Desert X Podcast

Desert X is a contemporary art exhibition framed by the mountains and desert of the Coachella Valley. On this podcast, we’ll introduce you to some of the artists of Desert X 2019. Their site-specific artworks range from murals and projections to large-scale sculptures and virtual installations. And they take on big themes like fossil fuel use, rising sea levels, and class divides. Desert X runs from Feb 9 - April 21, 2019. The series is presented by Lead Sponsor PROJECT EVELOZCITY, which is creating electric vehicles that will be available by subscription.

Sterling Ruby's fluorescent orange monolith 03/16/2019

Sterling Ruby's fluorescent orange monolith "I love getting out of a gallery," says Sterling Ruby. His piece for Desert X, "Specter," is a ghostly rectangular shape that looks like an optical illusion. The bright orange color contrasts with the dusty chaparral and the white peaks of the San Jacinto Mountains, and as Ruby tells us, it's a color he associates with hunting season from his rural Pennsylvania upbringing. It also suggests prison uniforms and construction road hazards, a warning color that visitors have flocked to since it was installed. /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/9030725

Iván Argote's point of view 03/15/2019

Iván Argote's point of view Five wood and concrete staircases make up Iván Argote's "A Point of View." It's no surprise that the security guard of the construction site asked if he could return with friends to have drinks. His installation for Desert X 2019, he says, is "about making a common place where we can have a dialogue," while offering new vantage points on the ecological and social issues surrounding the Salton Sea. Curator Matthew Schum says Argote is "able to create communities around the work that he makes." /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/9013838

Gary Simmons recaptures memories 03/14/2019

Gary Simmons recaptures memories "Recapturing Memories of the Black Ark" is a stack of speakers constructed out of salvaged wood from post-Katrina New Orleans. Performers rearrange the speakers and play music. Videos of the performances play on a loop, and the cigarette butts and beer bottles from the audience are left in place. LA-based artist Gary Simmons, known for his "erasure drawings," explains how the installation ties together dub pioneer Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Coachella festival, and the "Shangri-la" quality of the area. /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/9000812

Kathleen Ryan constructs a Ghost Palm on a fault line 03/02/2019

Kathleen Ryan constructs a Ghost Palm on a fault line Kathleen Ryan is a sculptor who has created an artwork for Desert X 2019 called "Ghost Palm." The transparent plastic and steel evocation of a full-size palm tree, with a skirt of acrylic rods, sits on the San Andreas at a spa in Desert Hot Springs. In this episode Ryan and Desert X curator Amanda Hunt reflect on moving out of the white box gallery; the “invisible mythological power” that drew Ryan to the site; and the inspiration from the iconic palm tree. /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/8843210

Cristóbal Martínez of Postcommodity on listening to desert architecture 02/21/2019

Cristóbal Martínez of Postcommodity on listening to desert architecture Postcommodity challenges enthusiasts of midcentury modern homes in the Coachella Valley to look at these houses through new eyes. The indigenous art collective, made up of Cristóbal Martínez and Kade Twist, has created a sound installation for Desert X 2019 called "It Exists in Many Forms." It's installed at the Wave House, a midcentury modern home in Palm Desert that is being restored. /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/8737895

Nancy Baker Cahill's ephemeral sculptures 02/20/2019

Nancy Baker Cahill's ephemeral sculptures Nancy Baker Cahill reinvents land art with two augmented reality artworks, “Margin of Error” at the Salton Sea and “Revolutions” over a wind farm northwest of Palm Springs. Hear how she went about creating this "zero environmental impact artwork" that "marries the most natural environment to the most futuristic." /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/8720075

John Gerrard on "Western Flag" and our shared petro-history 02/15/2019

John Gerrard on "Western Flag" and our shared petro-history On this Desert X 2019 podcast episode, the Irish artist John Gerrard discusses the ideas behind Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas) 2017, 2017-2019, located at the Palm Springs Visitors Center. This digital simulation depicts a flagpole spewing an endless stream of black smoke. The artwork makes visible the invisible gas responsible for climate change. /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/8664560

Rasmus Nielsen of Superflex on "fish-friendly architecture" 02/15/2019

Rasmus Nielsen of Superflex on "fish-friendly architecture" On this Desert X 2019 podcast episode, Rasmus Nielsen of the Danish artist collective Superflex talks about Dive-In, 2019, their pink coral-like art installation at Cap Homme and Ralph Adams Park in Palm Desert. It's an attempt to create "fish-friendly architecture" for a future in which rising sea levels bring marine life back to the Coachella Valley. /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/8663879

Introducing the Desert X Podcast 02/05/2019

Introducing the Desert X Podcast Desert X is a contemporary art exhibition framed by the mountains and desert of the Coachella Valley. On this podcast, we’ll introduce you to some of the artists of Desert X 2019. Their site-specific artworks take on big themes like fossil fuel use, rising sea levels, and class divides. Desert X runs from Feb 9 - April 21, 2019. /episode/index/show/desertxpodcast/id/8531831

Desert X Podcast

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