Synopses & Reviews
Each Year, tens of thousands of people from all walks of life travel to the extreme environment of the Black Rock Desert outside Reno, Nevada to create Burning Man - a vibrant community based on radical self-expression, participatory art and generosity. The result is a remarkable and magical week of art, music, performance and play.
Drama in the Desert: The Sights and Sounds of Burning Man is a full-color book (which includes a DVD) based on the captivating images of Holly Kreuter, with contributions from an additional 90 Burning Man participants, offering the reader a taste of the Burning Man experience.
Holly Kreuter contributed her photographs from 1996-2001 and led the Drama team of 90. Her photography of the art and spectacle of Burning Man has appeared in numerous shows and exhibits. A participant since 1995, and a staff member working year-round on Burning Man for more than 6 years, she brings a unique perspective to capturing moments of serendipity and delight in the temporary desert home known to many as the playa.
Review
"Supernatural sculptures of light, earth and mesh curl into the sky, and people bike and dance like it's 1967....[T]his book should do well in alternative culture outlets."
Publishers Weekly
Review
"Visually transporting" (Pick of the Week) LA Weekly
Review
"Kreuter should be granted her own day in the media sun for having done such an extraordinary job. It is a lovingly designed and beautifully photographed book that captures the spaciousness of the desert, the art-extravaganza nature of the experience, and the wonders of the playa."
The Brooklyn Rail
Review
"[A] giant testament to this weird and wonderful gathering
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San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
Review
"Capturing the sometimes quizzical, sometimes cruel, sometimes dramatic art and documentary efforts of [ninety] contributors, Drama In The Desert is strongly recommended as an eclectic, unique, and vibrant experience impressing its fiery artistic message upon the reader's spirit." The Bookwatch
Review
"The intense emotional experiences had by many on the playa are played out in the midst of the art, often resulting in profound personal connections to the installations....Holly's photographs capture the unique intensity and emotion of the art at Burning Man. She's there, she's in it, and she makes you feel that you are, too."
LadyBee, Art Curator, Burning Man
Review
"[A] beautiful, lovingly-produced record of and tribute to the boundless creativity that converges there each year. An authentic expression and extension of the Black Rock ethic, it also provides an inspirational answer to the question that torments many Burners: how to change a site-specific, one-week-a-year experience into something enduring and permanent." Geoff Dyer, author of But Beautiful, Out of Sheer Rage, and Paris Trance
Review
"Burning Man provides in abundance so many vital resources that seem to have drained from the rest of the world lately: Art. Fun. Community. Danger. Love. Sharing. Fire. Responsibility. Ingenuity. Sex. Poetry. Imagination. Whimsy. Music. Sharing. Magic. It's impossible to capture in words and images, but Drama In The Desert comes close...." Howard Rheingold, author of The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology, and The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog
Description
Book includes:
- Over 280 photos by Holly Kreuter
- 42 Writing Contributors
- Foreword by bestselling author Dave Eggers
- Introduction by Burning Man founder Larry Harvey
- Rare photos of the first 'Man' by co-founder Jerry James
DVD includes:
- 74 minute movie
- Original Score by Sean Abreu. (Soundtrack CD available separately)
- Seven slideshows featuring 560 Kreuter photographs
- Video interviews with 8 artists including Larry Harvey
- To view the DVD, you will need a player that is capable of playing NTSC encoded discs. The disc itself is region-free.