How Burning Man Nurtures the Kind of Interactive Primal Artwork Created Solely For the Sake of Art

Nora Atkinson, the craft curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum‘s Renwick Gallery, gave an insightful TED talk to a Vancouver audience about the art of Burning Man. Atkinson specifically speaks to the highly interactive and primal nature of the artwork cannot help but be created in the middle of the desert and how that enormous, dusty community space inspires such creativity and nurtures art for art’s sake above all else.

Every year something compels people from all different walks of life from all over the world to go out into the desert and make art when there is no money in it the works not always refined it’s not always viable it’s not even always good but it’s authentic and optimistic in a way we rarely see anywhere else in these cynical times. It’s comforting to know that we’re still capable of great feats of imagination…What is art for in our contemporary world if not this?

Atkinson knows exactly of what she speaks, as she curated the massive and incredible “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” show at the Renwick in February 2018.

Here are some photos from that show.

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Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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