USD to Unveil Burning Man Sculpture

Location

Belanich Engineering Center, Parking Lot

Free

Can’t make it to Burning Man? Art and technology lovers can get a taste of the radical and innovative festival when the University of San Diego officially unveils a massive 12 x 30-foot interactive sculpture it will showcase at Burning Man in late August.

The public is invited to USD’s free event that takes place Friday, Aug. 10 from 6 to 10 p.m. in the parking lot next to Loma Hall. Attendees should use the main (east) USD entrance at the top of Linda Vista Road.

“Unfolding Humanity” is the name of this interactive metal sculpture that calls attention to the connection and contrast between humanity and technology. The sculpture is a dodecahedron with pentagonal walls that unfolds under human power, an engineered design that alludes to Albrecht Dürer's 500-year-old unsolved problem on unfolding polyhedra. When closed, the reflective interior of the sculpture will make visitors feel as though they are at the center of the universe. Influenced by revolutionary satellite data, the closed sculpture with reflective mirrors gives visitors an opportunity to be at the center of a small universe where light folds back upon itself. 

Burning Man is the gold-standard for large-scale sculptures, with many participants from Silicon Valley coming to the see the newest engineering and artistic feats, and a year-long exhibit at the Smithsonian showcasing it as a one of the most influential phenomena in our culture.

The project has received strong partnership from the local community (including San Diego Collaborative Arts Project and COLAB), and students and alumni from USD. Having received $35,000 of support from grants and donations, the organizers are looking to raise an additional $5,000 for the artwork. With co-leaders Satyan Devadoss and Diane Hoffoss, five faculty from the university are on the team, with expertise in Theology, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Theatre. 

Says Devadoss, the USD Fletcher Jones Professor of Mathematics: “An artwork such as this, dealing with complicated issues of mathematics, cosmology, and engineering, and wrestling with the foundational question of what it means to be fully human, can only be birthed with wisdom from the full spectrum of the arts, humanities, and sciences.” 

To learn more and support the project, go to www.sdgeometrylab.org/unfoldinghumanity/.