A few months ago, Fiber Art Now had the pleasure of meeting Seattle fiber artist Cameron Anne Mason as she and her creative team were building The Wind Phone installation for Burning Man 2024. We’re excited to share her story and her experiences, along with some fascinating images that capture the essence of her work and the collaborative effort behind this unique project.
Burning Man began in 1986 when Larry Harvey and a friend built a wooden effigy and burned it on San Francisco’s Baker Beach. In 1990, they moved the event to the Black Rock Desert. It continued to evolve and has grown into an international gathering of art, community, and the largest “leave-no-trace” event in the world.
Cameron Mason first attended in 2007, and except for 2012 and the pandemic, she has returned every year since. What keeps her coming back? The art primarily, but also the community, the chance to face a harsh environment, and even the fine alkaline dust.
In 2014, Mason received her first honorarium grant from Burning Man for the project called Playastan Crossroads. Working with her friend and builder Peter Weston, she learned then that these large-scale projects are inherently collaborative. Since then, each of her three projects has been under the name Dusty Nation, where she serves as art director, guiding a crew through the creative process.
Carried by the Wind, was their project for 2024. They had a team of 14 people, including leads in building, lighting, decor, and logistics. This team brought The Wind Phone to Burning Man. The Wind Phone originated in Japan as a response to the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami. The challenge lay in finding a way to bring a Wind Phone to Burning Man, adapting it to the environment while integrating it with her work in fibers.
The Wind Phone at Burning Man, unconnected to any earthly line, served as a conduit for grief and connection. Surrounded by hand-dyed banners, participants connected with those they had lost, creating a deeply personal and emotional experience. While it’s impossible to fully quantify the number of visitors due to the 24-hour activity of Burners, thousands passed through the installation. More than 1,500 people picked up the receiver to speak with those they could no longer communicate with in any other way. There were conversations with family, friends, and lovers who had departed this life, and many tears were shed. The surrounding vertical banners were dyed using gravity and melting ice. That was a symbolic reminder of the environmental losses we face globally due to climate change.
This year, Burning Man awarded $1.4 million in honorarium grants for 76 projects out of 375 applications. Anyone can bring art to Burning Man, but receiving a grant supports the realization of larger visions. Carried by the Wind was designed with the future in mind. They plan to exhibit it at Burning Man Regionals and other venues, allowing more people to experience its impact. You can follow Dusty Nation Art on Instagram and Facebook to find out about future exhibitions.
While it’s too soon to determine her next project, Mason is excited about incorporating lighting with hand-dyed fabrics and continuing her collaboration with Ron Smith, aka Octoeyes. After a year filled with a solo gallery show and Burning Man installation, she’s looking forward to rest and rejuvenation.
“As an artist, I straddle the worlds of gallery fine art and festival art,” she said. “For a long time, I kept these worlds separate, fearing that the lesser value placed on festival art would devalue my gallery work. However, the fine art world is beginning to embrace art created in alternative spaces, as seen in exhibitions like No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man.”
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Cami Smith is the Fiber Art Now media manager, community engagement coordinator, and a mixed-media artist.
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