By Sophia Rutti
Michael Verdon, a senior at George Mason University, is finishing off his Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in sculpture by publicly burning his final project. While many of us would like to burn our final projects out of spite, Verdon’s project is being burned to bring a sense of peace to everyone who contributed to it.
For the past few weeks, Verdon has placed his Temple of Transformance on the Mason Pond and asked people to come in and write a few words. He says: “My intention is that people have a space to share stories of remembrance, loss, fear, forgiveness, doubt, guilt and things that are no longer serving you that you are now ready to let go of and move through. Sometimes it is difficult to make the last step to let something go, and this project, ideally, offers people a communal avenue by which to do that.”
Members of the George Mason community and beyond have the opportunity to write on the walls of the temple, bring photos of loved ones and leave letters all in the hopes that when it is burned, your troubles will disappear and be replaced with a sense of catharsis. Verdon went on to say, “We hope that in giving up something beautiful and burning this temple we are giving people a chance to let go of things that are troubling them.”
The Temple, which now sits just on the edge of the Mason pond, is full of text from students and passersby who are waiting to see their troubles disappear in smoke.
This project is not the first of its kind, however. Verdon was inspired by David Best, an artist whose temple he watched burn at the popular Burning Man festival. Verdon himself has been working on similar projects since 2011 and has since collectively built seven temples and effigies. He explains the difference between a temple and an effigy by focusing on the dichotomy between them. The burning of an effigy, according to Verdon, is for celebration and excitement, whereas a temple is meant to be an experience of catharsis and reflection for everyone involved.
“This project actually has larger implications,” Verdon says. “The artist David Best was recently invited to build a similar object in Northern Ireland—an old conflict zone. This kind of project can bring people together. The shared experience of both reading other people’s stories and writing down your own personal experience bonds people. Also, getting to share the burn experience is communally bonding. The idea that it is temporary and disappears brings people together even if it is just for a moment.”
On May 8 at 8:30 p.m., Verdon’s Temple of Transformance will be pulled to the center of the pond and set on fire. The George Mason community and the public at large can sit together and experience the echoing of flames off the water and watch their troubles burn away.
