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Star is a 30-foot great stellated dodecahedron that treats geometry like a public stage. Aluminum struts, steel hubs, and taut sail panels give the form a clear edge in daylight; at night the sails catch light and turn the whole object into a quiet beacon. It reads cleanly from across a plaza or a passing car, but it also rewards standing under it and looking up through the spikes - your eye walks the symmetries and loses the sense of where inside becomes outside.

We scaled the classic form with honest materials and straightforward joinery: 3-inch 6061-T6 poles socketed into custom steel hubs and tips, roughly two hundred half-inch bolts you can actually see and touch. Star was built to be used by a city, not tip-toed around. It goes up with an eight-person crew and a scissor lift in under six hours, then runs on sealed low-voltage lighting that’s easy to service.

The best part is how people behave around it. Kids zigzag through the legs, couples take the wide shot at dusk, and makers crouch to study a hub and trade guesses about the jig. Star does exactly what we wanted—make the math visible, invite people in without fuss, and hold up in the wild.

Scale: 30 ft diameter • ~3,000 lb

Materials: 3.5 in OD 1/8 wall custom fabricated DOM steel hubs and tips • 3 in 6061-T6 aluminum poles • sailcloth panels • ~200 half-inch bolts

Lighting: Thirty addressable LED floods • reprogrammable for events

Install and operations: 8-person crew • under 6 hours • scissor lift only • transports as poles

Sites: Burning Man • Youtopia • California Center for the Arts, Escondido for 90 days

Reliability: One early LED flood failure replaced in situ • otherwise no maintenance in 90 days

Team and community: 300+ contributors • MJ lead artist • Colin lead fabricator

Budget basis: Direct costs $42,879 materials, transport, specialty tools, and rewards

Funding: SDCAP • Youtopia • City of Escondido • crowdfunding • matching by Illumina, Amgen, ASML

Star made its debut at Burning Man 2024.

As part of Arts and Culture Month, star was on display April-July, 2025 at the California Center of the Arts, Escondido. News article: https://www.times-advocate.com/articles/a-star-is-born-on-ccae-lawn/

We are actively seeking short or long term installation opportunities.

Star was installed at the California Center for the Arts, with funding from the city of Escondido as parts of the 2025 Arts, Culture, and Creativity month.

Star was one of the five finalists in the Best Public Art or Mural category, North County Art Awards 2025.

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