Jim Urquhart/Reuters
Burning Man, the annual festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, features a slew of wild and elaborate art installations.
Sticking to Burning Man's tradition of returning the desert to its original state, many of the art pieces are burned at the end of the festival. Some of them, however, are transported elsewhere after their time in Black Rock City.
The festival began more than 30 years ago as a bonfire among friends on a beach in San Francisco; as it has evolved, its art installations have become increasingly more elaborate, with some costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to build.
We've looked back through the years at some of the priciest installations. A caveat: Several artists would not disclose how much money they spent on their installations, adding that some of the funds were covered by anonymous donors. Many installations, however, collected large sums of money through crowdfunding campaigns. We took those campaigns - as well as how much money they ultimately raised - into account.
This year's Burning Man begins on August 26. Before 70,000 people gather on the "playa" for the festival, take a look at some of the most expensive art installations at Burning Man: