Above & Below
Above & Below
A Burning Man Honoraria Project by Sean Orlando
Above & Below is a large-scale immersive art installation by Sean Orlando, debuting at Burning Man 2026 as an official Burning Man Honoraria project.
Created by Sean Orlando, with fabrication by Engineered Artworks and produced in partnership with the Five Ton Crane Arts Collective, the piece continues a long exploration of immersive, story-driven environments, spaces built for curiosity, wonder, and discovery.
At the base of the installation is a furnished, dreamlike home filled with objects, stories, and mysteries. Rooms are layered with artifacts, maps, photographs, and fragments of narrative, clues waiting to be noticed and stories waiting to be assembled. From there, a climb upward leads to a hidden space in the sky: a glowing Victorian cottage suspended 40 feet above the playa. Inside, find a place to pause, gather, and look outward across the desert and into the stars.
Connecting these two worlds is the beanstalk itself – a winding, climbable structure that transforms a familiar fairytale image into a monumental, engineered form.
Above & Below invites participants into a world that is both familiar and strange: a journey from the intimate to the expansive, from memory to imagination.
Above & Below draws from stories as old as the beanstalk and the house in the clouds, connecting memory, imagination, and invention. It reflects a belief that the spaces we build can hold meaning, and that structure itself can become a place of wonder, discovery, and shared experience. Part home, part machine, part dream, the work continues Sean Orlando’s exploration of large-scale immersive sculpture and story-driven environments designed to invite curiosity and connection.
Project Inspiration
Above & Below is a deeply personal piece, a sculptural self-portrait of the artist. It imagines the life of an inventor and maker who creates a magnificent and otherworldly shelter for himself and his daughter. The relationship portrayed in this piece mirrors Lead Artist Sean Orlando’s own experience of building a world rooted in wonder, storytelling, and community for his daughter to grow in and be held by.
The installation reflects a world nurtured by curiosity and care, an environment rich with art, invention, and play. It draws from a life and career devoted to building imaginative spaces, where interactivity, immersiveness, and a sense of discovery are always at the center. Above & Below is a place where art is a lived value, and community creativity is the built foundation of all of our experiences.
At the base of the sculpture’s 40’ high beanstalk-like structure is a series of intimate and imaginative interior spaces: a library of stories and knowledge, a workshop filled with tools and toys, and a laboratory for experimentation. Artifacts, maps, and curious objects fill the environment, echoing the spirits of great innovators like Ada Lovelace, Leonardo da Vinci, and Marie Curie.
Together, each chamber and artifact of Above & Below, each map and mysterious instrument, constructs a living narrative that invites participants to explore, to play, and to reconnect with their own sense of wonder.
A project this big takes a community!
Magical worlds brought to you by . . .
Sean Orlando | Sculptor
Sean Orlando is a Bay Area sculptor known for large-scale public art and immersive sculptural environments. His work merges engineering, storytelling, and placemaking, creating installations that invite curiosity, wonder, and shared experience. His projects have been exhibited at institutions including the deYoung Museum and installed in public spaces across the United States.
Five Ton Crane | Fiscal Sponsor
Five Ton Crane is a collaborative arts collective and nonprofit known for creating ambitious, large-scale installations and immersive environments. Their work spans public art, Burning Man Honoraria projects, and cultural institutions, with a focus on collective making and experiential storytelling.
Engineered Artworks | Fabricator
Engineered Artworks is a Richmond, California–based sculpture fabrication studio specializing in large-scale sculpture, public art, and kinetic and immersive installations. The studio brings together artists, fabricators, and engineers to realize complex projects from concept through installation.