INSTALLATION - SOUNDSCAPE COMPOSITIONAL DESIGN
DC METRO BURNERS
INSTALLATION - SOUNDSCAPE COMPOSITIONAL DESIGN
THE DC PYRAMID SCHEME
Created in D.C., a 20-foot tall pyramid based on the Eye of Providence (Great Seal of USA) taken to Burning Man in 2013.
Burning Man is a global ecosystem of artists, makers, and community organizers who co-create art, events, and local initiatives around the world. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis in the Nevada desert. The nonprofit Burning Man Project produces the annual Burning Man event in Black Rock City, and provides year-round support, connection, education, and grants to an ever-growing network of Regional Burning Man communities in more than 40 US states and 35 countries
The Story
The DC Metro Burner Community came together to build a 20-foot tall Cargo Cult Pyramid based on the Eye of Providence (Great Seal of USA - see the back of a dollar bill) as part of the Circle of Regional Effigies (CORE) at Burning Man 2013.
Representing the District of Columbia at Burning Man
sound design and cargo pallets
The DC Metro Burners wanted to create an Anti-Monument to DC, distancing themselves from the slew of commonly referenced DC Monuments. The project highlights a Washington, D.C. cultural dichotomy: Money (federal + corporate power) & Music (local DC music heritage) representing two sides of the D.C. Cult spectrum. The installation highlighted the rich musical and artistic heritage that exists beneath the skyline of DC politics. The pyramid was climbable due to its ‘skin’ of industrial cargo pallets - embracing the year's Burning Man theme: Cargo Cult.
Mysterious and powerful all at the same time.
Marcus Webb was asked to contribute a nearly 3 hour soundscape that had a transformative quality clearly exhibited in the design's opening minutes. Elements of field recordings, synthesized explorations, and string instruments like the Oud, suggesting a calmly operational partnership between traffic and voices; noise and nature, with choral-like chants that seemingly shooting out from a distant but resonant cave.
The sonic design was in part inspired by the occult geometric concepts used to design the District of Columbia.
Representing the District of Columbia at Burning Man
On the inside, the pyramid enshrines a comforting chill space and Marcus Webb's work contributed to an ever evolving soundscape with featuring music by many artists associated with D.C.: John Phillip Sousa, Duke Ellington, Roberta Flack, Chuck Brown, Dave Grohl, Thievery Corporation, and many others.
At night the all-seeing eye and pyramid exterior glowed with multicolor custom programmed LEDs.
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