Behind The Scenes of the 2015 Buring Man Temple of Promise
Jazz Tigan, an insanely talented artist, is the lead designer of the 2015 Burning Man Temple of Promise.
Burning Man is a festival in the desert that's often misunderstood by those who have never been. It's not just a party, rather, it's a place to experience yourself as you truly want to be. A place without judgement. A place with incredible art and creativity. It's a place to refresh your soul and to re-evaluate your life's priorities.
The Temple sits at the center of it all. If the Man at Burning Man is the bodyof the event, the Temple is its soul. So when it turned out that the guy who dreamt up this year's Temple design was someone I went to school with, I had to go check out the build site, which is located in Alamedia, CA (just across the bridge from San Francisco) until mid August, when they'll ship everything out to Black Rock Desert to finish the Temple on-site.
Jazz has a special, secret project that he's looking to fund in addition to the main Temple build. He needs $5k to successfully finish this secret project. Think of it as the icing on the cake. If you're interested in donating any amount to make it happen, message Jazz on Facebook and let him know. Sue and I just donated to support it. Also, if you'd like to volunteer to help build the Temple between now & mid August, just let Jazz know. They're on-site in Alameda every day for the next 2 weeks.
The Temple is a place for quiet reflection. It's a place to look inside yourself and take stock of your life, and your loved ones, as well as forgive those who have hurt you. If you've never been to Burning Man, here's the best video I've ever seen that describes what the Temple means to Burning Man:
And here's a video I took at the build site in Alameda:
I asked Jazz how he got the idea for the Temple, and he told me about how it came to him; literally in 10 seconds he had the initial concept worked out in his head. He said it "was like reaching into the void and pulling it out.":
Can't wait to see this masterpiece on the Playa at Burning Man!
Here are more pictures from the build site (you can get high-res versions here), including my favorite one: Jazz and my daughter Devina grooving to the great tracks a DJ was laying down while the build was happening:
