This project was funded in part through the National Endowment for the Arts, with the Paseo Project Summer 2023 Artist in Residence Program. Learn More here.

“Culture Burn” was seeded from the ashes of the nearby Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire that arose in the spring of 2022. These fires burned over 600,000 acres, making them the most destructive fires in New Mexico history. “Culture Burn'' addresses the long-standing tradition of indigenous “Cultural Burns,” an ancient practice that has been heavily restricted, opening up a conversation on how “Good Fire” can have a much stronger connection with the land communities have maintained for millennia.

An installation will be created that utilizes a mixed medium interactive environment that includes projection mapping and LED Mapping. This environment consists of a large array of tall acrylic cylinders arranged in a spaced circle with an interactive centerpiece. These cylinders act as a representation of the tree trunks in a forest, and their spacing will mimic the sight of what a freshly burned forest floor looks like. Their placement will act as a visual wall that creates a surface for imagery to be projected onto from multiple angles.

The imagery will range from atmospheric to contextual and educational visuals. Within several of the cylinders, sets of LED lights will be added to allow for an inner glow; these glowing cylinders will be layered with large pieces of bark to allow for cracks of light to seep through. In the very center will sit a stand with an oversized 3D printed ‘sprout’ in a container of soil. This sprout will be water activated, where participants are invited to add their own water to activate a set of coded LED lights, bringing life to the sprout and changing the lights of the burning trees from fiery reds to a cooling blend of greens and blues.

Through this act of offering water to the sprout, participants are giving their own genuine transaction to the site and actively engaging in an important step of the cultural burning process.

About the Artist:

Culver is a multimedia artist with a leaning focus towards Murals and Immersive Installations. He often creates environments that revolve around ideas of challenging perceptions, questioning reality, and manifesting change. These environments consist of playful narratives that reveal and reflect upon commonalities within the human experience and how these experiences connect us all at a sacral root. With fingers and toes dipped in multiple creative pools, Dason’s ever-growing portfolio includes work within the realms of Graphic Design, Painting, Print, Film, Wood, Metal, Glass, Stone, Immersive Installation, Fashion Fabrication, Technology Manipulation, and general Artistic Emancipation. Currently, Dason holds an AFA in Sculpture from SFCC and a BFA in Studio Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts.