California’s “Desert X” Exhibition Is an Architecture-Lover’s Dream

Architecture and art–loving Instagrammers have been swooning over this mirror-clad construction all week. Reflecting the Coachella Valley’s desert landscape, with its rugged mountains and stunning sunsets, the luminous façade of this California ranch–style house is not a misplaced piece of suburbia, but an art installation that acts as an architectural kaleidoscope.

Mirage, the project’s fitting name, is by artist Doug Aitken and forms part of “Desert X,” a new outdoor exhibition set just outside of Palm Springs, which opened this week. Seventeen artists including Aitken have sprinkled the valley with site-specific land-art installations as part of the first edition of this biennial-style showcase.

Given the area’s arid, vast environment, site-specificity is a loose term. The landscape gives way to standout structures like Mirage and unique interpretations of the natural surroundings. The artists employed very different techniques, using the land as the canvas for their work. This massive, open-air art gallery serves as scavenger hunt as viewers wind around the 45-mile route looking for more moments of architectural awe and artistic wonder.

Check out some more of the installations below:

The Circle of Land and Sky by Phillip K. Smith III

Like Aitken’s Mirage, Phillip K. Smith III uses the colors of the landscape and sky as the focal point in this circular field of 300 reflectors. Smith angled each post at a 10-degree slant, digging them into the desert floor. The project reacts to the light as it passes over the mirrored surfaces.

I AM by Tavares Strachan

In I AM, Bahamian artist Tavares Strachan installed neon light tubes in over 400 small trenches across a 100,000-square-foot plot of land. With the valley being one of the region’s busiest flight paths, viewers not only experience the message from the ground, but from above, as well.

Hollow Earth by Glenn Kaino

Inside Glenn Kaino’s subtle shed structure is a virtually never-ending tunnel made of glass mirrors. The project creates the illusion of descending deep into the Earth, exploring the history of tunnel-making and forcing viewers to stare at themselves in the reflection below.

Visible Distance by Jennifer Bolande

Jennifer Bolande’s billboards act as puzzle pieces against their mountainous backdrops. When driving along Gene Autry Trail, viewers encounter her collection of billboards that feature photographs of the mountains in perfect alignment with the horizon.

Curves and Zigzags by Claudia Comte

Curves and Zigzags showcases Claudia Comte’s fixation on creating two-dimensional paintings on three-dimensional structures. This large wall produces a wave-like quality that feels as though it could have no end point.

One I Call by Sherin Guirguis

Sherin Guirguis’s sculpture, One I Call, is inspired by Egyptian desert pigeon houses. The artist packed long sandbags with soil to construct the project’s base and used mountain spring water and clay from a nearby quarry.

Each of the large-scale installations of “Desert X” takes advantage of the desert’s physical and cultural landscape in an effort to challenge the history of western expansion. Throughout the exhibition, there is a widespread use of reflecting materials and an emphasis on constructing physical illusions. This demonstrates the valley’s limitless ability to manifest distinctive, custom moments for people who come to visit. Without the confines of a museum’s walls and no path for guidance, “Desert X” is an immersive, personal experience that can’t be replicated anywhere else.

“Desert X” is on view until April 30. Expect to see more of these bold art installations pop up on your Instagram feed during Coachella next month.

Images by Lance Gerber courtesy of the artists and “Desert X”