Hi, I am Richard Wilks. I'm an artist who creates participatory sculptural work that inspires global citizens to think consciously and question their stewardship of our home, planet earth. Participation means getting involved: physically interacting with my art and consciously dialoguing with the ideas and concepts infused within it.

My first Burning Man experience was in 2007 and it profoundly altered the way I thought about art and my art-making process. With my creative world ignited, my art got bigger, mobile, and highly interactive!

Since then, I’ve created many works that I have shared primarily at Burning Man and Burning Man-related events. My first piece, Evotrope, was exhibited in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s exhibition, “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man.” I am actively involved in all the Los Angeles Burning Man regional events and I have been a volunteer at the Department of Mutant Vehicles since 2015!

Liquid Forest  will be a mystical, surreal experience comprised of 3 whimsical, jellyfish-inspired creatures made out of recycled plastic. Each will be a freestanding, spinning sculpture measuring approximately 12’ tall x 15’ in diameter. Each piece will have a different translucent, nature-inspired color palette.

These spinning sculptures will be made almost entirely from recycled plastic that I, along with a team of passionate volunteers, source, shred, melt and reform into curved tentacle strands. The recycled plastic tentacles were once single use straws, cups, bottles, lids, household and commercial plastic containers.

BRC citizens will find Liquid Forest highly interactive as they engage with it, spin it, and supply the energy & curiosity to bring them to life! 

At night, over 10,000 concealed LEDs will radically illuminate each jellie, creating an artful bio-luminescent playground. Citizens will spontaneously discover the animated zoetrope worlds that have been designed into each of them. And strobe lights will activate the zoetrope artwork when they spin! 

During the day, citizens will dance, whirl and flow through lacy, sunlit shadows washing over them. And the zoetrope can be seen without strobe lights using a free video app that I created called ‘Ilumiscope’ 

Each jellie is an interactive experience on its own, but all together, they will create Liquid Forest, an unexpected, transformative and immersive world during both night and day.

Liquid Forest will make its full debut this year at Burning Man 2023!

In 2019 I brought The Source jellie to share at Burning Man so I could learn how citizens would interact with it and understand how the recycled elements would hold up to the harsh playa environment and human engagement. 

Beyond Burning Man, I plan to take Liquid Forest on the road and share it with a broader global citizenry. My hope is that once people experience Liquid Forest and learn about its plastic-waste-into-art creation story, they will feel empowered to help tackle the plastic pollution problem, feel more connected to all living things, and be more conscious of how their daily choices profoundly affect their health and wellbeing of our home, Planet Earth!

Why create an immersive, whimsical world out of plastic waste?

Because it is important for me to create art that is illuminating, participatory and uplifting with ideas and materials that reflect our time. 

Liquid Forest will be a transformative, thought provoking, artful experience made from the most harmful and environmentally devastating material in human history: plastic waste! 

I am so passionate about this project that I spent the past few years building plastic recycling machines — a shredder, extruders, injectors, and a sheet press — and researched & experimented with many types of plastics and fabrication techniques. Along the way, I helped build an energetic community full of passionate people to help with this project as well as explore solutions for the waste plastic pollution problem in my city, Los Angeles. 

Waste plastic is bountiful but so are all of the other pieces and parts that go into a complex project like this. 

We are excited and honored to share that Burning Man awarded us a grant this year!

This grant will partially fund the project (50%) so we need passionate people to help us raise the balance needed with this campaign!

The funds raised will go to all of the other non-plastic items needed, which include: Lighting /Electrical (LEDs & controllers); Power Equipment (solar panels & batteries); Structural Materials (steel & aluminum); Consumables (welding wire & gas); Specialty Services & Fabrication; Sound Equipment; Project Transportation; Hardware; Insurance, etc.

All of the funds raised will go directly into the art production. The jellie community is a volunteer-based group of people that share a passion to help change and protect our environment 300+ pounds at a time. With your support we can keep roughly 1,000 pounds of plastic out of our landfills and oceans.

If you’ve been looking for a way to make a difference in dealing with the plastic waste problem AND support a Burning Man project on a mission, then this one’s for you!

Please consider donating to Liquid Forest today!