A gift to Black Rock City
ELEMENTAL
DRAGON
Forged from the land. Gifted to the desert.
Brought to life through community.
An Honoraria Art Grant Project
Axis Mundi 2026
"“The World Tree rises at the center of the cosmos, its roots in the underworld, its branches in the heavens, its trunk in the middle world of men.” —Mircea Eliade"
"Dragons may belong to folklore of Transylvania, but a Romanian artist is visiting Gerlach for the first time to source branches and roots from Fly Ranch to create Elemental Dragon, planned to rise nine feet tall and 40 feet long."
— Burning Man Official Website
The existence of nature on this special rock in space could be considered a miracle, therefore it should be observed with care, dance to its rhythms and to live within the wonderful labyrinth of life in the most symbiotic way finding our sacred place in this world and in the eternal flow of time in order to merge all energies together for the sake of all living organisms involved.
This fusion should manifest like a gust of wind that blends perfectly with the natural flow of currents in an environment guided by harmony—something that would be a blessing for all.
Working intuitively and using every imaginable perspective, without disturbing the obvious form that defines the dragon, we always try to see the whole and offer the observer the opportunity to step further into the dimension of imagination—adding their infinite creativity to the ever-growing fractal that we, in turn, are able to co-create by honoring sacred patterns.
We invite you to an incredible sensory experience: to meet a dragon in person—a mystical creature, unique each time—capturing the spiritual essence of the local nature in the form of its admirable guardian of the wooden forest: the dragon, an ancient advisor from the realm of legends and fairy tales filled with courage and hope.
The project utilizes architectural precision to weave organic materials into a form that breathes with the wind of the playa. Every joint is a testament to communal effort, and every branch carries the memory of the elemental earth.
Project @ Fly Ranch
Arterra's crew will start the project on August 1st at Fly Ranch in Nevada, US. We will gather the roots and fallen trees and branches found on the land and transform them into an Elemental Dragon.
Fly Ranch will become our home for the next 23 days. It spreads across hundreds of acres in the vicinity of the Black Rock Desert and it hosts different species of shrubs and trees.
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01
Sustainable Sourcing
Every piece of wood is sourced from Fly Ranch, ensuring no live ecology is harmed in the creation of this creature.
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02
Community Onboarding
A collective of volunteers will converge at Fly Ranch for the initial assembly phase, and then it will then be disassembled and brought to the playa for installation.
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03
Permanent Residence
The Elemental Dragon will return after its exploration of the playa to Fly Ranch to reside there, in this way the cycle of the ecosystem will be complete.
The Creator
Andrei Cirica
Andrei Entitree, founder of Arterra Techtonics part of the OmLove Creations Crew with his sister Anca, has more than 15 years of experience in natural sculpture and landart, his creations have been delighting audiences around the world, everytime locally sourcing the materials looking for the worn out pieces that were left in the wrath of the elements by the trees, shaped by time, coloured by the sun, slowly decaying to become future nutrients for the forest floors, part of a cycle that his art does not end, returning the pieces back and beeing thankfull to the nature for it's beautifull collaboration. Present at many european psychedelic festivals like Ozora, Modem, Freqs of Nature, Transylvania Calling or Midninght Sun, also at Art with Me part of Art Basel in Miami he is taking on a new adventure in the Nevada desert this time to find and bring an Elemental Dragon to the Playa
We invite you to be a part of our team by contribuiting to our fundraiser to bring our gift to the playa.
Your Donations will be very much appreciated and will help our crew source, build, live, prepare for the harsh conditions of the desert, logistics and camp building, lighting and powering the installation at night, tools, screws and the good vibe of our team through your generosity and support.
We received support with an Rv to live in at Fly Ranch and on the playa and we got adopted by a Theme Camp to host us during build and burn week and post burn take down.
See You in the dust!
Elemental Dragon is supported in part by a grant from Burning Man Project
