The Monaco

All hands on deck! The Monaco is a Burning Man land frigate. She was built to sail the Black Rock Desert (yes, we mean sail…turn off the engine and go!) She is approximately 45 feet long and holds more than 40 passengers. She’s got three masts, a generator for music and lighting, a bar, and plenty of room on the deck for both crew and passengers.

Cap’n Greg Barron began dreaming of building a frigate for Burning Man after he had built the Canyou, a BRC outrigger sailing canoe. In 2010, he decided to bring that dream to fruition.

After studying various plans from 18th century Royal Navy and American naval frigates from 1790–1799, he ultimately decided to use plans for The Raleigh, a Continental Navy ship laid down in 1776, to design his frigate.

He rescaled his design to about 50% of the Raleigh’s size and adjusted the beam to fit the chassis of an RV. And then the fun began! Cap’n Greg and his trusty crew stripped the RV to the bone and rebuilt it to be the beautiful landship we know as the Monaco.

For further reading: Monaco’s Facebook Page

The Nautilus

Commissioned by and in collaboration with Christopher Bently
Lead Artist: Sean Orlando
Operations/Electrical: David Shulman
Design Engineer: Greg Jones
Interior Design: Bree Hylkema

The Nautilus project is an artistic experiment and collaboration between Christopher Bently, Sean Orlando, and Five Ton Crane. It is a land-based submarine weighing in at 11,000 pounds (dry) with a top speed of 13 mph. The base vehicle is a 2005 Eagle TT8 diesel AWD airport tow tractor, designed to tow 90,000-pound airplanes. 25′ long, 100″ wide, 11′6″ tall

The Nautilus comes fully equipped with:

• Harpoon gun water cannon (13 gallons per minute)
• Hydraulic drive controls
• RFID security system
• GPS navigation
• Pro-audio
• iPad/iPod/iPhone interface controls
• LED RGB programmable lighting system
• Library
• Specimen lab
• Navigation room
• Night vision periscope
• Poop deck with custom shade canopy
• Air conditioning

For further reading: The Nautilus

The Black Rock Bookmobile

The Black Rock Bookmobile is a volunteer-operated mobile free lending library where participants at the Burning Man Art Festival can launch intellectual pursuits — with or without clothes. I don’t know the entire history of this, but the BRC Bookmobile has been around forever. I remember a lovely time I had in this little oasis in 2001.

Numbskull

The Numbskull art car by Craig Backer will be returning again.

Mirage

The Mirage is created by Craig Maldonado, Brendan Burke, and Erland Sanborn.

In the daytime the Mirage reflects the Playa passively with its mirrored exterior. At nighttime it becomes an interactive lightshow that reinterprets the sights, sounds, and people of the Playa into a face-melting video montage.

Features: Dual-Kinect Panoramic Interactive Input, PA Sound System, Passive Cloaking, Active Amazingness, Reclining seats, Fore and Aft Remote Control Spotlights, Towing Package, Cushy Interior, Underlit Rooftop Dance Floor, and Giant RGB LED array.

For further Reading: The Mirage

El Pulpo

El Pulpo Mecanico was built in Arcata, California. Designed and built by Duane Flatmo along with his friend Jerry Kunkel who masterminded the electrical systems and flame effects.

For further reading: El Pulpo

Red Barron

Chris Gattman was excited to share with me that his daughter will be coming to Burning Man for her first time. She was born in 2006, the first year the Serpent Mother by Flaming Lotus Girls was shown, and they have a postcard in their house of the Serpent that she has grown up seeing. He is excited to show her the real thing this year.

Rent-a-Rat

Chester

Chester’s head was created with recycled motorcycle tires. 

Head sculptor: Rebecca Anders

Further information: Chester’s Facebook Page