Each unique artwork in this SHADE EDITION is a celebration of the culture of Shade, a record of the people who contributed to its creation, and a contribution to the community of workers who, each year, build the infrastructure of That Thing In the Desert. 80% of proceeds from the sale of SHADE editions go directly to MUTUAL SHADE, a mutual aid and advocacy project run by the artist to support the needs of workers in this community.

As written in "The Book of Shade": “The SHADE SWITCH is the Sigillum Dei of Shade. It is a dynamic and changeable symbol of our law, which is expressed in celebration with, and mockery of, binary choice. The banning of the SHADE SWITCH was its ultimate consecration. The Switch is all powerful. It can bring down an empire. It is already bringing down an empire.... This powerful magick disrupts structures of authority by asserting that we—meaning you—meaning anyone—is in control.”

Each unique piece in this edition was first contributed by a visitor to Ian Henderson's art installation and altar "Shenclave Actual," where members of the public are invited to perform a ritual symbolizing the sacred (and currently banned) act as conducted on Playa among Shade culture. These contributed shade switches are then hand-painted and treated using Shade implements and magical processes to transform into editioned artworks.

SHADE Editions is part of a multi-stage project by artist Ian Henderson produced in collaboration with The Ritual Division, an artist-run space and fabrication studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Shade is one of the many groups of largely volunteer laborers that produce the critical infrastructure each year for That Thing In The Desert, which takes place annually on public lands in Nevada (iykyk). For years, the artist and those close to them have taken part in this dangerous but necessary work, which supports the creation of a temporary infra-nation and in the process, creates deep camaraderie and a self-initiating magical awakening in the initiates of its crew.

Through this project, Henderson seeks to document the history, practices, philosophies, secret rites, and rituals of these workers, and represent them publicly through artistic monuments to their work. Each artwork uses the same folk craft techniques that Shade employ on playa and call attention to the material components of their workings, from the tools that transform into sacred implements to the distinctive cloth that becomes a lifesaving barrier in the harsh desert environment. The artworks also gather the group's collective knowledge and history through re-performance of community rituals and the illuminated manuscript of "The Book of Shade." And most importantly, every aspect of the project seeks to return attention to the often-overlooked workers of the larger Thing In The Desert community, whose precarity and solidarity are deeply intertwined with the history and practices of this cultural movement.