This is Lune (meaning "moon" in French), from an installation called "Lune and Tide".

The giant inflatable moon was hanging between two high metal masts on the playa for a day or so, then it disappeared. If you know what happened to it, please tell!

Word is that the original intent was for it to be inflated with helium and replicate the real full moon high in the sky. Apparently, there was a shortage of large supplies of helium this summer and they had to improvise to get this piece displayed. Looks like it didn't do too well in the wind in it's mooring.

Also I don't think that the contrast of the moon features was high enough. making it hard to see that this giant balloon was in fact the moon (I had not realized right away that that it was representing the moon, personally).

Laurence Symonds wrote:

This is Lune, from our piece Lune and Tide. It was indeed supposed to be filled with helium and anchored from below. Due to the global shortage of helium last summer, we had to improvise at the very last minute and decided to fill it with air and suspend it from above.

Unfortunately our improvised attachments at the top of the balloon weren't quite strong enough and the balloon ripped free on Tuesday afternoon in a particularly windy patch. About 10 people helped wrestle it to the ground before it could blow across the playa, taking out anything in between. Inside the outer printed balloon is another smaller balloon that has 400m of coloured LEDs. We had a control panel on the ground that was designed to have people be able to change the phase of the moon. Unfortunately we didn't have to opportunity to see it fully in action, but we are hoping to repair it and exhibit it at a burning man in the future

Photo taken at the Burning Man 2012 festival (Black Rock Desert, Nevada).