People visiting this year’s Burning Man will be awed by an enormous installation project created by a group of artists from San Francisco: a lifelike tree decorated with 15,000
LED lights, motion sensors and sound detectors.
The project is called
The Tree of Ténéré, which is inspired by an ancient tree in the middle of Sahara desert that was destroyed in 1973. It was the "most isolated tree in the world" and was considered a landmark for travelers.
(Photo Credits: Tree of Ténéré)
To bring this legendary tree back to life, these artists and designers plan to equip LED lights in each leaf that form a dome-shaped “canvas of light.” At night, these LEDs will glow in sync with music. At other times, sensors will allow passersby to control the lights to create light art together. “We’ve already prototyped systems that use hidden microphones and simple wearables to let participants activate the LEDs through sound (chanting, humming, singing, words), biorhythms like heartbeat, and movement,” the team said.
The tree will also be as lifelike as possible, even allowing people to climb it. “We've designed and engineered Ténéré to be safe for climbing, and construction is already underway in southern California. Made from hand-sculpted fiberglass and hand-painted resin, the bark looks and feels so real you’ll think you’re climbing a living tree...in the middle of the desert,” the introduction page on Indiegogo read.
To realize the massive project, organizers have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise US$80,000. So far, over $18,600 has been raised.
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