It’s a bustling predawn morning in Black Rock Metropolis. Darkness clings to the sky as 1000’s of bikers zoom throughout a dusty alkaline flat in quest of a dawn set, hoping to outpace the gash of periwinkle mild bleeding over the horizon. Spending dawn at an artwork automotive is as customary as going out for brunch within the exterior world. Nevertheless, when your vacation spot is itinerant and camouflaged by galaxies of LED lights, discovering a specific artwork automotive in the dead of night is usually a idiot’s errand. Until your vacation spot is Mayan Warrior, that’s.
Now on its third iteration, the Mexico Metropolis-based Mayan Warrior has grow to be one of the iconic (and contentious) mutant autos at Burning Man, the weeklong festival-meets-pop-up-city that sees over 70,000 so-called burners in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, often known as the playa. About 30 persons are concerned within the artwork automotive year-round, with a camp of 200 individuals, 70 of whom are crew members. Well-known for its full-spectrum lasers offered by Lightwave Worldwide, the masterminds who introduced the rainbow prism of Pink Floyd’s “Darkish Facet of the Moon” to life throughout Roger Waters’ 2007-08 tour, it’s one of many best artwork vehicles to identify at evening. Along with a rainbow of radial lasers, an excellent column of sunshine shoots into the sky, à la the Sacramento Kings’ beam. Oh, and it spews fireplace too.
For digital music lovers, Mayan Warrior is without doubt one of the hottest events on the playa, not simply due to the spectacle however as a result of it’s hosted artists comparable to Carl Cox, Rüfüs du Sol, Black Espresso, John Summit and Monolink, together with burgeoning Mexican digital DJs, round whom the preliminary idea was developed. For founder Pablo González Vargas, it started in 2011 at his first Burning Man.
“We had been very impacted and impressed by how concerned persons are in making artwork at Burning Man,” González Vargas says. “They offer their blood, sweat, and tears. … The cycle of inspiring and being impressed could be very tangible there, and that cycle occurred to me. I went to Burning Man in 2011, obtained impressed, and got here again in 2012 [with an art car].”
The design was impressed by historic Mesoamerican cultures, significantly Mayan masks and artifacts resembling astronaut-like figures, which González Vargas noticed on the Nationwide Museum of Anthropology in Mexico Metropolis. Combining trendy expertise and sacred geometry, Mayan Warrior showcased an illuminated masks facade mounted on a medium-duty truck. It turned an ever-evolving murals—painter Alex Gray adorned it together with his distinct visionary art work, a pyramid-like backdrop was added, and its dazzling lasers had been put in in 2016. It even has a theme music titled “Right here Comes the Warrior” by DJ/producer Rebolledo, who’s Mayan Warrior’s music idea and lineup curator.
Pablo González Vargas portray the brand new Mayan Warrior artwork automotive.
(Courtesy of Pablo González Vargas)
For a decade, Mayan Warrior reigned as a sought-after cellular soundstage at Burning Man. By 2023, it was on the high of its recreation, touring the U.S. and Mexico for fundraising events to assist pay for its exorbitant bills. After which, whereas driving from Guadalajara to Sayulita, Mexico, it caught fireplace from a mixture of weight, warmth and tire friction, and burned to the bottom. The irony of it occurring greater than 1,500 miles away from Burning Man, the place installations are ceremonially diminished to ash, will not be misplaced.
“That was painful,” González Vargas displays. “It was gone in quarter-hour. However I additionally felt liberated. It absorbs time and vitality and a focus, and it’s not my job; it’s my pastime. … I imply, the reward is nice once you go to the Burn, however working the skin occasions and fundraisers was powerful for me, particularly because you don’t generate profits in any respect the fundraisers.”
Based mostly in Mexico Metropolis, González Vargas has a background in fintech, hospitality, advertising and media. In 2010, he based Sr. Pago, a point-of-sale system, which he expanded concurrently with Mayan Warrior and bought three years in the past. Amongst a litany of different ventures, he additionally based the Latin American media outlet EXA Radio and TV. His latest endeavor is a subscription-based journey platform that provides members entry to inexpensive charges for flights and motels, which he dubbed “the Costco of journey.” He additionally collaborated on an interactive mild and sound sculpture referred to as Ilumina, which appeared at Burning Man in 2017 and 2022. Once you mix this many irons within the fireplace with the period of time, labor and cash it takes to run a soundstage artwork automotive at Burning Man, it’s no surprise González Vargas felt liberated.
Designs for the brand new Mayan Warrior artwork automotive.
(Courtesy of Pablo González Vargas)
In the meantime, rumors of drug cartel involvement and insurance coverage fraud associated to the artwork automotive fireplace swirled throughout the Burning Man neighborhood, which González Vargas rapidly dispelled. And although he and his crew took time without work from the onus of Mayan Warrior, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than designs had been drafted and a brand new model was underway. Enter Tal Ohana, founding father of the Los Angeles-based manufacturing firm Stranger Than; with whom Mayan Warrior had been collaborating, who provided to supply the fundraising occasions at culturally or traditionally noteworthy areas in numerous cities. With Stranger Than; taking the helm on the ancillary occasions, a big portion of duty was lifted from González Vargas’ shoulders. The Mayan Warrior was again on the playa by 2024, wanting flashier than ever — and it should, contemplating it price practically $3 million.
“It was an irresponsible monetary choice,” González Vargas says. “My letter to Santa Claus can be, ‘Hey, I would like sufficient cash to go to Burning Man and pay for my complete crew and never must do fundraisers and have enjoyable and that’s it,’ however that’s not the truth.
“If we hit 4,000 individuals [at a fundraiser], we break even,” he continues, “due to the price of bringing the automotive, plus the crew, plus the lighting, and native distributors. It’s an advanced enterprise mannequin, and restricted by the non-commodification Burning Man ideology, the place you can not make merch or have sponsors.”
Burning Man abides by 10 ideas, one being decommodification. It’s meant to create an surroundings freed from commercialism, promoting and financial transactions. The one gadgets obtainable for buy are ice and, often, espresso; every little thing else is freely given by attendees. It additionally implies that the artwork installations, autos and theme camps seen at Black Rock Metropolis can’t, or reasonably, mustn’t, be funded via sponsorships or model collaborations, therefore why fundraisers are such a vital side in maintaining Mayan Warrior afloat.
Like several metropolis, Black Rock Metropolis is a various amalgamation of backgrounds, views and demographics. Though you possibly can’t please everybody, particularly those that spurn the proliferation of digital music at Burning Man, Mayan Warrior clearly pleases multitudes, as when the music is thumping, it’s uncommon to see an unpopulated dance flooring. It’s additionally grow to be a beloved stage for performers like British home and techno legend Carl Cox, who simply launched a observe with Perry Farrell titled “Joya.” Regardless of attending Burning Man since 2008, his maiden voyage on Mayan Warrior was in 2024.
The brand new Mayan Warrior roaring down the playa at Burning Man.
(Courtesy of Pablo González Vargas)
“You simply must admire the ingenuity, sound, and quantity of hours that go into creating one thing like that, only for individuals to take pleasure in,” Cox shares. “Within the morning, it’s getting sizzling, there’s no lasers, no pyrotechnics, there’s nothing aside from individuals and an awesome sound system. Folks might actually perceive the connection I’ve with music, individuals, the playa, and the stage that Mayan Warrior set for me. It was completely unbelievable.”
Burning Man is actually not for everybody, however those that wish to expertise the blazing leviathan — minus the labor, mud storms and brutal ingress and egress — can attend its Los Angeles Halloween fundraiser, happening in Grand Park on Oct. 25. Monetary and bodily expenditure however, González Vargas says he needs to proceed attending Burning Man and even hopes to deliver his now new child son in 2026. Relating to the way forward for Mayan Warrior, he aspires to increase genres — final yr, Mita Gami and Meir Briskman performed with an orchestra, and this yr they experimented with an unnamed band — placing artists like Tame Impala, Khruangbin and Glass Beams on his lineup want listing. Though the fireplace taught González Vargas that the artwork automotive’s future isn’t sure, he is aware of that so long as it exhibits as much as the playa, the music will observe, and so will its dance flooring denizens.
“It doesn’t matter who you might be; it’s what you ship out of your coronary heart and soul,” Cox says. “After I obtained to play on Mayan Warrior, it was an exquisite second. It was a vibe, and I felt like individuals found what Mayan Warrior stood for. … I used to be in a position to ship one thing so particular that even when I by no means performed Mayan Warrior once more, I used to be fortunate sufficient to expertise that second and musical journey with all these folks that selected to be there.”
