Empyrean Gate Art Installation

The Empyrean Gate

To our ancestors, the Empyrean was well known as “the highest heaven”. It was comprised of æther—or fire—and thought to be made of celestial beings made of pure light—the source of all creation. Derived from the Ancient Greek Empyros (ἔμπυρος), Empyrean means, “in the fire”, from which fire springs the birth, and rebirth, of all life.

The concept of Entheos—or “the god within”—puts the power of Empyrean creation into human minds and bodies. It endows each of us with the capacity for self-authorship: in the creation (or re-creation) of self, and of community. As a global collective of makers, healers, artists, cultivators and scientists devoted to exploring and harnessing human potential, in both expression and transformation, Entheos is—first and foremost—a place of birth, and rebirth. It is a community devoted wholeheartedly to human thriving.

A radical self-expression of our ethos, Entheos has proposed the creation of a large-scale, interactive, public art installation called the Empyrean Gate. It will welcome Black Rock City citizens to a civic plaza located at Entheos with a sixty-foot shade structure lofted twenty-one feet in the air, with a thirteen-foot “gateway” at its center from which an Empyrean cauldron hangs, hovering just a foot above playa. At night, the shade structure will pulse with light issuing from an array of 64 “spokes” of high-density, computer-addressable LED lights. Sacred geometries and other customizable imagery will continually animate and morph the Empyrean Gate throughout the nighttime, while underneath, the Empyrean Fire will burn in the cauldron, connecting the terrestrial to the empyreal via the gateway. Metaphorically, the installation was conceived to facilitate the connection between visitors’ “default selves” to their higher purposes. It is a place that invites contemplation: of self; of others; and of collaborative purpose.

Our operational plan for this multi-year project is to build the core structure for the 2022 Burn and then to continue expanding the installation in following years by: integrating with each year's Burning Man art theme, enhancing the display with increased LED resolution, adding 360 degree ambisonic audio, expanding exterior shade sails to envelop more people, creating access for contributing artists through the lighting design software, live-linking the installation through six remote pods to expand interactivity to global locations, and curating events that are interactive with the art installation itself.

Lead project artists are acclaimed architect Anthony "Lines" Fieldman (www.anthonyfieldman.com), Entheos Community founder James "Logistic" Tramel (www.entheosrising.org), fabricators Michael Kennedy and James Scott (www.kennedyfabrications.com), and light artist Andris Kasparovics (www.sightunseenstudios.com).

All donations to the Empyrean Gate art installation are fully tax deductible through our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, the Givsum Foundation, where contributions of any amount may be made via debit or credit card directly through this portal using the "Donate to Empyrean Gate" button.

Funding for this project is being raised outside of the normal camp cost share contributions. Our 2022 funding goal for Empyrean Gate was $150K and we are pleased to announce that we have presently raised $175K with the support of a few particularly generous donors. Continued support of Empyrean Gate will allow us to advance progress on our 2023 goals for the installation and are very welcome. All contributions to the Empyrean Gate art installation are fully tax deductible when made through our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor the Givsum Foundation.

Visit our public donation page for the Empyrean Gate to make contributions of all sizes via the Givsum Foundation here.

See you in the dust,

Entheos