Hello! Thank you for visiting our fundraiser page! Varanasi Sage is an interactive art installation that will appear at Burning Man 2019: Metamorphoses. It is an artistic collaboration between Chelsea Lynn, Matt Melnicki, Timo Beckwith, Karenna Lynn, Kenny Gross, and Tyson Leonard. Additional crew members include Oz Wilcox, and Mariana Rodriguez.

Design:

Custom-printed prayer flags create a pyramid around a fawn resting in a lotus flower on a golden pedestal. Warm lights hang with the prayer flags, more lights are within the lotus illuminating the fawn and making the petals glow. An ambient sound collage plays from the pedestal. Benches within the pyramid provide a place to rest, and another bench in front of the pedestal creates a spot to kneel before the fawn. The piece is interactive: t here is a riddle to solve, a question to answer, a myth to read, a joke to stumble upon, and a gift to find.

Philosophy:

Varanasi Sage is designed to connect people with their intrinsic, core qualities, and moves them out of their ego into presence. It is a peaceful sanctuary, a space for people to transform themselves and their experience by naming their purpose, and finding grounding and calm within the chaos of the playa  — a refuge.  The installation is a place for meditation, introspection, reading, and relaxation — all of these can be transformative experiences, but are ordinary and quiet — a reminder that deep transformation doesn't have to come from apex experiences. 

Varanasi Sage is also designed to connect people with the philosophy underlying the art:  true wisdom belongs to the natural, non-human world. Many people think humans are superior to the natural world; therefore, humans are meant to dominate the natural world, and nature exists solely for its exploits. This piece suggests the natural world is superior to humans’ destructive ego. It shows the wisdom of compassion, gentleness, and vulnerability — and elevates these characteristics to divine standing. Varanasi Sage puts these qualities and nature on a pedestal, and asks us to consider how we relate to the natural world.   

Invitation:

Varanasi Sage is an entirely self-funded art project. We invite you to join our collaboration in bringing this art to life!  Our crew has created original art for this piece, and we are giving it away as gifts of appreciation for your donation. Please choose from one of our rewards today! We will ship to anywhere in the world!

Material Costs for Varanasi Sage:

Blank prayer flags

Printing 

Steel Rope

Lights

Speakers

Solar Panel, Charge Control and Deep-Cycle Batteries

Lumber

Thermal Plastic Fabric

Flag Pole

Cables

Small Tools and Supplies