A Symphony of Steel

Mutant vehicle creator Henry Chang on art, engineering, and courage in the face of cruelty  

Published [8/11/26]

Henry Chang can be described in so many ways and they’d all be accurate. Jazz-pianist-turned-electronic dance musician and self-taught mechanical engineer. Or a political scientist turned musician. Or a home builder turned sculptor. While most in Black Rock City recognize his iconic stainless steel creations like Valyrian Steel and the Flux Capacitor, this conversation dives deeper into the overall symphony of art, one of its many expressions being the machines most know him for. 

A former student of political science and computer science, Henry eventually abandoned the "silos" of the default world to follow a calling that merges the precision of aerospace fabrication with the soul of a musician. In this conversation, Arash and Henry trace his journey beginning in Laramie, Wyoming, where Henry grew up as an ‘oddity’. We follow him to university where he faces a life-altering event which leads to a paradigm shift in how he approaches his career. We explore how he integrated his music, his interest in engineering, and his calling as an artist. 

Crucially, this episode also explores a side of Henry most do not know: his background as a war historian. The conversation is bookended by a deep look at the responsibility of artists and burners in a world at war. 

Episode Info 

Burner Podcast | Episode B162 

Recorded at Henry Chang Design in Las Vegas on 8/09/26 

Contributing Producer: Gordon Katz

Learn More  

Henry Chang Design – Explore his portfolio of "artgineering" projects, furniture, and minimalist architectural home designs: https://www.henrychandesign.com/

Soul in the Machine – Listen to the "art band" for which Henry built custom stainless steel drum walls and laser harps: https://soundcloud.com/soulinthemachine

Beyond Thunderdome (Autocar) – A technical look at the 5.0-litre V8 engines and the World War II-era lathe used to build his sculptures: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/beyond-thunderdome-henry-changs-insane-automotive-sculptures

The Machine in the Man (Burning Man Journal) – An in-depth exploration of the three-axis Tourbillon and Henry’s journey with Radical Inclusion: https://journal.burningman.org/2019/07/burning-man-arts/brc-art/the-machine-in-the-man-henry-chang-and-artgineering/

Inside Henry's studio with Area15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI9BGitclY8

Henry's camp: instagram.com/miragegaragebrc

 

---

 

Standard Boilerplate

A show for those who burn the other 350 days of the year

Burner Podcast celebrates over a decade in production and is listed among the top 5% of podcasts in the world by ListenNotes. An independent gift to the Burning Man community, we are an artist-documentarian project dedicated to capturing the stories and heart-centered truth of our global population. Burner Podcast episodes feature audio memoirs, roundtables, and deep-dive conversations for and about those who identify as burners. 

Explore 160+ episodes at: burnerpodcast.com

Follow us for wildly irregular updates: instagram.com/burnerpodcast | facebook.com/burnerpodcast

Episodes of Burner Podcast are produced by a revolving cadre of dusty maniacs. The 2026 team includes Music Director Chris Huber aka M.I.A. and New Media Editor Cable King, among others.  

Burner Podcast’s theme music is produced by Joman | jomanmusic.com | instagram.com/jomanmusic

The Burner Podcast RSS feed is home to the flagship show itself, as well as other Burner Podcast Presents spinoffs including Burner Podcast Presents: Alkaline, a show featuring DJ mixes as the sonic documentation of the global burner community — the soundtrack to your burn.

About the Host & Founder 

Ārash Afshar is an Iranian-American writer, photographer, and cultural architect. He champions Artist Consciousness and views his mission as facilitating radical humanization through philosophical memoirs, documentary portraiture, and recorded conversations. Learn more at yesterdayiwasclever.com.