The art biennial Desert X opened in the Greater Palm Springs area on March 8, bringing the large-scale works of international artists to outdoor sites across 40 miles of Southern California desert.
Co-curator Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas says that Desert X “not only commissions some of the most significant outdoor artworks being created today but also pushes the boundaries of art, nature, and community.”
Desert X started in 2017 and is now in its fifth iteration in the Coachella Valley. This year, artists from Mexico, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, and the United States have created 11 fascinating installations that are displayed at various sites in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, and the surrounding desert.
"As much as the desert is a state of place, it is also a state of mind,” says Desert X artistic director Neville Wakefield. “Its borders are not singular but multiple, and it is defined as much by social geography as physical boundary."
How to See the Art
Nine Desert X installations kicked off the event on March 8, with two more debuting on March 15. Exhibition hours are from sunrise to sunset, and admission is free.
Accessing the works requires a little bit of walking; the farthest distance is 0.8 miles from the parking area. Bring water, wear comfortable walking shoes, and protect yourself from the sun. People with disabilities can request assistance by emailing info@desertx.org.
Access a map with locations for each installation on the Desert X website or download the Desert X 2025 app. You can also pick up a Desert X 2025 guide and map at the Desert X Hub, located at the Thompson Palm Springs hotel (414 N. Palm Canyon Dr., Fri. 2-5 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
What You’ll See
Here are currently open installations arranged from north to south:
The Act of Being Together
Mexican multidisciplinary artist Jose Dávila procured these massive, monolithic marble blocks from a quarry in Mexico, hauled them across the border, and positioned them next to a windmill farm in Desert Hot Springs. Take your time wandering around—the stacked and tilted blocks are best viewed from different angles.
Location: Worsley Road between Pierson Boulevard and Painted Hills Road, Desert Hot Springs
Soul Service Station
Los Angeles–based artist Alison Saar used a salvaged gas pump, tossed-off tin, glass bottles, and cast iron pans to create Soul Service Station, an oasis for travelers’ souls. As you walk the path to what looks like a 1960s gas station, signs promise “full service” treatment “for when you feel like a wreck.” Inside the metal-and-glass structure, a life-sized sculpture of an attendant stands ready to “fix you up like new.” Lift the conch-shell handle on the gas pump to hear a poem by UCLA poet Harryette Mullen.
Location: Pierson Boulevard between North Indian Canyon Drive and Desert Terrace Way, Desert Hot Springs
G.H.O.S.T. Ride
Native American artist Cannupa Hanska Luger has created what might seem like a 2050 version of #vanlife. Visitors take a 0.8-mile hike through the desert to discover a mirrored, tricked-out VW van tucked into a canyon. “G.H.O.S.T” stands for “Generative Habitation Operating System Technology” and the nomadic vehicle is designed to represent Indigenous people utilizing innovative technologies to live in harmony with nature.
Location: Currently at Pierson Boulevard between Foxdale Drive and Miracle Hill Road, Desert Hot Springs, but will move to various locations throughout the exhibition
Unsui (Mirror)
New York City–based artist Sanford Biggers drew on his study of Buddhism to create these 30-foot-tall, sequin-covered clouds, which sway in the wind and reflect the desert sunlight. Biggers says that clouds remind us to be “free from definitions, limitations, and form.” Unsui means “clouds and water” in Japanese.
Location: James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center, 480 W. Tramview Road, Palm Springs
Adobe Oasis
Berkeley-based architect and artist Ronald Rael used a 3D printer with a robotic arm to create mud-based adobe structures that reflect 10,000 years of earthen building history. Rael hopes that as visitors walk through the maze-like arrangement of walls, they’ll see the possibilities of building sustainable housing with organic materials.
Location: 1555 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
The Living Pyramid
Agnes Denes, a 94-year-old conceptual artist, built this tall, white, triangular structure at Sunnylands Center and Gardens and planted it with native desert flora. During the nine weeks of Desert X, some of the plants will flourish and others will die, serving as a reminder of life’s delicate balance. (The Living Pyramid can only be viewed Wed.–Sun. 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Location: 37977 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage
Five things you can’t wear on TV
Zurich-based artist Raphael Hefti has created an artificial horizon line across a Palm Desert park. The artist strung a long, shiny stretch of woven polymer fabric across the sandy wash, and when the wind blows, the fabric line bends and vibrates, making it look as if the horizon is moving.
Location: Cap Homme/Ralph Adams Park, 72-500 Thrush Road, Palm Desert
Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams
New York–based artist Sarah Meyohas showcases the complexities of perception, optics, and truth through her use of “caustics,” or patterns formed by light refraction on curved surfaces—like the wavy reflections on the bottom of swimming pools. A pathway leads visitors to this stark-white installation, where they can tilt large reflectors to see words from the work’s title projected onto the walls.
Location: 74-184 Portola Road, Palm Desert
What Remains
Saudi Arabian artist Muhannad Shono attached long strips of beige fabric to wooden posts and positioned them in the sand to illustrate what might be left behind after a desert windstorm. The fabric ripples in the wind, evoking the fluidity of a landscape that nature constantly changes.
Location: Avenue 38 off Varner Road, Thousand Palms