Axis Sonora (working title)

2026, BurningMan Honoraria Proposal, Blackrock City, NV, USA

Axis Sonora is a monumental, sound-reactive sculpture formed from two interwoven fractal “trees,” their branching roots and limbs converging into luminous spheres. The piece creates a resonant sanctuary where light, reflective metal, and evolving analog soundscapes merge into a continuously shifting environment shaped by collective participant interaction.

The sculpture’s twin fractal trees operate simultaneously as spatial armatures and participatory acoustic instruments. Their branching systems—each terminating in spherical nodes—create a distributed network of resonant geometries. These spherical endpoints act as acoustic activators: surfaces that can emit, diffuse, and modulate sound as participants engage with the piece. The interwoven trees define an architectural field rather than a singular object, producing a porous environment in which visitors stand within the instrument rather than in front of it.

As participants move through the structure, their actions trigger analog sound sources embedded throughout the branches and spheres. These sounds propagate along the geometry, and the branching lattice functions much like a complex waveguide: dispersing, refracting, and subtly phase-shifting sound energy as it travels. The result is a constantly evolving sonic field in which wave interference, harmonic drift, and spatial attenuation become part of the experiential vocabulary. Depending on one’s position within the lattice, soundwaves overlap or cancel, creating zones of intensity, shadow, and resonance.

The architecture thus becomes a dynamic instrument whose behavior emerges from both physical geometry and participant interaction. The intersecting trees establish a shared acoustic ecosystem—two systems influencing one another through proximity, material continuity, and the inherent physics of wave propagation. The spherical nodes, in particular, act as acoustic codas, concentrating or releasing sound energy in ways that heighten the perceptual connection between form and auditory response.

This integration of geometry, physics, and participatory behavior transforms the work from a static sculpture into a responsive architectural space. Movement, touch, and collective play activate not only sound but also the lighting system embedded in the mosaic-clad concrete panels, creating feedback loops where soundwaves shape illumination and light patterns, in turn, shape how participants navigate the space.

IMPACT…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

This project offers the community a powerful new cultural asset: an immersive sculptural environment that invites creativity, collaboration, and shared discovery. By merging art, architecture, sound, and light into a single participatory space, the piece becomes a catalyst for social connection—encouraging strangers to play instruments together, co-create ambient soundscapes, and experience a sense of collective authorship.

For local communities and visitors alike, the sculpture provides an accessible entry point into the worlds of analog music-making, interactive design, and public art. Its multisensory nature ensures that people of all ages and abilities can engage, whether through touch, movement, or simply being enveloped by the shifting sonic and luminous atmosphere.

The work also has the potential to become a landmark gathering space—an icon of creativity that supports workshops, performances, educational programming, and informal community rituals. It invites repeated visitation, offering new patterns of sound, light, and social interaction each time it is experienced.

For funders, investing in this project means enabling a public artwork that deepens cultural life, strengthens community bonds, and demonstrates how thoughtful, interdisciplinary design can transform shared space into a site of wonder, reflection, and play.

More to come soon!