Crews all over the Bay Area are feverishly working away on art pieces slated for display at the annual Burning Man art and music festival in Nevada.
The gates to Burning Man open to the public on Monday, Aug. 25, 2008, for one week.
While it may seem like artists have almost a month to get ready, many of the larger installations get set up much sooner, due to their size and scope.
Basura Sagrada, this year's temple, will be shipped to the Black Rock Desert, where the festival takes place each year, near Gerlach, Nevada, on Aug. 8, 2008.
NBC was given an exclusive look into the preparation going into getting this huge art piece ready for Burning Man.
Artist Shrine, who did a piece last year made out of recycled material, said he got a call from the Burning Man organizers a few months ago and was asked if he would build this year's temple.
Shrine said that "David Best is the originator and creator of the concept of the temple at Burning Man which is, I believe, one of the most amazing and largest interactive art projects in the world."
The temple is interactive because as metalworker and Basura Sagrada volunteer Shira Loa, said, "The temple is one of the most powerful and large installations at Burning Man where pretty much everybody can go and put writings or testaments [on the piece.] A lot of times, it is where people write about loved ones that have passed or just things that they want to release."
The temple is burned on the last night of the festival and as Shrine explains, "it is a huge ritual that encompasses thousands of people coming together to release, and transform, change themselves and change their lives. Many of us can do that anytime. Anytime you want you can change your life, or let go of a precious loved one. But the temple is an incredible tool to do that, have that cathartic moment where when the thing goes up in flames and you've got your piece in there, you can let it go. You can do it anyway, but it helps. And, being able to do it with 40,000 people is an amazing thing."
The temple will exist for less than a week, and to see it, you must go to Burning Man. For more information about the project, check out their Web site: www.basurasagrada.org
