VALENCE (n): in psychology, the affective or emotional quality associated with an event or object; in chemistry, the bonding capacity of atoms to one another.
We are a multi-*asterisk* collective of friends, family, artists, performers, makers, dancers, and technologists. We want to create inspired realms in which people can connect, grow, and play.
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Ben loves lighting, power, and solar, and Oxytocin is his favorite neuropeptide (although serotonin tries to take that spot sometimes). He's building the solar rig for the sculpture and helping with on-playa build and support.
Ian is a product manager by day and EDM lover by night. Typically found stretching in the sun, walking his dog, playing with LED gloves, or binging Netflix. Ian has never had the opportunity to voyage to Black Rock City and is very pleased to contribute and celebrate art with wonderful people.
Mary-Ann enjoys pilates and yoga workouts, watching and reading sci-fi classics, and getting crafty in the kitchen. Mary-Ann did build week and camped with Sextant in 2019 and attended Fourth of Juplaya. Mary-ann is a data analyst by day.
Emi loves to build, break, and fix things. Her background is in Industrial Design with experience in aerospace, medical products, metalwork and large scale sculptures. She is currently a nomad, exploring the world. This will be her seventh year supporting design and build on playa.
Philip enjoys tinkering with their home lab, embedded systems, and dabbling in audio production. They live for fireside jams and time in nature with their partner and pup. Philip first attended Burning Man in 2011 and helped organize Darwin Fish Tank (4:30&C) for 6 years. Philip is an engineering manager at Google by day.
Mandy loves serving tea, making mochi, and dancing with friends. Mandy attended her first burn in 2019. By day, Mandy is a data scientist with experience developing machine learning models for digital assistants and abuse detection.
Jade designs pole dance clothing and performs pole and aerial silks. Jade attended Fourth of Juplaya and the Plan B renegade burn in 2021. By day, she is a data analyst for an affordable housing non-profit based in San Francisco.
Ernest was a mathematical physicist turned flight software engineer for space launch and now space satellites. He will be preparing a talk on “The Physics of Interstellar.” Ernest enjoys playing the piano, runs by the beach, cooking Italian, and line-dancing (or any kind of dancing).
Noah is a design engineer and specializes in fast prototyping. He does snow sports in the winter, rock climbing in the summer, and DIY projects year-round. By day, Noah develops medical devices used across the world. Noah has a lot of camping experience and this will be his first trip to Black Rock Desert.
After many hours of preparation, brainstorming, design, planning, and prototyping, we've assembled our collective knowledge and submitted the Burning Man art placement questionnaire for OXYTOCIN. We hope to hear back with p...
