THE QUASI COMPANY
BY LIRON & SHOOTZ

For the past 5 years, a temporary city rises in the desert.
Its name is Midburn.
We go back every year to our city in the dust.
In it we create, we prosper, we fall apart and rebuild.
Midburn is the canvas for our dreams.
In the center of the Playa stands the "Temple", the beating heart of the city, Returning every year, with a different appearance.

Not many know this in Midburn: the Temple was born as an art installation for Burning Man of 2000.
David Best, who later built with his crew more than half the Temples of Burning Man, build it together with Jack Haye. They chose to call it "Temple of the Mind".
During construction, they were informed of the tragic death of their friend Michael Hefflin, that was killed in a motorcycle accident on his way to the Playa.

The community reacted spontaneously, and the installation became a memorial where people wrote their feelings and expressed grief, sorrow and loss.  Since then, every year, there has been a Temple on the Playa every year, each time with a different appearance but a similar meaning, a space that echos mourning and separation.

The Temple in Nevada is a place for the community to release their feelings and emotions, a place to hurt, shed a tear, say goodbye, renew and readjust from within, and at the same time feel and remember that we all experience the same sensations and are part of an ever evolving human existence.

The Midburn Temple was born at the first Midburn event, with the enchanted "Forest of Creation".

Since then, we've been privileged with impressive awe-inspiring Temples, filled with beauty and wonderful memories, but we never went through a process of finding the essence and the local meaning of the Temple, whereas the Effigy, had gone through a beautiful process of becoming the Man and Woman.

Our Temple is not a memorial,
therefore - what is it?

what is the Temple for you?

A place to look inside,
A place to ask questions,
A place to put intention.
A place to let go of things you want to release,
A place where I find myself,
A place to readjust and find the true north.

That is how the Compass was born.

An installation that helps you orient in all the chaos.
An installation that calls you from afar, asking for guidance.
An installation that asks questions, undermining the existing and echoing essence and intention.

We realized that asking questions was the most important thing,
a chance to pay attention, as a community and as individuals,
to a question, a search, an observation.

Temple, as a place to ask questions, that invites us to look inside instead of outside.

 

A structure made of cobwebs, 33 meters in diameter, 8 meters high.
Divided into the four cardinal directions, made of 12 origami cranes,
forming a circle, putting intention into their next journey.
From above, it forms the shape of a compass.

In its center, is the alter , inviting interaction with the self, focusing and looking inwards.

The alter is formed of crystals made from Playa ground, that has known us for the past 4 years and collected our adventures, experiences, journeys, highs and lows.

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this project has been made as a collaboration with roni kantor- who put her heart in to communicate the words we all felt , and in help with devolving the concept , and roee aminoff - who designed and created the alter in the center of the compass. 

about 50 volunteers took part of this creation, their dedication and love to the project have a big part in making it what it was.