Grab your all-glass water bottle, charge your phone (and your soul), and head out into the desert because Desert X is back for 2025, and it’s dripping in dust, sunlight, and big ideas. From March 8 to May 11, the California desert wasn’t just hot—it was sizzling with art that makes you question everything, including whether you’re still on Earth or floating through some dreamscape curated by aliens with Master’s of Fine Arts degrees. It isn’t.
Set against the dreamy cinematic backdrop of the Coachella Valley, Desert X 2025 gave us 11 installations that delved into climate, migration, identity, and healing themes. From the 11 pieces worth the visit, we break down the must-sees, must-‘gram, must-feel-it-in-your-bones works of art that vibed with us, and you too.
Agnes Denes – The Living Pyramid
A whole dang pyramid made of native plants and good energy. Denes planted this beast at Sunnylands like it was 2050 B.C. meets 2025 A.D., and honestly? It’s giving post-apocalyptic hope garden.
Ronald Rael – Adobe Oasis
3D-printed adobe meets palm tree vibes. Think: architectural ASMR. Rael played with texture and tech to pay homage to ancestral desert dwellings while flexing some serious design chops in Palm Springs.
Alison Saar – Soul Service Station
Forget gas. This Desert Hot Springs station pumped out poetry and healing. Saar turned a burned-out pit stop into a spiritual rest area—votives, vibes, and all.
Sanford Biggers – Unsui (Mirror)
Big, bold, and blingy AF. Two mirrored sculptures shimmered like disco totems under the scorching sun. Meditative, magnetic, and very much main character energy.
Jose Dávila – The Act of Being Together
Desert ruins or future fossils? Dávila’s marble stacks made you feel like an explorer stumbling upon a lost civilization with impeccable taste.
Kapwani Kiwanga – Plotting Rest
Modernism meets decolonial chill. Up by the Palm Springs Visitors Center, this one reflected on rest, migration, and reclaiming stillness in a world that never stops.
Raphael Hefti – Five Things You Can’t Wear on TV
Suspended fibres slicing through the air like a glitch in the matrix. This thing moved with the wind, reflecting the sun, twisting your perception like a wearable sculpture for giants.
Sarah Meyohas – Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams
A path through the desert that literally whispered secrets. Meyohas turned sunlight into language, truth into geometry. Instagram couldn’t do it justice—but hey, we tried.
Kimsooja – To Breathe – Coachella Valley
A glass pavilion wrapped in diffraction film that refracts sunlight into a shifting spectrum of colours, immersing visitors in an ephemeral experience of light, air, and space. Drawing inspiration from traditional Korean bottari—fabric bundles symbolizing travel and personal belongings—Kimsooja describes this installation as a “bottari of light.” The structure invites contemplation of interconnectedness and the ever-changing nature of perception.
Where to Stay
If you’re trekking out to Desert X, don’t just crash anywhere—level up your stay. These desert digs aren’t just places to sleep; they’re extensions of the vibe—sun-baked, art-soaked, and cool as hell. While the Ace Hotel & Swim Club – Palm Springs remains undefeated for poolside people-watching and dusty desert cool. Think mid-century modern meets tarot card reader. Live DJs, strong mezcal cocktails, and that weirdly good hotel lighting, the party never stops at the Ace.
If, however, you are looking for a truly iconic vibe, we recommend The Desert Wave House in Palm Desert. Whether you are architecturally obsessed or a mid-century purist, this is the place to stay. Also known as the Miles C. Bates “Wave” House, this restored 1955 masterpiece by Walter S. White is basically a sculpture you can sleep in. The roof? A literal wave, mimicking the nearby mountains like it’s flirting with the landscape. Oh behave.
Lovingly brought back to life by Stayner Architects, the house has all the hits: ash panelling, terrazzo floors, vintage-modern furnishings, a cedar soaking tub, and now a beautiful swimming pool that screams “desert zen.” It’s part museum, part design-forward dream stay—and yes, it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. It is like staying in an interior design catalogue; in fact, they are currently doing a pretty on-brand collaboration with Design Within Reach, making it extra vibey right now. Book it if you want to stay somewhere that is art, not just next to it.
What It All Means.
Desert X 2025 wasn’t here to sit pretty. These works moved. Not just in the wind, but in your heart, in your soul. These vibes are deep; they wrestled with ideas—decolonization, climate crisis, Indigenous imagination, tech nostalgia, and spirituality—then planted them in the sand and let them bloom.
It’s art that makes you ask: What’s next? What’s real? And why is the desert always this damn cool? TBH, it’s because it’s a vortex. The energy swirls and pulls and draws you there. Seriously, ask a local.
Now having wrapped their fifth presentation, Desert X has once again cemented, or… sanded, its place as one of our favourite, must-attend art festivals in the world.