The Cube of Changes

The Cube of Changes is an art installation I designed for Burning Man 2020. I drew inspiration from I Ching, the ancient Chinese geography concept “Round Sky and Square Earth” (appeared at least two thousand years ago), and works by James Turrell.

Unfortunately, my design did not pass the first round review for the Black Rock City Art Honorarium program and Burning Man 2020 has also been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, I had lots of fun designing the cube and building the prototype.

Initial Idea Sketch

3D Model

I asked my childhood friend Professor Xinnan Zhang (Chair of the Architecture Department at Tianjin University) to help with the 3D model, which you can view at sketchup.com.

The Prototype

I started to make this prototype in October 2019.

Finished prototype:

I burned this prototype in Philadelphia with friends on September 5, 2020 (2020 Burn Night).