kaspian (2013) is shown here.
Burning Man has given Guy "a sense of what teams of volunteers, guided by a common vision and goal, can accomplish. All without the usual structures of hierarchy, money, government, religious institutions, or corporations." "Remains of the Man" by Burning Man arts festival participant Kaspian (2013) is shown here.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"Art is central to the event," says Guy, "from the very first Burning Man figure to the vast plain of installations that characterizes them even today." "Man Burn" by Larry Harvey, Jerry James, Dan Miller, the ManKrew, Lewis Zaumeyer and Andrew Johnstone (2013) is shown here.
"Art is central to the event," says Guy, "from the very first Burning Man figure to the vast plain of installations that characterizes them even today." "Man Burn" by Larry Harvey, Jerry James, Dan Miller, the ManKrew, Lewis Zaumeyer and Andrew Johnstone (2013) is shown here.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"The two-lane road that winds its way north across the desert isn't any wider today than it was 16 years ago. And this has put a fixed limit on the number of people that can reasonably be accommodated," says Guy. "Black Rock City" city plan by Rod Garrett (2011) is shown here.
"The two-lane road that winds its way north across the desert isn't any wider today than it was 16 years ago. And this has put a fixed limit on the number of people that can reasonably be accommodated," says Guy. "Black Rock City" city plan by Rod Garrett (2011) is shown here.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
No matter how popular Burning Man becomes, Guy says some things don't change. "The dust, the vast scale of the desert against which we're all incomprehensibly small creatures, the gatherings of friends, the sense of open invitation to be who you want to be -- that's always part of Burning Man." "El Pulpo Mecanico" was created by Duane Flatmo and Jerry Kunkel (2014).
No matter how popular Burning Man becomes, Guy says some things don't change. "The dust, the vast scale of the desert against which we're all incomprehensibly small creatures, the gatherings of friends, the sense of open invitation to be who you want to be -- that's always part of Burning Man." "El Pulpo Mecanico" was created by Duane Flatmo and Jerry Kunkel (2014).
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"Lost Suitcase" by Pi Feathersword (2013) shows the vastness of the Nevada desert.
"Lost Suitcase" by Pi Feathersword (2013) shows the vastness of the Nevada desert.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
16 years of Burning Man art

Story highlights

Burning Man is rising from the desert on August 30

A community of 60,000 will gather to make art and avoid commercialism

On the final night, a totem will be set ablaze

CNN  — 

Create a temporary desert temple to whatever deity or ideals you hold true.

Learn how to spin fire.

Enjoy a cold gin and tonic at the 7 Deadly Gins bar.

Or build a giant sculpture of two people embracing and burn it down, as artists Kevan Christiaens, Kelsey Owens, Bill Tubman, Joe Olivier, Matt Schultz and the Pier Group did in 2014.

All of this and more can take place at the temporary city of 60,000 people known as Burning Man, the annual gathering that is rising once again in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. Dating back to 1986, this year’s Burn