Biographical note:

Larry Harvey is the Founder of Burning Man and Burning Man Project. He currently serves as head of the Burning Man Project's Philosophical Center, conceives the theme of the Burning Man event each year, and determines the design of the Man and its base. He is passionate about books and art, and resides in San Francisco.

Will Chase is a writer best known for his role as publisher of Burning Man's online newsletter, Jackrabbit Speaks, and as editor of The Burning Blog. He is also a long-time art curator and arts consultant through his company, Will Chase Arts.

Scott London is a longtime photographer of Burning Man, and his photos have appeared in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, GQ, and National Geographic Traveler. He is the former host of NPR's "Insight and Outlook."

Sidney Erthal has had his camera poised for the past seven Burns which is how Burning Man aficionados carbon-date their experience with the festival. Born and educated in Brazil, he has lived in the San Francisco Bay area for the past decade.

Leo Villareal is an artist who works with light and scale. He has created numerous iconic works including Multiverse for the underground walkway of Washington's National Gallery of Art, Hive for New York's Bleecker Street subway station, and The Bay Lights, spanning the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland.

Jennifer Raiser is the founder and editor of SFWire.com, and she has written for The San Francisco Chronicle and The Huffington Post. She is also the Treasurer of the Burning Man Project.

Main description:

Every August, tens of thousands of participants gather to celebrate artistic expression in Nevada's barren Black Rock Desert. This vastly inhospitable location, called the playa, is the site of Burning Man, where, within a 9-mile fence, artists called Burners create a temporary city devoted to art and participation. Braving extreme elements, over two hundred wildly ambitious works of art are created and intended to delight, provoke, involve, or amaze. In 2013, over 68,000 people attended - the highest number ever allowed on the playa. As Burning Man has created new context, new categories of art have emerged since its inception, including Art to Ride, Collaborative Art, and of course, Art to Burn. Burning Man: Art on Fire is an authorized collection of some of the most stunning examples of Burning Man art. Experience the amazing sculptures, art, stories, and interviews from the world's greatest gathering of artists. Get lost in a rich gallery of images showcasing the best examples of playa art with 170 photos. Interviews with the artists reveal not only their motivation to create art specifically for Burning Man, but they also illuminate the dramatic efforts it took to create their pieces. Featuring the incredible photography of long-time Burning Man photographers, Sidney Erthal and Scott London, an introduction from Burning Man founder Larry Harvey, and a foreword from Will Chase, this stunning gift book allows Burners and enthusiasts alike to have a piece of Burning Man with them all year around.

Review quote:

"Burners wait all year to travel to a remote desert where they create stupefying art and build amazing sculpture - then burn it all down a week later. Fortunately, someone took some pictures!" - Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman)