The Temple of Spheres was a proposal for Burning Man 2024
The Temple of Spheres welcomes all to fully embrace Loss, to seek and find Understanding, to Transcend to a better self, to Contemplate where one has been and where one will go, and to fully Integrate grief into a larger life.
Physical Description
The design is a free-span 40' tall canopy and a lower two story structure. The footprint is triangular and approx 120 ft per side. The canopy is 1" thick molded plywood (using a technique from the artwork "Jay's Suitcase" from BM 2022 ) arranged in a 1/8th sphere surface with numerous circular openings. Three arch beams at the edges are custom made to be light, strong, yet also burnable. Three steel cradles serving as foundations are anchored and tensioned to ensure the stability of the structure.
The lower structure has twelve entrances into a vast repeating procession of arches and spaces punctuated by skylights - with over 10,500 sq ft of wall space for offerings. A central courtyard contains a large 12-to-1 sloped spiral ramp to the second floor. A sculpture hangs in the middle - a series of spheres. In the center is a meditation and gathering area. The second floor creates another space for contemplation with many large benches and platforms for sitting and resting. There are sightlines where one may look below to offerings through the skylights, look above at the canopy and sky, out into the city, or out to the playa. At the outer three corners there are stairways and landing areas with additional sphere sculptures and artwork.
Interactivity
The Temple of Spheres reimagines the process of grief as five phases of emotion - metaphorically The Five Spheres:
The Sphere of Loss
The Sphere of Understanding
The Sphere of Transcendence
The Sphere of Contemplation
The Sphere of Integration.
Each of these phases is embodied in specific areas of the Temple.
The ground floor is a procession of arched spaces, representing Loss - all to be filled with offerings.
The central meditation and gathering area is a place to seek and find Understanding.
The spiral ramp represents Transcendence and the passage of time - orbiting about the center one returns to the same place, yet on a different level.
The upper floor is a space for Contemplation, to rest or converse with a new or old friend - to look down again to the offerings below, to look to the center, to look above to the canopy and the sky, to look out to the city or the mountains or the sunrise. Here the views are longer and the air is lighter.
The corner exit stairs represent the path back to the rest of one's life, the place of Integration. Here a wall of artwork comes into view. Each of the three corner stair areas contain 24 panels created by many artists on the theme of "Integrating Grief into a Larger Life" - a reminder that including grief in our life leads to more beyond loss.
The periphery also includes three minimal chapels, for weddings or other life celebrations.
Team:
ALLISON KOCAR: Computer Artist, Compositing, Video
ARMAN MATIN: Lighting Design, Renders
BEN CARTER: Structural Engineering
BENJAMIN JONES: Co-lead, Design, Fabrication
BRENT VANDYKE: Fabrication, Logistics
BRYCE PETERSON: Design, Fabrication
CAITLYN STOLLEY: Crowd Funding Campaign
CLEMENT JOUVET: Fabrication
DALLAS WONDERLAND: LNT
DAN LEFKOW: Rigging Specialist
DAN STEINBOCK: Interaction Design and Theory
FRED KAHL: Glasswork
GAVIN BARRET: Furniture Design
ISAAC ZAL: Steel Engineering, Fabrication, Installation Strategy
ISABEAU VIDAL: Logistics, Fabrication
JEWELS ZIFF-SINT: Fundraising
JOHN BRISCELLA: Design, Jewelry
JOHN O'SULLIVAN: Photography, Video, Documentarian
JORDANNA IBGHY: Design, Theory
KIM THOMPSON: Fabrication, Installation Management
MICHAEL WHITE: Co-lead, Art Direction, Design, Theory, Fabrication
NICHOLAS CHRISTIE: Civil Engineering, Design, Fabrication
OSMANY CABRERA: Design, Fabrication, Photography, Video
ROB HAZEL: Fabrication, Photography
SKYE RUOZZI: Design, Theory