Flaming Lotus Girls

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"Soma" sculpture adapted to use LED lights instead of fire, installed in San Francisco as public art, 2015 Flaming Lotus Girls - Soma - San Francisco.jpeg
"Soma" sculpture adapted to use LED lights instead of fire, installed in San Francisco as public art, 2015

Flaming Lotus Girls is a volunteer-based group of artists who make large-scale kinetic fire art. FLG has been described as a "women-focused anarchist art collective." [1] The group began in 2000, in San Francisco, California, as a group of six women and two men who wanted to gain the fabrication and design experience needed to create large sculptural installations. [2] The group includes over a hundred members of all genders, and a majority of the members are women. [3] Many of the sculptures have interactive elements, allowing the audience to control the lighting, flames, sound, or other effects. [4] The collective's work has appeared throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands. [5]

Contents

Art

Mutopia Evolution (2023)

Mutopia Evolution was an art installation at Burning Man in 2023. [6]

Sea of Dreams (2022)

Sea of Dreams is a 2022 Black Rock City Honoraria project. [7] Sea of Dreams is an immersive sculptural landscape featuring origami boats bound for a magical island of fiery plants and mystical origami cranes.

Serenity (2019)

Serenity is a 2019 Black Rock City Honoraria project. [8] It features a group of three giant, and many smaller fireflies escaping the pieces of a large broken jar. Serenity is primarily sculpted in steel - and features interactive flame and LED effects at night. It debuted at Burning Man in August 2019. [9]

Noetica (2017)

Noetica is a set of two sculptures constructed from 144 stainless steel squares carved with intricate patterns. The larger of the two sculptures is hydraulically powered - and may be controlled by manually manipulating the smaller sculpture. Noetica was displayed in Black Rock City, NV in 2017. [10]

Pulse (2016)

Pulse is an anatomically-correct heart that beats fire through its four chambers, emulating the blood flow through the human heart. [11] The outer steel structure mimics the intricate vasculature and predominant veins and arteries. Above the heart chambers, the aortic arch shoots pulses of fire into the night sky. [12] The sculpture was displayed at the SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco in 2016 as part of an event promoting a Flaming Lotus Girls photo calendar. [11]

Xylophage (2013)

Xylophage is a giant sculptural fungi featuring sound, light and fire, sprouting from the remains of an enormous tree. [1] Xylophage appeared at Burning Man in 2013. [4]

Tympani Lambada (2011)

Tympani Lambada at Burning Man Tympani Lambada (6156533313).jpg
Tympani Lambada at Burning Man

Tympani Lambada is a sculptural representation of the inner ear, with interactive controls for its flames and LED lights. [13] The sculpture is approximately 80 by 40 feet and weighs 20,000-25,000 pounds. [14] The planning and construction of the sculpture involved building large trusses out of pipes that carry propane, linked with 140 joints. [14]

Soma (2009)

Soma at the Electric Daisy Carnival Soma michael prados.jpg
Soma at the Electric Daisy Carnival

Soma is a stainless steel neuron that illustrates flowing electricity through crowd-controlled LED light patterns that shoot along its dendrites and axon. Soma appeared at Electric Daisy Carnival in 2013. [15] In 2014 it was installed at Pier 14 along the Embarcadero on the San Francisco waterfront for one year, adapted to light up with LED lights instead of the original balls of fire. [16] In 2016 it moved to Vallejo, California as a public art installation for two years, as part of an effort to draw visitors to the city's downtown and waterfront areas. [17]

Mutopia (2008)

Mutopia methanol shooters, Friday night, Burning Man 2008 B DSC04257.JPG
Mutopia methanol shooters, Friday night, Burning Man 2008

Mutopia is a spiraling sculpture of "seedpods," laid out according to the Golden Ratio, a proportion found throughout art and nature. This sculpture was also displayed at Maker Faire Bay Area in 2011. [18]

The Serpent Mother (2006)

The Serpent Mother Flgserpent fro.jpg
The Serpent Mother

The Serpent Mother is a 168-foot-long (51 m) sculpture of a skeletal serpent coiled around her egg. Serpent Mother has appeared at Electric Daisy Carnival and Coachella in 2012 and Burning Man. [19] In 2017, Serpent Mother was featured at Beakerhead in Calgary. In 2018, Serpent Mother was featured at the White Night Festival in Melbourne, Australia. [20]

The Angel of the Apocalypse (2005)

The Angel of the Apocalypse at Burning Man 2005 Angel of the Apocalypse.jpg
The Angel of the Apocalypse at Burning Man 2005

This sculpture, originally built of steel, driftwood and fire systems, rises from the earth in the form of an abstracted bird. The Angel's wings burn continuously with ambient flame, and each feather features audience-controlled "poofer" fire effects.

Its head, formed from curved steel plate and featuring hand-blown glass eyes, stands 20 feet (6.1 m) tall and functions as a wood-burning fireplace. Participants are invited to move around and between the Angel's feathers, and to climb and sit atop its driftwood torso.

During its debut appearance at Burning Man, the driftwood torso was burnt as part of the performance. A new steel one was designed and constructed in the winter of 2009–2010, to bring to Toronto's Winter Festival.

The Seven Sisters (2004)

Electra of the Seven Sisters, morning after the Burn, Burning Man 2004 FLG Electra at dawn.JPG
Electra of the Seven Sisters, morning after the Burn, Burning Man 2004

A collection of seven sculptures approximately 15 feet (4.6 m) in height, representing the stars of the Pleiades constellation. The Seven Sisters include Alcyone, Celano, Maia, Taygeta, Asterope, Merope, and Electra.

A Merope rebuild was completed in March 2012, and features CNC plasma-cut stainless steel sides.

The Hand of God (2003)

A 12-foot (3.7 m) copper sculpture of a woman's hand that shoots flame from all five fingers.

Mini Mega Jr. (2002)

Fire Fan (2002)

Huge plumes of liquid fire controlled by MIDI.

Fire Island (2002)

Interactive flaming flowers, cacti, arbors and more.

Flaming Flower Garden (2001)

A garden of fire, including copper flowers, a lily pond, and a weeping willow.

Flaming Lotus Sr. (2000)

A sculptural flame thrower. Created for the 2000 Burning Man Festival. [2]

Film

The Flaming Lotus Girls were featured in Dust & Illusions , [21] a documentary about the history of Burning Man. Pouneh Mortazavi, Rebecca Anders, Rosa Anna DeFilippis, Caroline Miller, Charlie Gadeken and James Stauffer were the Flaming Lotus Girls members interviewed for the film. The footage features the Serpent Mother.

Related Research Articles

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Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frieze</span> Wide central section part of an entablature

In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon the architrave and is capped by the moldings of the cornice. A frieze can be found on many Greek and Roman buildings, the Parthenon Frieze being the most famous, and perhaps the most elaborate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burning Man</span> Annual experimental festival based in Nevada, United States

Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the western United States. The event's name comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the penultimate night, the Saturday evening before Labor Day. Since 1991, the event has been at Black Rock City in northwestern Nevada, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles (160 km) north-northeast of Reno. According to Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey in 2004, the event is guided by ten stated principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tori Busshi</span> Japanese sculpture

Tori Busshi was a Japanese sculptor active in the late 6th and early 7th century. He was from the Kuratsukuri clan, and his full title was Shiba no Kuratsukuri-be no Obito Tori Busshi (司馬鞍作部首止利仏師); Busshi is a title meaning "the maker of Buddhist images". By the early 7th century, Tori Busshi had become the favorite sculptor of Soga no Umako and Prince Shōtoku. Such high-ranking patrons indicate that Tori was highly esteemed as an artist and not just an anonymous craftsman. Many extant Asuka period sculptures in gilt bronze are credited to Tori and his workshop. The artist's work epitomizes Japanese sculpture during the era, with its solid, geometric figures in front-oriented, characteristic poses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antigua Carnival</span> Celebration in Antigua

The Antiguan Carnival is a celebration of emancipation from slavery, held annually on the island of Antigua. It is a thirteen-day festival of colorful costumes, beauty pageants, talent shows, and music. The festival begins in late July and ends the first Tuesday in August, known as Carnival Tuesday. Both Carnival Monday and Carnival Tuesday are public holidays on the island. Antiguan Carnival replaced the Old Time Christmas Festival in 1957, with hopes of inspiring tourism in Antigua and Barbuda. Some elements of the Old Time Christmas Festival remain in the modern Carnival celebrations.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire art</span> Piece of art that uses active flames

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<i>Allow Me</i> (Portland, Oregon) Statue in Portland, Oregon

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Jen Lewin is an American interactive artist and engineer. She is based in New York City and specializes in large scale installations in public spaces, usually combining elements such as light, sound and complex engineering. Her interactive light installation The Pool debuted in 2008 and has been exhibited across the globe, in cities such as Singapore, Sydney, Denver, Montréal and Prague, and in events such as South By Southwest and Burning Man.

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Love is a sculpture by Ukrainian artist Alexander Milov. The sculpture was featured at the 2015 Burning Man festival in Nevada. The sculpture appears to represent two humans who are at odds, but each has an inner child attempting to connect with each other.

References

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  2. 1 2 Mohammadi, Goli (11 May 2010). "Maker Faire: Flaming Lotus Girls Soma". Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  3. "About FLG". Flaming Lotus Girls. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
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  6. Kong, David Sun (Sep 5, 2023). "I'm a 12-year veteran of Burning Man. These 12 photos show a resilient community rallying around the rain and mud with joy and humor". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
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  8. "Introducing the 2019 Black Rock City Honoraria". Burning Man Journal. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  9. "Serenity". Flaming Lotus Girls. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  10. "Noetica". flaminglotusgirls-serenity.com/. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  11. 1 2 Kukura, Joe (2016-11-30). "Flaming Lotus Girls Fire Up 2017-18 Calendar". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  12. "Pulse". flaminglotusgirls-serenity.com. Flaming Lotus Girls. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  13. Lynch, E.D.W. (2011-06-21). "Tympani Lambada, New Epic Scale Fire Art by Flaming Lotus Girls". Laughing Squid. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  14. 1 2 Abrams, Michael (October 2011). "The Intersection of Art and Engineering". The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  15. Carter, Geoff (19 June 2013). "A Carnival of Sights - Vegas Seven". Vegas Seven. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  16. Whiting, Sam (2014-07-21). "Burning Man Sculpture Opens on Waterfront". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  17. Glidden, John (2016-10-07). "SOMA sculpture arrives in Vallejo". Times-Herald. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  18. Stern, Becky (2011-09-05). "Three Mutopia Pods: Flaming Lotus Girls (video)". Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  19. Baltin, Steve (18 May 2012). "Electric Daisy Carnival Amps Up Its Art". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  20. Francis, Hannah (2017-12-14). "White Night ... White Month? Melbourne could see its all-night art party extended". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  21. Olivier, Bonin (March 2009). "Dust & Illusions. Documentary on 30 Years of Burning Man history". The 90 minutes long documentary features the Flaming Lotus in a 15 minutes segment.