What it is

A 10-foot stainless steel tumbleweed, burning from the inside, with a hand crank so it can tumble in place. A handcrafted covered wagon stacked with piñon firewood. A fire pit big enough to gather round with friends and strangers and tell tales. Together they make a nomadic desert camp that appeared out of nowhere on the open playa. Hopefully we'll be out past the temple, away from the sound camps, in the dark.

Why this

Burning Man started as a fire on a beach. It was always about the thing itself. The heat, the light, the irreversibility of burning. We've been going for years and we've watched it get more elaborate, more produced, brighter.

This piece is for the people who walk out into the dark. Who sit down next to something burning and just stay there for a while. A place to settle our tumbleweed souls, hold our dusty hearts, and tell each other stories in the dark under the stars.

The artist

Dusty Heart, Tumbleweed Soul comes from the mind of Calli Beck. Artist, designer, fabricator, and founder of Stark Raven Fabrication in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

With over 20 years of experience, Calli leads a collective of artists dedicated to transforming spaces with large-scale sculpture and immersive design. Stark Raven builds things by hand, with meticulous attention to detail, complex patterns, and expertise across a wide range of materials, from steel and iron to fire itself.

The ask

Burning Man's Honoraria program granted us $25,000. We're raising a matching $25,000 to finish it. Every dollar past that grows the dream and more importantly, gives us more fire.

Help us build it.