The timeless trip through the enchanted forest is an age-old rite of passage that has recurred throughout many of our favorite myths and stories. Think of the trials and tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. Recall the haunted forest of Oz. Consider The Chronicles of Narnia’s Wood between the Worlds. Remember Tolkien’s many depictions of forests (Fangorn, Lothlorien, Mirkwood, etc.) as mysterious places of magic, wisdom, and danger. We currently find enchanted forests in theme parks, Disney movies, and video games. What is it about getting lost in the woods that tickles the tendrils of our essential humanity?

When we return to the forest we are returning to our selves, our pasts, our deepest and most authentic natures. To the indigenous shaman and mystics of countless traditions, the forest holds ancient wisdom. If we listen closely enough we can learn from the trees.

By exploring and engaging in the Walkabout Woods, participants will have the opportunity to connect with their five senses in new and experimental ways, ultimately contributing to a deeper and wider exploration of themselves. Art is always a reflection of our inner worlds. Thus the enchanted forest becomes a metaphor for those structures of perception, mind, and emotion through which we wade to arrive at our deepest truths.

Deep in the forest participants will encounter the Boiler Rooms. These self contained creatively engineered sensory interfaces will encourage people to isolate and play with each of their five senses. This interaction may contribute to a greater reflection on how our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies receive and process information from the world around us. This participatory and contemplative process can be a launch pad for internal transformation.

Anthropologically speaking, rites of passage involve three stages— separation, liminality, and re-incorporation. Walkabout Woods will be designed to facilitate a microcosm of this ageless journey

Concept art by: Mark Goerner

SEPARATION— As participants venture into a labyrinthine forest of abstract plywood cutout trees, colorfully lit and painted, they will experience a separation from the rest of the playa and enter a radically new environment.

LIMINALITY— Within the forest, sensory interfaces disguised as odd trees, out-of-place control rooms, and bizarre factories will challenge participants to use their senses in weird and outrageous ways. These sensory sanctuaries are truly liminal spaces, the in-between places where consciousness encounters self discovery, creative experimentation, personal reflection, transformative growth, and the expansion of sensory experience.

RE-INCORPORATION—Participants will leave the forest and be reincorporated back into the playa sensescape with a greater ability to translate and process the tremendously complex sensory input streams within which they find themselves enmeshed.