Self-taught sculptor Charlie Gadeken has created Aurora, a sculpture reminiscent of Avatar's bioluminescent Tree of Souls be lit up by LEDs.
According to Gadeken, this time he has chosen LEDs to light up a massive tree that's programmed to mutate colors from day to night. The sculpture will be unveiled at this year's Burning Man festival. It's a weeping willow tree that's 35 feet tall with a 45-foot canopy. During the daytime, 5,000 copper leaves will flicker from light to dark, shimmering as the breeze travels across the surface of the tree. At night, the 30,000 LEDs that line the tree will light up, change color and make the tree shimmer in a completely different way.
Gadeken wants to find a permanent home for Aurora after its Burning Man debut this August. For the year-round iteration of the piece, LEDs would follow the seasons, "changing from green in the spring through the autumn colors to winter white." And he launched a Kickstarter campaign Tuesday to raise funds for the all-seasons Aurora.