The theme for this year's Burning Man, a counterculture festival held annually in the Nevada desert, was "Green Man." Several art pieces addressed environmental issues, but the pollutants put out from fires, fireworks displays, generators and RVs, among a host of other vehicles, left some attendees wondering how green the event really was.
Several large art pieces at Burning Man 2007 attacked the oil industry head on. Mike Ross cut up pieces of two real oil tankers for his "Big Rig Jig," curved them and hoisted them in the air in an "S" shape. People could crawl up inside the tankers.
"Our source objects are fundamental to the world's oil distribution infrastructure, and are pertinent examples of our culture's unmatched production of carbon dioxide. By altering these symbolically rich objects, the sculpture is a celebration of humankind's raw power on earth, a visual metaphor for nonsustainability, and a contemplation of our unique ability to recognize and change our most destructive actions," he wrote in an artist's statement.
Photo by Elinor Mills/CNET News.com
