My partner Bailey Haack and I were awarded a Burning Man Honoraria Grant to bring a new interactive installation to Burning Man 2022. Xerarium was a 15ft tall, otherworldly terrarium overflowing with glowing, surreal plant forms that amplify details from our own natural world to inspire wonder and exploration. Visitors were able to wander amongst, touch, hug, poke or simply sit with the kaleidoscopic fern light sculptures, climb up to a lookout platform, or sink into unexpected moss-like floor textures while an original ambient jungle-squish soundscape further immersed them in the environment.
I designed the lumber structure, helped fabricate the fern light sculptures my partner designed and managed all the necessary logistics, engineering and fundraising required to transport and build a large installation in the desolate Nevada desert of Black Rock City. It was a uniquely consuming challenge and I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to create and share this space. We hope to install Xerarium at other events in the future!
For me, the juxtaposition of the rigid geometric structure with the organic, curvy, vibrant ferns represented the ability each of us has to break away from what is obvious and understood to explore the wilder, less linear possibilities in this world.
