(SCROLL PAST THE DUMB WORDS FOR PHOTOS)

I wanted to see every art piece at Burning Man. I had a plan.

Briefly, when you finally arrive at the gate to Burning Man you receive an armful of printed materials to help you navigate your week including a rather thick guide of scheduled happenings. In the back of that guide is a tear-out map one is lead to believe they can use to locate all the proper art installations scattered about the playa. Having noted the map’s existence the previous year I thought, yeah, this year I’ll just use that thing to make sure I see (and photograph) every piece, checking them off as I go. Grownup treasure hunt! Grand.

Well, I failed. Very quickly I learned that, just because an installation is noted on the map doesn’t mean it’s running, for one — some art pieces only function at night and are thus essentially undocumentable during the day — nor does it necessarily mean it’s there at all — some pieces get set up later in the week, some are burned down, some are planned by artists who ultimately “meh” out. Oh well. I will admit that I could have made more of an effort to complete my mission by returning to spots on the map where I’d previously struck out but Black Rock City covers roughly seven square miles of dusty hellscape with a good portion of that set aside for installations. It’s big. I wimped out. I suck. It’s OK.

Thus, below are photos of a good portion of Burning Man 2016’s art offerings (we’re still adding the physically smaller ones), certainly all the largest pieces. Peruse them, take them if you like. There are brief artist explanation excerpts included should you be baffled by what you’re looking at. Enjoy. —AG