Standing approximately 40 feet tall and 50 feet wide, the sculpture initially rises from the playa as an eight-sided wooden flowerpot, giving way to a 24’ wooden stem atop which a spinning lotus blossom of steel and light reaches up to meet the sky. Beneath the blossom, six rotating arms fan out, each of the six supporting a suspended mobile of five unique pairs of mating dragonflies, locked in their unique heart-shaped embrace.
Participants may ascend the internal structure to a viewing platform, where they have the opportunity to help rotate the blossom and the thirty pairs of dragonflies. Colors and patterns will cascade across the petals of the flower as it turns, pulsing to the sounds of the playa and reacting to the presence of participants, steadily building in intensity until a 20' eruption of flame and heat bursts forth from the blossom and up into the desert night.
This sculpture requires over 12,000 LED lights, 750 feet of cable, hundreds of square feet of stainless steel mesh, thousands of watts of power, hundreds of square feet of cut and painted plywood, and some careful power and structural engineering to build - not to mention mass quantities of propane to power the central flame effects.
We’re well underway and have made a ton of progress, but we can still use a lot more help. We are the recipients of a 2017 Honorarium grant from Burning Man, have enjoyed the generous support of several local suppliers who have helped keep costs down, and of course there have been significant contributions from team members themselves. Still, it takes a lot to build something of this size, transport it the thousand miles from Colorado to the playa (and then back again), and supply it with power and fuel while it is there. To that end, we could really use your support.
We’ve just launched our crowdfunding effort, it can be found here:
We truly appreciate any support you can give us - and if you happen to be in Colorado, you're more than welcome to come on over and join the project!
