What started with a few people burning a human effigy on a San Francisco beach in 1986 has become a global phenomenon with an eight-day event of more than 70,000 people and associated Burning Man regional events around the world. Located 100 miles northwest of Reno in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, is home to the festival dedicated to art, community, anti-consumerism, and self-expression. As a cultural co-founder of Burning Man, Will Roger’s Compass of the Ephemeral: Aerial Photography of Black Rock City through the Lens of Will Roger chronicles the ever-changing cityscape and transformation of the temporary Black Rock City – complete with typical city infrastructure – and the innovative Burning Man art installations, both of which are created and taken down year after year.
The eBook edition also includes interpretive essays by William L. Fox, director of the Nevada Museum of Art’s Center for Art + Environment; Alexei Vranich, American archeologist at the University of California, Berkeley; Tony “Coyote” Perez-Banuet, city superintendent of Black Rock City; and an introduction by Harley K. DuBois explores the cultural context and impact of the Burning Man festival. The hardcopy edition of Compass of the Ephemeral: Aerial Photography of Black Rock City through the Lens of Will Roger was originally released on June 18, 2019. This exciting publication will be available November 2021.
About Will Roger
Will Roger discovered Burning Man in 1994, through his life partner, Crimson Rose. Together and with several others, they are co-founders of Black Rock City, LLC, the company that has produced the Burning Man event for nearly 20 years. As a cultural co-founder of Burning Man, Roger also founded and managed the Black Rock City Department of Public Works. He is the co-founder of the Black Rock Art Foundation, a founding board member of Burning Man Project, and vice-president of Friends of the Black Rock/High Rock. Roger is heavily involved in conservation efforts for the Black Rock Desert, which is the United States’ largest National Conservation Area (NCA), and which is home to the Burning Man event. He served as Chairman of the Sierra Front – North Western Great Basin – Resource Advisory Council (RAC), and is currently a member of the RAC NCA Subgroup. Roger is also an accomplished photographer; and for nearly 20 years, he served at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., as a photo chemist, administrator, associate professor, and assistant director. His photography has been exhibited at The Smithsonian and Sotheby’s, as well as other museums and galleries. He is also the guest of several podcasts including the Art of Dynamic Competence and Artnet.
About Smallworks Press
Founded in 2006, Smallworks Press is an award-winning publisher specializing in arts and culture trade titles and limited editions. From motels in Vegas, to street art and aerial photographs of land art on the playa, for nearly twenty-five years Smallworks Press has published the work of artists and writers that explore our world and the place of the arts within it, and always – the shimmering Zen of the neon lights of Vegas.
Laura Henkel of ArtCulture PR served as Managing Editor for the project.