If it was up to Sabine Marcelis, cellphones would be checked at the door at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The Dutch artist and designer known for her geometric forms attended the festival for the first time last year with her partner and their six month old child. This year, she's back with Maze a new temporary installation on the grounds.
Maze is an inflatable sculpture crafted from PVC in a gradient of red, orange and yellow that is at home in the desert. While its shape and color are inspired by the contours of the surrounding Coachella Valley and high desert region that Marcelis spent time in as a teenager, she is quick to clarify it is not a direct translation.
'I wanted to bring the movement of the mountain ranges and create a setting that felt very isolated from its surroundings as you are very walled off once inside. I wanted to create the feeling of being surrounded the same way the Coachella Valley is by the mountain ranges,' she says.
The installation, commissioned by Public Art Company who handles all of the visual art at Coachella, has a purpose beyond its aesthetics. 'Having gone to Coachella myself, I understood how important it is to be able to find that shade at the festival. I however did not want to create a canopy-style work,' says Marcelis. Instead, the walls of Maze provide shade during the day, creating growing pockets for relaxing as the sun moves. Sculptural benches in matching sunset hues line the exterior and pepper the curves of the maze, providing seating. When the sun goes down, pulsing strips of light inside the inflatable walls are illuminated, creating what Marcelis hopes is an 'all encompassing experience.'
From ideation to installation, Maze took one year to complete. The process began with research during Marcelis’ initial visit to the festival grounds last year. She worked on sketches from April until July before going into production, finishing at the end of 2025. The production and final install was done by a local team, requiring tremendous trust from Marcelis. 'I’m a bit of a control freak,' says the artist, who is used to working with her usual production and installation teams at home in Rotterdam. Less than 24-hours before the festival doors opened, she saw the piece installed for the first time. As daylight moved into golden hour, she finalised the light programming.
Marcelis describes Maze as a 'complementary experience' to the music that will surround it. Festival goers can use it as a place of refuge, whether to escape the sun or easily find friends when cell reception is lost. She believes the best way to experience the work is to allow oneself to pause and appreciate the light and shadow the work creates and enhances.
While Marcelis thinks Maze is best experienced as a moment between experiencing music, when asked which artists from the 2026 lineup she’d pair with the work, she was quick to suggest Dijon, The XX, Röyksopp and Solomun. Attendees who don’t want to miss a moment of music can view the festival’s two main stages from select spots within Maze.
Marcelis knows inevitably, many festival goers will see the work first for its content creation opportunity, but she wishes they wouldn’t. 'It’s not intended as an Instagram moment,' she says, 'I want festival attendees to feel enveloped by the installation and to really feel a moment of calm and wonder between the moments where they are feeling the music. I want people laying on the grass and draped over the seats.'
To honour the artist's intention, consider Maze an exercise in making memories over creating content.