The towering artwork and wild structures of Burning Man are already taking shape - take a look

Jim Urquhart/Reuters

A structure at Burning Man 2017.

• Burning Man, the nine-day event that lures more than 70,000 people to Black Rock City, Nevada, officially began on Sunday.
• Art is an integral part of Burning Man - unique art structures and enormous installations are built on the playa annually. 
• The art theme for Burning Man 2019 is metamorphoses.
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Burning Man 2019 is underway, and with it comes the unbelievable art installations that are a hallmark of the event.

Art is an integral part of Black Rock City, which is the Burning Man community constructed in the middle of the Nevada desert. Unique art structures and enormous installations are built on the playa annually, and this year's artwork follows the theme of metamorphoses.

"Two thousand years before Kafka's Gregor Samsa woke up as a cockroach, Ovid, the literary bad boy of First Century Rome, was writing about metamorphoses dire and diverse," says Burning Man's explanation for its 2019 art theme.

"Burning Man is a million stories, and the through-line across them all is change," the explanation continues. "Transformation happens whether we believe in it or not; but if we have learned anything in our Burning Man experience it is that we do have a say in our own futures, that agency is ours if we choose to pursue it."

Read more: This livestream lets you watch everything that's going on at Burning Man from the comfort of your living room

For the uninitiated, Burning Man is a nine-day art festival in the middle of the desert in Nevada. The festival has taken place every year since 1986, and includes performances, art installations, music, and partying. The event draws as many as 70,000 people, including celebrities, tech moguls, and everyone in between - attendees are known as Burners.

There's no money allowed at Burning Man, so attendees are asked to barter or give gifts in exchange for what they need, and because guests are asked to "leave no trace," everything attendees bring - including the art they built - they must also bring out.

Check out the metamorphoses-themed art, installations, and structures being constructed at Burning Man: