Desert X turns California desert into outdoor art festival
With its impressive desert landscape, the Coachella Valley in southern California has been transformed into a stage for modern art.
Tons of art
Mexican artist Jose Davila poses in front of his work "The Act of Being Together," which consists of stacked blocks of marble from the Chihuahua Desert on the other side of the US-Mexico border. The work is intended to reflect the "current climate of events," emphasize the conspicuous presence of the "alien" and at the same time connect places or origin and destination.
Radiant truth
The installation "Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams" by French-US artist Sarah Meyohas consists of metal mirrors that project the title of the work onto the sides of a 120-meter-long, curved band of lime-white plaster. "Truth is definitely something that's at stake in today's world," said Meyohas.
Light doesn't lie
A group of dancers perform in front of Meyohas' artwork. The artist designed the work's reflective panels using computer algorithms. In addition to the words, "Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams," each panel bears a pattern of slanted bars that illustrates the content the message. "This is the light. And this is true," said Meyohas.
Looking up
Artist Sanford Biggers' work "Unsui (Mirror)" consists of two imposing sequin sculptures that rise up against the vast sky above the desert. Clouds, a recurring motif in Biggers' work, stand for freedom, boundlessness and connectedness. Inspired by Bigger's study of Buddhism, these clouds embody the idea of unhindered movement.
Perfect imperfection
"The Living Pyramid" is both a monumental sculpture and an ecological intervention by artist and activist Agnes Denes. "While the pyramids are based on mathematics and thus achieve a kind of perfection, they contain all the imperfections they are dealing with or are representing and visualizing," said Denes.
Full service in the desert
Inspired by the classic gas stations that characterized rural US in the last century, Alison Saar's "Soul Service Station" is not for refueling cars but the soul. She invites exhausted travelers to wash away their worries, pump up their minds, recharge their hearts and fill their souls.
Joint project
At the center of the Soul Service Station is a life-size, hand-carved female figure, the guardian and healer of the place radiating strength. In the station, Saar has created a collection of medallions and recycled furniture designed by Coachella Valley students to form a spiritual sanctuary.