The allure of fire is evident with the new temporary art installation in downtown Reno.
Like moths to a flame, people quickly gathered at the corner of Sierra Street and the Truckee River on Monday night to watch the test burn of “Celtic Forest: Book of the Raven,” which was exhibited last year at Burning Man.
The installation officially opens Friday night at the Sierra Arts Gallery with Celtic music and dancing from 5-8 p.m., and the Controlled Burn performers from 8-10:30 p.m.
“Fire brings people together,” said Maria Partridge, a Reno board member on the Black Rock Arts Foundation. “Burning Man is so close to the city of Reno. There are international-level artists being funded at Burning Man and the art goes away. Let’s bring it here. It’s so close.”
Burning Man is the annual arts festival held the week before Labor Day at the Black Rock Desert where approximately 50,000 people converge and create an temporary city.
Celtic Forest is the second Burning Man exhibit to be displayed on the lot. Last fall, eight trees made from recycled materials, called the Mangrove, were showcased for three months. This time the exhibit is a cohesive, collaborated work of metal sculptures that does not dwarf in the cityscape.
Conceptualized by Laura Kimpton and created by artists Jeff Schomberg, Antonio Ruperto and Bob Hofmann, Celtic Forest consists of a 16-foot book, two 10-foot-high figures and three 20-foot-high metal trees.
“I think it’s exciting and a fabulous opportunity to show our art in a downtown scene,” said Schomberg, who lives with wife Kimpton on 70 acres in west Marin County, California. “I’m a little envious to have this here. I’d like to have this in my city center so I could go visit it.”
Magical forest
The artwork comes alive with fire as it did on the Black Rock Desert.
Flames shoot upward from the towering book and dance from the three trees, called “Treelabra’s,” into the nighttime sky.
The book is flanked by two part man, part animal sculptures.
BoAnn, the Mermaid, stands in the middle of a moat of burnt books as the representation of the Goddess of Water. Epos Olloatir, the Centaur stands in the middle of a moat of burnt books as the representation of a God of Earths.
The moats contain many recognizable classics, like James Joyce’ “Ulysses,” Vladamir Labokov’s “Lolita,” John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden,” and Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat.”
The display on the Black Rock Desert included burning the books, but Partridge said, for safety reasons, they will not be burned on the Reno lot.
Partridge said she was surprised that an interactive art installation designed for the desert fits so well between the brick Riverside Artists Lofts and the recently built Mills B. Lane Justice Center.
“On the playa I loved it,” she said. “But when it came here this week, I thought this is actually better. It is bigger in scale compared to the buildings and it creates this magical space in downtown Reno. On the playa, everything is magical. So it becomes that much more special.”
Social symbols
Like most contemporary works of art, Celtic Forest is designed to inspire reflection and interpretation.
“It’s just stunning,” said Stacy Spain, public art specialist for the City of Reno. “It is a piece that folks are going to be able to come to again and again and get multiple layers of meaning from it. Its scale is such, too, that it just invites that kind of contemplative time.”
Kimpton says her exhibit is a social commentary on breaking away from books and getting closer to nature.
On each turning page of the book are symbols, including the male and female restroom figures, the Celtic knot and the pound sign.
The message is: Humans are not number one.
“We’re all equal,” Kimpton said. “I use a large book to say we worship these things. We’re not superior and above nature. Some people may not see it as a parody but I see it as a parody.”
Kimpton will teach a workshop Saturday at McKinley Arts and Culutre Center, 925 Riverside Drive, on junk assemblage and follow that up with a free lecture.
“I love the Black Rock Desert,” Kimpton said. “We’ve kind of fallen in love with Reno. We really appreciate that Reno is allowing us to do this.”
The sculptures will remain on the lot through December 1. Every Tuesday and Friday night, the art will be lit from 8 to 10 p.m. with Controlled Burn fire spinners Tuesdays and a band on Friday nights.
