You Can Dance in a Gutted Boeing 747 at Burning Man
There are some pretty outrageous spectacles at the Burning Man Festival, a music and art exhibition that takes place every year in the Mojave Desert. But dancing in a completely gutted Boeing 747? Now that sounds like Burning Man, TPG-style.
The decommissioned aircraft was a "1985 Varig cargo conversion that once carried passengers in Brazil," according to nonprofit art collective Big Imagination. The plane is registered for the festival as an "art car," or interactive performance art vehicles, where participants can usually ride or dance. The 747 is outfitted with a bar and dance club and reportedly will be towed around the festival to different locations.
The team at Big Imagination got the 747 from an aircraft graveyard near the Mojave Desert. It took four years and hundreds of volunteers to complete the project from start to finish. As you can see from this 3D tour, the aircraft was in rough shape before the project began.
The epic aircraft feat is the brainchild of Big Imagination's Ken Feldman, who reportedly got the idea while looking at bikes made of old plane engines at Burning Man back in 2010. "I was at looking at them and thinking — wouldn't it be cool if we brought a plane to Burning Man?" Feldman told TechCrunch in 2015.
The idea, though, was shelved until 2014, when Feldman found out about the aircraft graveyard in Mojave.
A teaser experience for the 747 art car in 2015 that Medium covered showed a ticket counter, a first class lounge, an "insecurity" checkpoint and an "emotional baggage check."
So what other aviation-based art exhibitions can we expect from Feldman in the future. Nothing, he says. "I will never ever work on another art car again, except for this project," Feldman told TechCrunch. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I will never do something like this again. This is my Everest."
TPG featured card
at Bilt's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 1X | Choose to earn up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee |
| 2X | Earn 2X points + the option to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases |
Pros
- Choice to earn up to 1 Bilt Point per dollar spent on rent and mortgage payments
- Elevated everyday earnings with both Bilt Points and the option to earn Bilt Cash
- $400 Bilt Travel Portal hotel credit per year (up to $200 biannually)
- $200 Bilt Cash annually
- Priority Pass membership
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Moderate annual fee
- Designed primarily for members seeking a premium, all-in-one card
- Earn points on housing with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 2X points on everyday spend
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash.
- Priority Pass ($469/year value). See Guide to Benefits.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.