Artists disrupt the Palm Springs landscape for inaugural Desert X biennial

Hundreds of people gathered in an empty patch of desert in the Coachella Valley at dusk last Friday. As darkness fell, 290 patches of light illuminated the ground, spreading over 100,000 sq ft – the size of two American football fields. The effect was almost like navigating the kind of terrain one would imagine would be on a planet in outer space.
‘I was thinking about humans’ relationship to the environment and how that’s changed over a million years, and either the connection or separation that we feel to the larger environment,’ says Tavares Strachan, the Bahamas-born, New York-based artist behind the project. ‘For me, the I is not about the self, but the extended self is everything.’
Tavares Strachan's interventions create the phrase ‘I am’ from above.
Those who did their research would know that from up above, the seemingly unrelated light-filled craters spell out the phrase ‘I am’ – but Strachan’s intention was not for visitors to see it from two different vantage points. ‘I wanted you to be in that experience, and not think about the sky,’ he says. ‘For me it wasn’t about the duality. It was about the singular experience.’
The land art installation was part of the inaugural edition of Desert X, a biennial located in and around Palm Springs in Southern California. Some 16 artists, including Richard Prince, Doug Aitken, Lita Albuquerque, Rob Pruitt, Glenn Kaino, Will Boone, Gabriel Kuri, Phillip K Smith III and Sherin Guirguis disrupted the local landscape for an exhibition that runs through the end of April (those planning a sojourn to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will be able to get an art fix). Founder Susan Davis wanted the artists to engage with both the striking environment and the myriad sociological issues faced in the area, tapping Neville Wakefield to curate Desert X as artistic director.
Doug Aitken’s ‘Mirage’ house, is made of mirrors inside and out.
‘There’s an interesting paradox that the desert is free and open, but in fact it’s quite regulated, so we had to deal with a lot of cities in terms of zoning,’ says Wakefield, who brought together a mix of both established and emerging artists, many of whom are based in the area.
Pruitt staged one of his flea markets at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Prince covered an abandoned home with his Instagram works, tangling some of them with the tumbleweed. Kaino investigated tunnels around the world through an optical illusion that appeared to be an infinite hole in the ground. Albuquerque executed a performance of minstrels and dancers that seemed to salute the harsh desert sun. Boone put a bunker in the ground with a surprise for those who entered it, and Guirguis constructed a beehive-like structure for birds that also offered perspectives
Aitken's installation creates fractured views of the desert landscape.
The desert will be brought to life with specially commissioned artworks and installations by a host of artists. Strachan’s project (pictured) explores the relationship between human beings and their environments.
Strachan has dug 290 craters through a 100,000 sq ft area, each brightly lit by a neon tube.
Doug Aitken has installed a ranch-style suburban American house, composed of reflective mirrored surfaces, entitled Mirage.
The artwork was informed by the philosophies of Frank Lloyd Wright, who believed that architecture should be both in and of the landscape.
As Mirage pulls the landscape in and reflects it back out, its becomes a ‘a visual echo-chamber’.
Mirage will remain on view after ‘Desert X’ closes, until 31 October.
INFORMATION
Desert X is on view until 30 April. For more information, visit the website
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ann Binlot is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer who covers art, fashion, design, architecture, food, and travel for publications like Wallpaper*, the Wall Street Journal, and Monocle. She is also editor-at-large at Document Journal and Family Style magazines.
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
Much of our team was in Copenhagen for 3 Days of Design this week. For those left basking in the London heatwave, it was architecture workshops, photography exhibitions and two very different performances: ballet and Britpop
-
The best bars in London for bartending greatness
From chic hotel cocktail classics to game-changing flavour combinations, our resident drinks correspondent, Neil Ridley, explores ten of the best bars in London
-
Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026: live updates from the Wallpaper* team
From 20-23 June, Milan Fashion Week Men’s arrives in the Italian fashion capital. Follow along for a first look at the shows, presentations and other fashion happenings, as seen by the Wallpaper* editors
-
Mystic, feminine and erotic: the power of Penny Slinger’s bodies as landscape
Artist Penny Slinger continues her exploration of the sacred, surreal feminine in a Santa Monica exhibition, ‘Meeting at the Horizon’
-
Photographer Geordie Wood takes a leap of faith with first film, Divers
Geordie Wood delved into the world of professional diving in Fort Lauderdale for his first film
-
New book celebrates 100 years of New York City landmarks where LGBTQ+ history took place
Marc Zinaman’s ‘Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places’ is a vital tribute to queer culture
-
A major Takashi Murakami exhibition sees the world in kaleidoscopic colour
The Cleveland Art Museum presents 'Takashi Murakami 'Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow', exploring outrage and escapist fantasy
-
Ai Weiwei’s new public installation is coming soon to Four Freedoms State Park
‘Camouflage’ by Ai Weiwei will launch the inaugural Art X Freedom project in September 2025, a new programme to investigate social justice and freedom
-
Leonard Baby's paintings reflect on his fundamentalist upbringing, a decade after he left the church
The American artist considers depression and the suppressed queerness of his childhood in a series of intensely personal paintings, on show at Half Gallery, New York
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella Valley
Will Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any other
Gia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl