Set it on fire.

Linfield’s notable Built to Burn returns to campus on April 26 for another blazing event. This event is hosted by the art department and brought to Linfield by Totem Shriver, a professor of art. Built to Burn draws on inspiration from Burning Man, a festival held in the Nevada desert.

Shriver brought Built to Burn to Linfield as a way to bring a gathering of people and to hold an event that represents a transformation. For students, faculty and community members, Built to Burn is a way to signify the new and recognize the old.

“Fire festivals are celebrated in almost every culture annually. It is a goodbye and a hello to what was and what is,” said Shriver. “It could be referred to as a ritual but the most common summation of the Built to Burn project is one of a lesson of impermanence and letting go of the old. A cleansing of sorts. The Phoenix rises from the ashes.”

Leading up to the event takes a lot of preparation. Both the Intro to Studio and the Sculpture class worked on this piece, titled “ApisLudereMacrocosmAlliance.” Students were tasked with forming ideas, sketching designs, doing measurements, building and advertising the event. And of course, buying marshmallows.

With the help of nearly 20 students, the structure was ready to be lit.

“I’m most excited for everyone to come and see the building,” said Deiana Gutwig, sophomore JAMS major and creative studies minor, who is a part of Shrivers Sculpture 250 class. “Built to burn to me makes me feel some kind of an awakening and calmness. So I’m quite excited to feel that feeling again.”

For those who attended the event, Shriver hoped for everyone to view it with respect for one another, as everyone interprets the burn differently.

“We always say, ‘Come make of it what you will’. We would never ask anyone to think a certain way about it,” Shriver said.

Built to Burn took place on the open field next to Miller Fine Arts Center, on Friday April 26th.