Documented artwork / interactive kinetic fire sculpture

The Serpent Mother

A skeletal serpent coils around an egg, combining participant-controlled flame effects with a hydraulically moving head and jaws. The egg opens for a colored-fire display.

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Documented work. Current availability, ownership and installation requirements must be confirmed with the artist.

See the documented project and images

Image: flaminglotus.com ↗

At a glance

Year / version: 2006
Materials: Not documented
Documented setting: outdoor
Dimensions: 65 × 50 feet footprint; 20 feet tallest point; skeletal spine 168 feet long
Dimensions apply to: Artist’s published Serpent Mother configuration; the 168-foot figure follows the spine and is not the installed footprint. Separate fuel and fire clearances are additional.
Availability: Unconfirmed

Places & versions

Installation history

Historical presentations. A past installation does not establish the current location or suitability for a new site.

2006 premiere; 2015
Burning Man, Black Rock City, Nevada
City
Black Rock City
State / region
NV
Country
United States (inferred; not independently confirmed)
Event
Burning Man
Documented years
2006, 2015
Installation details checked 2026-10-16.
Installation source
2009
Coachella, Indio, California
City
Indio
State / region
CA
Country
United States (inferred; not independently confirmed)
Event
Coachella Valley Music Arts Festival
Start year
2009
Installation details checked 2026-10-16.
Installation source
2023
unSCruz, Tres Pinos, California
City
Tres Pinos
State / region
CA
Country
United States (inferred; not independently confirmed)
Event
unSCruz
Start year
2023
Installation details checked 2026-10-16.
Installation source

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Research notes for project planning

How this work was made and presented

Artist technical description of the 2006 work

Read the support area with the sculpture

Flaming Lotus Girls describes Serpent Mother as a long articulated serpent coiled around an egg, combining hydraulic movement with fire effects and supervised participation. Its technical information separates the sculpture’s footprint from a fuel depot placed away from the main form. This is an especially useful planning distinction: the area visible in a photograph does not describe the complete operating site. A prospective host would need to review the support compound, access and operation with the artist team before assessing whether a particular location can accommodate the work.

Flaming Lotus Girls — Serpent Mother ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10

For your project brief

Can the site accommodate the support area and operating access as well as the visible sculpture?

Big Art Partners planning prompt

White Night Melbourne program map, 2018

Place a spectacle within the wider festival plan

White Night Melbourne’s 2018 program map places Serpent Mother at Melbourne Museum Plaza, within a broader network of installations and museum activity. The map also identifies visitor services and movement infrastructure across the event. This host document is useful as evidence of presentation context, rather than as an installation specification. For another festival, the planning lesson is to study the artwork’s location as part of the entire evening route, including how arriving audiences find it and how they continue toward other attractions and services.

White Night Melbourne — 2018 program map ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10

For your project brief

How will the attraction connect to the festival route and nearby visitor services?

Big Art Partners planning prompt

Interactive art installations ↗Outdoor sculpture & installations ↗Art documented at Burning Man ↗Kinetic sculpture and installations ↗