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Originally Posted by Chris
wtf
what is that huge wooden thing?
story behind it ?
how long to put it up?
came in pieces? amazing shit
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Each year at BMan there is always one art installation that really stands out to me. My first year it was the Temple of Gravity.
In 2004, it was David Best's Temple.
In 2005, it was the Jacob's Ladder (rising 108 feet into the heavens.
In 2006, it was without a doubt, the installation that took 90 people from Belgium to build.
It was affectionately referred to as the "Belgian Waffle". It's actual name was "Uchronia".
I've been very curious myself to learn more about how this piece came to be.
I found the following article about it's creators. I also heard on BMIR (Burning Man radio) that there was enough lumber used in the construction to span 100 miles.
It was a privelage to experience this piece in person.
- Best art installation: 'The Belgian Waffle'
Ninety artists from Belgium shipped 100 miles of wooden beams to the playa, and nail-gunned them into a free-form cavern 15 stories high. It looked like a giant's haystack twisted into a computer model of a wave, with curved entrances on four sides. Reminiscent of Frank Gehry's undulating architectural style, its sides appeared to drip, defying gravity.
Dwarfing all other sculptures, the "Waffle" was the biggest draw at night, as revelers packed into the cavern and danced to electronica bathed in neon-green light.
"We didn't use a model, we just started at the bottom and kept adding as we went up," said Jan Kriekels, who said he funded the entire $250,000 project, including buying $250 tickets for the volunteers who spent three weeks building it. They used construction cranes to add the lumber to the top. The 2-inch-by-3-inch beams ranged in size from 8 to 10 feet long and came from the reject pile at a Canadian lumber mill.
Although the artists might be offended by the sculpture's nickname, the installation's true name is "Uchronia" -- named after a Belgian art movement centered on a world without the concept of time, Kriekels said.
"This piece is a symbol for a system that creates its own creators. We all did this together without being told how to do it -- we are factory workers, bookmakers, editors, designers, artists, salespeople -- and we can only do this if we refuse to be defined," he said.
The artists plan to burn "Uchronia" tonight. Kriekels said his crew will plant enough trees in Belgium to offset his installation's greenhouse emissions.
For those interested in knowing more about Uchronia and seeing some amazing images of the piece -- including it's destruction by fire -- go to http://www.uchronians.org/