Axis Mundi, Black Rock City 2026
As Above, So Within
Mahshid Moghadasi and Aysan Jafarzadeh, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team — San Francisco, CA, United States
Open PlayaHonorariumBay Area, this year
About
As Above, So Within draws inspiration from Attar's 12th-century Persian poem The Conference of the Birds, in which the birds journey in search of the Simurgh, a mythical Persian bird, only to discover that what they sought was already manifest within themselves. The Mandelbulb was chosen as a fractal form that repeats across scales, suggesting that the same underlying order appears in the cosmos, nature and the self. Through recursive geometry and shifting light, the sculpture evokes a contemplative atmosphere resonant with Persian architecture, where repetition and illumination draw the mind inward. As Above, So Within proposes that the meaning we seek in the universe may also be found within ourselves.
Compiled from Burning Man Project’s public art listing. Not affiliated with, endorsed, or verified by Burning Man Project.