The remains of the Black Cloud installation, recently destroyed by a dust storm, have been used to create the slogan "No Fate". The new installation has become part of the Ukrainian camp at the Burning Man festival in the United States.

Source: Vitalii Deineha, co-author of the No Fate installation and Ukrainian volunteer

Quote from Deineha: "We have created a new work from the remains of the previous installation and from whatever we were able to collect thanks to kind people. It is the phrase No Fate. It is a short version of 'No fate but what we make'."

Details: Deineha said the phrase refers to the character Sarah Connor from the film The Terminator. With these words, Connor sought to warn the world of danger and prompt people to take action.

"I am absolutely convinced that if Western countries do not urgently join the arms and military technology race, they will soon receive a knock on the door with a rifle butt," Deineha noted.

"And this phrase is also about human control over our own destiny," he added. "We can always influence it. For example, we can restore an art object from the ruins and perform one of our best sets beside it, placing crutches nearby. The question is not how many times you fell, but how many times you got up and what lessons you drew."

About Ukrainians at Burning Man

At the 2024 Burning Man independent art festival, Ukrainian service member DJ Tapolsky performed a music set beside the installation "I’m Fine". A video of the performance on the Ukrainska Pravda YouTube channel received 100,000 views within two days.

The installation beside which the DJ set was recorded was created by artist Oleksii Sai and producer Vitalii Deineha. The phrase "I’m Fine" has become a symbol of Ukrainian resilience, conveying the tragedy of war to festival visitors from around the world.

In June 2025, an art installation called Black Cloud, this year’s project by Oleksii Sai, was displayed in Kyiv on the square near St Sophia’s Cathedral. The installation measured 30 metres long, 17 metres wide, and 15 metres high and weighed 7 tonnes.

A dust storm during the opening days of the festival destroyed Black Cloud. The installation came to symbolise the threat of another world war.

Deineha said the team had spent the night assembling the installation. After 11 hours, the work was completed, and the creators began waiting for the first feedback, which they described as "more than inspiring". Shortly after 17:30 that same day, a mighty wind suddenly struck, completely destroying the installation.

"On paper and in calculations, it was meant to withstand the storm, but reality proved otherwise," Deineha said. "It withstood the wind for the first 15 minutes before tearing in the middle, allowing the storm to rush inside and destroy it completely."

"The last time I had such a feeling was exactly three and a half years ago, when I woke up to the first explosions and air-raid warnings and realised that external circumstances of irresistible force had decided to make adjustments to life," he added.

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