Burning Man

Brobdingnag is the title of an installation by German and international artists of the artist network Interarte

Burning Man, Black Rock City, Nevada, USA, 2015

The title “Brobdingnag” refers to the novel “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift, in which Brobdingnag is the name of the country of the giants.
In 2015, as lead artist, I built this installation together with a group of German, American, Puerto Rican and Israeli artists for the Burning Man Festival in Nevada. Thankfully, we received support from the Burning Man Organisation and were able to use the workshop at The Generator in Reno.
Only in relation to the human dimension the table with its two chairs on the shallow salt lake of the Black Rock desert in Nevada, which is the annual home of the Burning Man Festival, can be recognized as the table of a giant. The encounter with the giant table transforms the physical and visual perception of the visitors into that of a child. They could climb the table, play on it, use it as a resting place, as a viewing platform, as a personal stage or a dancefloor, to experience the world and themselves in a different perspective from above.
These possibilities were used extensively: during the week of Burning Man, among other things, a wedding ceremony took place on the table, two artists invited for a tea ceremony in the evenings and often a mutant vehicle parked nearby and the table became a temporary club.
At sunset we invited for the performance “Flowers to the Desert”. Individual visitors were greeted by ambassadors and guided to the table, the “flappers” under the table treated the guests with essential oils and massages and prepared them for the small menu that was served on the table. Travelling to foreign countries always means confronting the unknown. It takes courage, curiosity and openness to open your mouth and taste our extraordinary delicacies. We served dried, candied flowers, pickled, fermented garlic stems and other conserved products, one would not find in a desert. In the midst of the bustling Burning Man Festival we wanted to offer an emotional, meditative moment of encounter to the visitors.

Performers:
Sabine Beyerle, Andy Edelblut, Adam Ende, Lingling Endelin, Anja Fiedler, Maribel Haussig, Pablillo José, Falk Lohmann, Raoul Mack, Susanne Papawassiliu, Daniel Polnau, David Reuter, Liam Reuter, Nelio Reuter, Charlene Ruscalleda, Yoshi Slabosky, Liv Wafler

Burning Man, 2015 (Brobdingnag – Flowers of the Desert)
a film by Earica Brown