The Photography of Jon Rendell

Burning Man — A Vicarious Experience

Burning Man is a week-long, large-scale annual desert gathering focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. Evolving from a small beach gathering of 35 people in San Francisco in 1986, it has transformed into a massive global cultural movement centered around Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis built entirely from scratch by its citizens in the Nevada desert.

During my twenty-five years in San Francisco, I never attended a "Burning Man", but fortunately Burning Man came to us on occasion in the form of sculptures and "Decompression Parties". These Parties originated in San Francisco as a way for participants (known as "Burners") to cope with the severe "re-entry shock" of returning to normal society after the week-long desert gathering. In 2025, they shifted these parties to Oakland.

The festival rebranded as a street fair in 2002, settling into the industrial, low-slung setting of San Francisco’s Dogpatch. For more than a decade, this area served as the event’s core location. Veteran Burners often recall this stretch as the “Dogpatch days”.

I lived in Dogpatch during this time and couldn't resist the loud throng emanating from the nearby celebrations. Below are photos of relocated Burning Man sculptures and decompression street partying in Dogpatch.

Dogpatch Decompression Party, 2011

Dogpatch Decompression Party, 2011

"Passage" (reclaimed steel 30’H x 20’W x 9’D), by Dan DasMann and Karen Cusolito, originally installed at Burning Man 2005, expresses the moment in which legacy is passed on from one generation to the next. Photo 2006.

Dogpatch Decompression Party, 2011

Dogpatch Decompression Party, 2011

Slap That Bass!

The "Raygun Gothic Rocketship" was a 40-foot-tall retro-futuristic public art installation that stood along The Embarcadero at Pier 14.
Created by Oakland-based artist collective Five Ton Crane, the sculpture was installed in August 2010 and removed in March 2013.
The piece originally debuted at Burning Man in 2009.

Dogpatch Decompression Party, 2011

Dogpatch Decompression Party, 2011

The 40-foot tall steel sculpture "Bliss, the Dancing Lady" by SF artist Marco Cochrane was created for Burning Man, and then moved to Treasure Island.
The statue was taken down in 2015 when it became unstable because of damage caused by the salty climate.