At this year’s Burning Man, battered by sandstorms, rain and hours-long traffic delays, some participants say the hardships are part of the experience. Others aren’t so sure.
“The weather this year is not easy,” said Kate Sledkova, 36, a Utah-based artist. “The first day, there were sandstorms. From the second day, it has been raining, and it is impossible to move.”
The desert festival in Nevada’s Black Rock City began Sunday, following a weekend of brutal storms that battered camps, tore down art installations and caused dozens of injuries. Yet Sledkova, attending her second Burning Man, said morale in her camp remains strong.
Her team installed two artworks — “Hand of Fate,” a 15-foot steel-and-polycarbonate hand, and “An Event Horizon,” a vortex of pulsing lights — both of which survived the storms. Pieces like the Ukrainian-built inflatable sculpture “Black Cloud” weren’t so lucky…