Temple of Direction, Burning Man 2019
Oil on wood
Burned
I had the honor and privilege to provide an installation inside the Temple of Direction at Burning Man (2019). Being a sacred place, with a diversity of deep meaning and importance to so many people, I aimed to bring imagery and sentiment that would be applicable to all who entered. Human experiences and associations are so widely ranging that I did not want to force any association of imagery on the space. To do so, I stepped back to consider the fundamental building blocks of life and universal human experience; what resulted was The Premise.
I chose to keep all parts of the piece to primary meaning, through the process and concept, I would use the foundational building blocks of image, experience, and life.
- Color
- Shape
- Time
- Classical elements (fire, water, air, earth)
- Biology
- Love
- Union
This piece was created as 4 individual panels that would interlock and hang as pairs, with one pair on each end of the space. Each panel had color and textural representation of a season and an element which then had color gradient transitions across 6 human chromosome maps to a red heart entity, which was the place of interlocking union with the pairing panel. The fundamental building blocks of universal human experience with infinite manifestations/iterations.
The panels and pairs:
| Winter Water Chromosomes #7, 8, 13, 14, 20, Y | Summer Fire Chromosomes #1, 2, 15, 16, 21, X |
| Spring Earth Chromosomes #3, 4, 9, 10, 16, 17 | Fall Air Chromosomes #5, 6, 11, 12, 18, 19 |
I wanted to emphasize the opposite energies, pairing seasons and elements with their opposite. The differences are valuable and necessary, contributing to the variety of experiences we can have. Yet the opposites, as they are paired in the piece, interlock with each other as they meet in the central heart entity as opposites can combine through love. Differences are beautiful on their own but can still come together in union and harmony through love. We do not need to be divided over differences, they should be celebrated as why we have unique beings and experiences. We need differences to exist but we need to come together across differences to push towards an even more elevated human experience.
