Big Rig Jig one artist's take on the global oil industry
Big Rig Jig - Click above for image gallery
Big Rig Jig is a rumination on power as manifest in the relationship between humankind and nature. The sculpture utilizes two decommissioned 18-wheeler tanker trucks, referencing a global oil industry at the nexus of our world's political, social, and environmental systems. By repurposing these symbolically rich objects, the artist conveys his admiration for and anxiety over humanity's power.That's how Mike Ross, a designer working on large-scale sculptures since 1998, describes Big Rig Jig, the twin 18-wheeler piece of art seen above. We're not going to try and interpret that too much, but the inspiration obviously has something to do with society's dependence on oil. Debuted at Burning Man back in 2007, the sculpture has continued to be on display over the last few years at various events and festivals.
Gallery: Burning Man 2007: Big Rig Jig
[Source: Big Rig Jig via Green Launches | Image: dr.placebo]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Who 'Dis? Who 'Dat? 7:40PM (6/18/2009)
It's interesting. But as they say, "Is it art?"
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Tabajara Labs 7:39PM (6/18/2009)
gay toy.
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Mehdi Cheddadi 7:51PM (6/18/2009)
*facepalm* @ your comment and at this art
VW GTi 7:45PM (6/18/2009)
To be art, it must have no purpose other than it's self.
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ugg.tryptophan 12:33AM (6/19/2009)
not necessarily, the definition of art is very broad, i recently took an art class that focused on conveying messages
wywywywy 5:27AM (6/19/2009)
Haha... What about fashion? What about ceramic pottery?
I hope you didn't get that statement from Topgear.
Paul 7:51PM (6/18/2009)
Uh, aren't you TWO YEARS late to cover this? I believe you guys got giant Hummer ("Bummer") from last year's Burning Man so this is pretty old news.
Still, it was pretty amazing to see in person. These folks really made an amazing piece of art that defied gravity, if not belief.
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akboss302 7:37AM (6/19/2009)
...not everything has to be late-breaking up-to-the-milisecond news you know, its Autoblog, not Autoimpatient. The post itself says its been on display since 2007. Sheesh.
Shiftright 8:15PM (6/18/2009)
Uhh, what's with the three-legged man on his bicycle on the left of the third photo? Creepy!
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Nateb123 8:16PM (6/18/2009)
I think you'd be hard pressed to come up with a reason for why this amazing structure ISN'T art given how much thought and effort clearly went into its creation. This is definitely in the spirit of Burning Man. And yeah, it is old news but meh, it's still awesome.
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Marc-O 9:22PM (6/18/2009)
Pictures don't do it justice, the insanity and scale of it in person was something else, sticking out of the desert and towering and hanging over you, looming down. Add to that the fact that you could actually climb inside of it for most of the way up (with a crazy jungle type thing inside, if memory serves)...
Sadly Mark Chamberlain, aka Judge Cal, one of the artists involved, died last year. Very young... Bleh.
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elpepe 6:45AM (6/19/2009)
looks a bit like two bugs mating.... not the prettiest piece of "art", but definitely took lots of work...
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derrrr 8:08AM (6/19/2009)
I saw this in person at BM. The pics do not do it justice. It is simply awesome. Anyone that likes vehicles would thoroughly enjoy it.
You could climb inside it all the way to the top. A little freaky in there, especially when it was windy.
Oh, I was following the construction of it on the net. It started out in brooklyn, then was finished in oakland. Cost $60,000.
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sparrk 8:35AM (6/19/2009)
nowadays everything is art , from excrements to killing animals.
http://www.ecopolis.org/artist-kills-dog-as-piece-of-art/
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Tabajara Labs 2:45AM (6/21/2009)
I have no words to comment on how art people can be stupid. This link you posted seems to resume all.
nrb 10:48AM (6/19/2009)
Whatever his message is, that's a pretty cool sculpture.
Hasn't burning many fizzled out yet? Wishful thinking, I guess.
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