
09 Apr A Totally Unexpected Wealth of Art
Art comes in all forms and comes from all manner of places, so why not Burning Man? The longstanding Nevada desert spectacle, part party, part rave and part art exhibition, has produced many eye-popping pieces. That said, only some survive “the burn.” Luckily for Vegas visitors, one such larger-than-life piece made its way to the city.
Simply titled Mantis, the brainchild of aerospace engineer Kirk Jellum was originally built upon a 1983 GMC commercial truck so as to be mobile. And it needed to be a heavy-duty vehicle, for sure – Mantis is 40 feet tall and 30 feet long, shaped like the same-named insect and featuring lights, a sound system, an ability to speak in 40 languages and, yes: fire. At its new home as a permanent installation in downtown’s Container Park, the sculpture shoots giant flames from its antennae that can reach six stories high. To see it, you only need to be there at sundown, when the Mantis comes alive. Read the article