Desert X — Long Story Short

The Palm Springs area is most known for vacation developments, Coachella Music Festival, and for having a Sonic Drive-In in the vicinity. Art is not often associated with the region, but this Spring a group of curators premiered a show dedicated to the Coachella Valley landscape titled 'Desert X.' Although the name sounds mildly like an installment of the X-Men franchise, the show conquers the huge feat of tying together installations over a large geographical area. Unfortunately, I only could see a few installations during my short trip to the desert, but the ones I saw made quite the impact.

My first stop is the most popular site in the show: Mirage by Doug Aitken. If you have read anything about Desert X over the past few weeks you will recognize the mirrored beacon that is Mirage. At first glance, Mirage seems to be a shiny landmark made for taking photos, but as you tour through the space you realize its depth. The structure is patterned after Ranch style homes that are a dime a dozen in Southern California. The one story, low profile design blends into the landscape literally, with its mirrored facade, and figuratively, with its vernacular structural plan. The commentary on Southern California architecture is a subtle layer to this stunning installation that made me appreciate it even more.

After photographing and staring at Mirage for over an hour I made my way further into the Coachella Valley to Palm Desert to visit Phillip K Smith III's The Circle of Land and Sky. In this installation the artist placed 300 mirrored staffs on a ten degree angel in a large circle. Viewers are welcome to walk around inside and outside the circle to see the warped reflections of their surroundings. The staffs bend the sunlight in a way that morphs the landscape. From every angle you see a sliced version of what is around you while catching a glimpse of yourself in the reflection. This brilliant abstraction of a philosopher's circle is captivating as it transforms with the movement of the sun.

The Circle of Land and Sky by Phillip K Smith III — *The Circle of Land and Sky* by Phillip K Smith III

My final stop in the Desert X lineup was Glen Kaino's Hollow Earth. The installation is located at the east end of the Coachella Valley inside a small, unassuming wooden hut with a pass-coded door. After entering the code (it's 7059 by the way) I discovered that the start button that illuminates the piece was not functioning. After trying to get the thing to turn on for over half an hour, I decided to move on. If the piece had been functional, it would have turned on lights inside a circular glass tube that appears to be a never ending hole looking into the depths of the earth. This underwhelming experience revealed that the Desert X team hasn't figured out all the kinks in this large scale show, but hopefully in the future the bumps in the road will be smoothed over.

Hollow Earth by Glen Kaino, courtesy of Riot Material — *Hollow Earth* by Glen Kaino, courtesy of Riot Material

Overall, Desert X makes a wonderful attempt at bringing more contemporary art to the Palm Springs area. The show's collection of installations could be compared to Marfa,Texas' art destination model, but in my opinion, the curatorial aim is more specific and therefore more accessible to its California audience. It will be interesting to see if Desert X can grow from infancy or if it will fade away like other Angeleno trends.

If you want to discover the Desert X installations, head over to the website for more info.

Cheers,

Hugh