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Please click here to view a video message from the fairy shrimp. The video is from the 2017 installation, but the message is the same for 20...

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Not very Streptocephalus ...


...but it will do just fine.
I am excited, bewildered, and grateful.

What if tiny playa denizens suddenly danced in the sky on a scale that is similar whales? 

"Of a Temporary Nature" presents a giant brood of fairy shrimp to celebrate the magic and beauty of these usually unnoticed, indigenous inhabitants and the simple celebratory lessons they may impart.

The stylized sea monkeys first appear as a ghostly dance of mysterious forms. From a distance they may entice one to wonder what lies ahead, as the school of similar shapes appear vaguely familiar and possibly yet foreign. 

As we draw near they may now appear as intriguing possibilities, and we may even recognize them for what they represent, the anostracan genus Branchinecta, the indigenous fairy shrimps of Black Rock Desert. 

This year the flooded playa gave rise to an enormous emergence of these miraculous creatures, and these enlarged residuals may remind us of our own preciously fleeting existence.

These fairy shrimp are constructed of rip-stop nylon and fiberglass rods, and float as fixed kites from bamboo poles. This installation is specifically created of creatures from the playa for creatures on the playa to be hopefully engaged through visual enjoyment and environmental interaction. During the day they sparkle in the sun shine while at night they glow with the light of a continuously changing spectrum.

The simultaneously sinuous action of the similar forms creates a sense of immediate community and cooperation. They dance in unison with the wind, similar in direction and undulation, and invite us to join in the flow. When there is no wind, there is simply limp rest, and maybe some slight shade to sit within. There is no function here other than to be, to exist in our fullest for the time being, and to appreciate.


They rise and pivot above our heads to function as unusual windsocks that transcend into anostracan clouds, placing the scale of nature in reverse, as humans now stand under the domain of the lowly fairy shrimp. 

We are all of a temporary nature and we may yearn to live like fairy shrimp – to simply eat, mate, dance, and enjoy each other’s company as much as we can before our pool dries up.  

More on this as time allows.

Supported in part by a grant from Burning Man

Introducing the 2017 Black Rock City Honoraria

2017 Art Installations

Special thanks to
Priscilla Van Tries
Parker and Ian Quinn
Jean Quinn
Jim Dattilo
Noah Count
Brody Scotland
All those at Burning Man who make this happen:
Mr. Harvey et al., Katie Hazard, The Artery, DPW,
Lamplighter Village, it goes on and on ...
The Webb School - Bell Buckle:
Administration, students and colleagues
Webb's Class of 1967 and Marion Marks
Joel Hausler
Anita Van Tries
Amy Van Tries
Zack Hyde