Secretly Abandoned Spaces | Burning Man 2022

Secretly Abandoned Spaces by day: a domed pavilion with an archer figure on top, surrounded by cast figures under a dusty sky

The domed pavilion of Secretly Abandoned Spaces, with a pink branch sculpture in the foreground

Secretly Abandoned Spaces at night, its dome lit in teal beneath the archer figure

Concept art for Secretly Abandoned Spaces: a domed pavilion with a golden staircase, red coral trees and white figures on the playa

Concept art for Secretly Abandoned Spaces at night, the pavilion and lamp posts glowing

Welcome to Secretly Abandoned Spaces

Secretly Abandoned Spaces is a large-scale art installation and an Honorarium Art Grant Selection in development for Burning Man 2022. The piece is a visual story about places we have all lived, but are now abandoned and forgotten.

Concept art for woman standing in an abandoned space

A Museum of Stories

Every abandoned space retains a feeling of what it once was. Abandoned buildings retain a beauty of that which has been forsaken; it's the loveliness of disintegration.

This piece is about the beauty of loss and decay of a building, a community, or a loved one. Elegance emerges from loss. A forgotten place becomes a church of ideas that have died and long passed. The cast figures upon the staircase is a theatre, or a play. The interplay of figures tell their own stories.

Abandoned spaces become a museum of stories that have been lost in antiquity.

Concept art of a woman standing in a tree

Thanks for your support

Secretly Abandoned Spaces was designed and created by Valerie Mallory Art for Burning Man 2022, with support from a Burning Man Honorarium Art Grant. We're deeply grateful to the dedicated crew of builders, volunteers, and financial donors who helped make this happen. Thank you so much!

We've brought large-scale art installations to Burning Man every year since 2014. Please swing by our studio site to learn more about our work and see what we're up to now.

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