Resonance Tree

What Is the Resonance Tree?

The Resonance Tree is a large-scale immersive art installation made entirely of bamboo, designed by the Resonance Studio. It responds to sun, shadow, sound, and movement. Rising seven meters above the playa, the Tree invites people to enter through woven roots, climb through the trunk, rest in canopy nets, and gather beneath a living canopy of shadow and sound

By day, its canopy filters the desert sun and by night, the trunk glows from within, and hundreds of solar bamboo lights hung from the branches shift with the wind, casting shadows across the cracked playa.

Project Philosophy

We believe the spaces we inhabit shape our feelings, our connections, and our sense of self, and help us remember who we are. Rooted in the earth and open to the sky, the Resonance Tree is an invitation to slow down, listen deeply, and reconnect with the roots from which we came.

Walking the Resonance Tree:

FIRST SIGHT

The canopy on the horizon

The Resonance Tree rises from the desert floor, its woven bark and branches spiraling skyward into a living canopy of light and shadow. Across the cracked alkali playa, its silhouette sways and its lights dance in the wind. After dark, the lights are what call you home: red and amber bamboo lamps, solar-powered and warm, strung through the structure so the Tree glows from within rather than flares. The patterns shift as you approach, and the Tree is already singing to you.

ENTER THE PORTAL

The roots

As you come closer, the trunk separates from the canopy, and the canopy from the sky, and you see that the Tree stands on roots: bundles of bamboo, splayed and woven, anchoring it to the playa. Three small portal doors open low in the weave, each hand-woven and sized for a body willing to crawl. The first one you choose is your first decision in the Tree.

Hands and knees through the door, you are inside the root system. Its walls are bamboo lidi: tens of thousands of thin splits hand-pulled from the culm and woven by Balinese craftspeople, every one touched by a hand. Light enters the weave in narrow lines and lays itself across your hands as you move.

STANDING UP

Inside the trunk

At the end of the root tunnel the floor opens, and you stand up for the first time inside the Tree. The trunk rises around you, the Tree's structural spine: two helix gridshells of bamboo spiraling in opposite directions, held by laminated rings. Look straight up and the structure is exposed, criss-crossing the way the spiral of life would draw itself if given an architecture. At the very top, framed inside the weave, is a perfect circle of desert sky.

THE CLIMB

The webs and the Windolier

The way up is woven into the structure: steps and handholds rise through the gridshell, turning around the trunk as you climb. You reach the first web, a wide net of woven rope suspended inside the trunk, wide enough to hold a body, or two, or four. Below, through the weave, you can see the people walking the desert.

Above you, nestled in the canopy, turns the Windolier: a wind chime and a chandelier merged into one. Bamboo tubes hang in tuned pairs, each a different length and a different tone, lit from inside by the same warm lights that drew you here. As the chimes turn, the sound moves through the canopy and finds you; as the lights turn, the shadows redraw themselves on every surface. You are inside the instrument.

HELD

Suspended in the canopy

Keep climbing and you reach the second web, in the canopy itself: the crown of the Tree, woven from thousands of bamboo splits and lengths of bark into a sheltering lattice that filters the desert sun. Seven meters above the playa, you are held in the top of the Tree the way a cradle holds a child.

The desert opens around you in every direction, flat and white and full of people. The wind moves across the canopy, the lights ripple, and the bamboo chimes carry across the open space. For a moment, you are quiet. For a moment, you are held between earth and sky.

Where We Are Now

The Resonance Tree Phase one has been complete. The full scale prototype was constructed, engineering, design, and fabrication are complete. Hundreds of lights, dozens of limbs, branches, rings, arches, and doors have been made, and all the bamboo for the project has been placed into a shipping container which is currently crossing the pacific on its way to our warehouse in Nevada City.

Click to Contribute

Support the Resonance Tree

We are now raising the funds needed to complete the build, ship the structure, light the installation, support the artists and builders, and carry the Tree safely home.

In order to finish building this piece and get it to the playa and back, we need your help to raise $100,000 as the build comes together in Nevada City.

Behind the Scenes

Video

Bringing Resonance Tree to Life

Video

What is the Resonance Project

Detailed Description

About This Project

A Three-Year Vision

The Resonance Tree is the first step in a three-year vision of what becomes possible when art, architecture, sustainability, and human experience are woven together as one.

Phase One: The Debut — Burning Man 2026

The Tree is the first public prototype of the Resonance vision, at once a finished artwork and a living research phase. It lets the team test bamboo construction, participatory design, solar lighting, ambient sound, and large-scale desert assembly, inviting thousands to encounter bamboo as sculpture, structure, and immersive art.

Phase Two: The Evolution — Burning Man 2027

Every piece of the Tree then becomes the Resonance Conch: a three-story bamboo shell shaped like a queen conch, inspired by sound, biomimicry, and spiral growth. The Conch expands the same idea — that architecture can listen, resonate, gather people, and reconnect us to natural rhythms.

Phase Three: The Temple — Burning Man 2028

With two years of bamboo architecture prototyped and proven, Resonance will pursue its most ambitious work yet: a proposal to design and build the Burning Man Temple, the contemplative heart of Black Rock City.

Materials & Regenerative Practices

Built by hand in Bali in collaboration with Bamboo Pure, the Resonance Tree celebrates bamboo not simply as a material, but as a living cultural lineage. Woven into its structure are generations of craft: multiple bamboo species and weaving traditions carried across centuries. The tallest grass on earth, bamboo reaches harvest in just a few years, bends without breaking, and stores carbon as it grows, teaching us what strength, flexibility, and regeneration truly look like.

Every element is designed for a second life. The Tree can be taken apart as gently as it was assembled, and at the end of the burn, every pole, every weave, and every lesson returns home to become part of the Resonance Conch.

The Poles

Black Bamboo Tali

Gold Bamboo Tali

Forming the Tower

The Limbs

Forming the Limbs

Bracing the Limbs

The Lights

Bamboo Down Lights

Chandelier

Windelier Ring

The Bark

Burning the Bark

Finishing the Bark

Prototyping the Bark

the Lidi

Shaping the Lidi

Lidi Bundle Crown

The Door

Bamboo Bones

Finished Door

The Rings

Lower and Upper Rings

Middle Rings

Ring Poles

The Container

Prepared for Shipment

Loading

Locked and Loaded

The Design

Sunset Design Sessions

Model

Lighting Concepts

Video

Build Video

Video

Renders

PDF

Build Manual

Inclusivity Statement

Resonance is rooted in the belief that the most powerful spaces are the ones where everyone feels they belong. We are committed to fostering a radically inclusive community by amplifying BIPOC, Indigenous, and LGBTQ plus voices through sound, ritual, storytelling, and collaboration. Indigenous elders, cultural leaders, artists, and community members are invited to help shape the experience through blessings, songs, prayers, and shared wisdom, grounding the Tree not only in the earth beneath it, but in the cultures, histories, and human stories that connect us all.

Join This Project

Open Roles

Installation Artist

Build Lead

Nevada City / BRC

General Carpentry

The Build Lead guides pre-build in Nevada City and installation on the Black Rock City playa, requiring strong carpentry skills and construction judgment. Responsibilities include leading pre-build operations, organizing materials and flow, and guiding crew tasks for assembling bamboo structural components and platforms. The Lead must coordinate field adjustments, maintain a safe and efficient build site, and oversee strike and packing. Ideal experience includes general carpentry and leading small crews, with previous on-playa build experience being helpful. This role requires a calm, clear communicator and problem-solver comfortable with temporary structures, turning a complex vision into a safe reality.

Installation Artist

Build Crew Member

Nevada City / BRC

Resonance Tree seeks Build Crew Members to support the pre-build, playa installation, and strike phases of the project. This is a hands-on role focused on assembling and installing the physical structure, preparing materials, and supporting the lead builders to bring the bamboo components into their final form on the playa. Responsibilities include assisting with pre-build work, supporting the assembly of components, joining playa build shifts, and helping with strike, disassembly, and cleanup. Ideal crew members are reliable, physically capable, and comfortable using basic hand and power tools, with experience in carpentry, construction, or fabrication. They must be team players who can follow direction and help maintain a clean, safe work

Installation Artist

Leave No Trace Lead

BRC

The Leave No Trace (LNT) Lead manages MOOP prevention, cleanup planning, sweep systems, and site stewardship for the project. This person is responsible for creating and leading the cleanup plan before, during, and after the burn to ensure the project adheres to Burning Man’s LNT principles. Key responsibilities include defining daily sweep plans, leading pre-burn and post-burn site checks, and organizing containment systems for trash and debris. The Lead will train crew members on LNT expectations, monitor the site during the build/strike, and coordinate with other leads to prevent MOOP. Ideal experience includes Burning Man LNT expertise, strong organizational skills, and a proactive commitment to ecological responsibility and clean site

Photographer/Videographer

Project Documentarian

Nevada City / BRC

This role provides Marketing and Fundraiser Support to help the project raise funds, coordinate donor-facing opportunities, and support the public campaign. The focus is on event and fundraiser management, requiring the coordination of event logistics, timelines, guest lists, and follow-up for gatherings and donor events. Responsibilities also include outreach to potential donors, partners, and sponsors, organizing fundraising materials, and aligning event promotion with the social media team. Ideal candidates have experience in event production, fundraising, marketing, or community organizing, and must be organized, proactive, and effective at relationship-building.

Events and Fundraising

CA / Remote

The Fundraising, Events and Marketing role supports campaign activities with a focus on event and fundraiser management to secure funds and coordinate donor opportunities. This position involves organizing fundraiser gatherings, donor events, campaign pushes, and managing all related logistics (timelines, guest lists, follow-up). Core responsibilities include coordinating event planning, conducting outreach to potential donors, partners, and sponsors, and tracking leads to maintain momentum. The role requires working with the social media team to align event promotion with the broader campaign. Ideal candidates are proactive, organized, and have strong communication skills with experience in event production, fundraising, or marketing.

Camp Manager

Art Camp Support Lead

Remote / BRC

The Art Camp Support Lead manages all essential infrastructure to sustain the build crew, artists, and collaborators during installation and the event. Key responsibilities include organizing camp layout and systems (kitchen, storage), coordinating logistics and supplies, managing camp flow, and maintaining crew morale. This role involves leading camp planning, coordinating MOOP systems with the LNT Lead, and supporting crew arrival and daily schedules. The goal is to ensure a functional, calm, and organized camp. Ideal candidates have experience in Burning Man camp leadership, event production, hospitality, or logistics.

Origin

The Story Behind It

Resonance Art Collective was born through the Bamboo U community in Bali, where bamboo first became more than a material. It became a language. What began as a shared immersion in bamboo architecture grew into a deeper commitment to art, ecology, engineering, and community.

Years later, on the playa at Burning Man, during a sound healing experience, Elliot received the vision of the Resonance Conch, a living form inspired by the queen conch where sound, geometry, nature, and human experience could become architecture.

When the Conch did not yet materialize, the vision evolved. Like the call of a conch gathering people from every direction, one conversation brought the team back together across continents, and from the spirit of a shell, the Resonance Tree was born.

The People Behind It