Last month @engineered_artworks installed the @seanorlandoartist piece Emergence in Edmonds.
This large-scale, site-specific installation was designed to create a gateway from the nearby ferry terminal into a neighborhood, provide a visual landmark, and create a gathering space.
Emergence reflects an ongoing commitment to creating sculptural environments that activate public space and invite community engagement.
Photos courtesy of the City of Edmonds.
🌱 Meet Sean Orlando, the Lead Artist behind Above & Below.
Known for large-scale public art and immersive sculptural worlds, Sean creates spaces that spark curiosity, wonder, and connection. This year, he’s bringing that magic to the playa with a 40-foot-tall climbable beanstalk rising from the desert like something out of a fairytale.
Part sculpture and part playground, Above & Below invites participants to climb upwards into a world of curiosity, wonder, and imagination.
Adding an extra layer of magic, Sean’s daughter has been helping dream up and design parts of the piece, weaving a sweet thread of family creativity into the project. ✨
Follow along as the team welds, fabricates, and transforms this towering desert dream into existence. 🛠️
#BurningMan #PlayaArt #AboveAndBelow #InteractiveArt
What’s inside Above & Below?
Last week we gathered at the shop to start dreaming it up!
A room full of collaborators came together to start ideating on the spaces, objects, and stories that will live inside our big beanstalk and its houses.
We’re still at the beginning, and will need your help along the way! If you’d like to get involved, see donate and volunteer links in the @above_and_below_beanstalk profile.
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 the narrative 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.
Interested in helping this come to life? Links to donate and volunteer in bio.
#burningman #burningman2026 #bigart
Sean sharing the vision for Above & Below at our kickoff event last week!
This project is still taking shape -- growing through conversation, collaboration, and the many folks already starting to build it. It’s a world of invention, story, and wonder, and we’re just at the beginning.
If you want to be part of bringing it to life:
🔥 donate
🛠 volunteer
Links for both in bio.
Last night we gathered to kick off Above & Below! Artists, builders, longtime collaborators, and new friends all showed up, excited to make something magical together - it was really lovely!
This project is a big one. This world we’re building will take a lot of hands, a lot of skills, and a lot of love to bring to life.
If it speaks to you, we’d love to have you be part of it! 🔥 donate to help fund the build + bring it to the playa 🔥
🛠 volunteer and come build with us 🛠
Links in bio to get involved. Let’s see what we can make together!
We’re officially bringing Above & Below to life this Tuesday!
✨ Join us for our project kickoff ✨
Donkey & Goat Winery
1340 Fifth St, Berkeley, CA
Tuesday, April 14th at 7pm
Come gather with friends, collaborators, and builders as we unveil the vision, walk through what’s ahead, and begin building the community that will make this piece real.
From the shop to the playa, we’re looking for support of all kinds:
🔧 Fabrication (metal + wood)
🎨 Scenic & aesthetic build
📣 Fundraising & publicity
🏕 Camp support & logistics
…and more
Whether you’re ready to jump in, curious to learn more, or just want to be part of the energy, join us!
👉 RSVP at Partiful link if possible (link in @above_and_below_beanstalk profile)
Let’s build something unforgettable. See you there!
This immersive sculpture by Sean Orlando, created in partnership with the Five Ton Crane Arts Collective, has been selected as an official Burning Man 2026 Honoraria project. A house below, a house above, connected by a climbable beanstalk. Headed to the playa in 2026!
It’s official. Above & Below has been selected as a Burning Man Honoraria installation!
Created by Sean Orlando with fabrication by Engineered Artworks and produced in partnership with Five Ton Crane, this new large-scale work continues a long exploration of immersive, story-driven environments -- spaces built for curiosity, connection, and wonder.
Rising 40 feet above the playa, the piece will connect two worlds: a dreamlike home on the ground and a luminous cottage in the sky.
More details to come, but for now, we are delighted to be bringing this bit of magic to the playa this year!
#burningman #burningmanhonoraria #burningman2026 #largescaleart #largescalesculpture
@seanorlandoartist@fivetoncrane@engineered_artworks@burningman
Engineered Artworks Studio has been firing on all cylinders on multiple large- scale art installations! Our shop is at maximum capacity! I’m super proud of my entire Team! @engineered_artworks@seanorlandoartist
Big art isn’t just about building sculpture, it’s about building community. Five Ton Crane creates opportunities for people to learn new skills, build big things together, and bring ambitious dreams to life.
If you want to support creativity & community in the Bay Area, 5TC’s year-end campaign is a great place to give. Donate: /donate/
The legendary Capitol Theater is ready for its next act. We need your help to restore and reinstall this masterpiece for the world to see. Be part of the revival, donate before year-end!
fivetoncrane.org/donate
Lead Artists: Bree Hylkema and Sean Orlando
Collaboration: Five Ton Crane Arts Group and Engineered Artworks
