Burning Man happened virtually in 2020. As part of the inaugural virtual burn. I worked on building a virtual campsite for the Disorient Art Collective in a small team of 4. The project was modeled in Blender and then composited in Unity, with animations and other elements added in. I worked on the design, modeling and code, as well as programming, event production and marketing of events.
Disorient is a 20 year old theme camp that changes its urban plan and art installations yearly, therefore we were able to draw upon this rich history of design to pull together a rich and partly fantastical version of camp, to hopefully bring back memories and spark new ideas.
Burning Man has had years of issues with diversity, partly stemming from a refusal to admit that there was an issue of diversity. I wanted to use this opportunity to bring awareness of these issues by using the platform of this influential camp. I created some subtle shadow artwork on the camp frontage of the camp spelling BLACK LIVES MATTER. I also curated a fireside chat with activist Marlon Williams at Disorient with camp founder Leo Villareal exploring the topic - as we take time away from the event, can we reflect and consider new principles for the future?
Marlon discussed the reinterpretation of Burning Man’s 10 principles, for example radical self-expression as radical acceptance, inviting the audience to consider how a shift in approaching the principles can expand our relationships and help us converge around deeper intentionalities and connections.
The conversation is now used by the Burning Man organization for their Radical Inclusion, Diversity and Equity training and reference materials,
One of the key elements of the camp is the speak easy Dukes. Every year, the speakeasy’s entrance is camouflaged so visitors have to find the entrance. This year, I built an animated chandelier as a way-finding clue to the entrance. Many elements of Dukes were recreated, including the UV light effects and music playlist that you might here in the real space.