The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival exemplifies the word “big.” With its notable music acts that perform each year and the immense crowds that pour into Indio every spring for the annual festival, Coachella has made a name for itself on a grand scale. Since 2003, the festival has also incorporated large-sized art installations as part of this amplified feel. This year’s Coachella was no different, with its artistic sculptures reaching new heights, literally. From Coachella’s own lunar landing to its futuristic avian and robotic companions, the non-musical art of Coachella 2014 was just as dynamic as the festival’s sounds.
The de facto symbol of Coachella 2014, “Escape Velocity” by art studio Poetic Kinetics, a 36-foot-tall astronaut is a highly functional piece of artwork. Festivalgoers had their faces projected on its visor, while radio-controlled fingers curled into a thumbs-up. Moving around on site, the popular astronaut served as a backdrop to thousands of Instagram posts and Facebook profile pictures.
“SmartBird,” by German technology company Festo, was an early hit among festivalgoers as both an artistic and an engineering marvel. Aimed to display the efficiency of nature through technology, the remote-controlled mechanical bird soared above the crowds, mirroring the movements of a real animal.
Glowing artwork by night and a set of giant selfie mirrors by day, Phillip K. Smith III’s “Reflection Field” attracted crowds throughout the weekend. The set of two-story-tall mirrors were arranged in a circle to create interesting patterns of reflection, loaded with LEDs to glow in vibrant color after sunset.
“Becoming Human,” by Christian Ristow, was the most animated of this year’s Coachella artwork. Conveniently located between the two most popular stages, the giant robot could be seen moving his hands up and down, sporting a flower in one. The robot’s base also served as an elevated platform for the more zealous dancers in the crowd.