interview: vincent leroy's reflective molecular cloud hovers above festival-goers at coachella

vincent leroy presents reflective ‘Molecular Cloud’ at Coachella

On April 14-16 and April 21-23, 2023, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival opened its doors, offering visitors an opportunity to explore a world of colorful and dynamic art installations. This year’s art program features four new artists including Kumkum Fernando, as well as Paris-based artist Vincent Leroy, whose reflective sculptures are designed to engage with visitors and transform their perception of the surrounding environment.

Leroy’s ‘Molecular Cloud’ depicts a cluster of peculiar clouds in the form of light, glossy inflatable objects floating above the expansive green field of the festival. The fluid and gradual transformation of the artwork creates unusual and organic shapes that reflect the surrounding lively atmosphere. ‘From a distance, the installation resembles giant pink clouds floating in the air, and from up close, you can see the festival, the sky and people reflected in the colorful spheres,’ explains the French artist. ‘The augmented reality experience, developed in collaboration with the Coachella team, enhances the dreamlike dimension and the idea of dialogue between reality and fiction,’ he adds. To learn more about ‘Molecular Cloud’ and the way it interacts with the environment and people, read the full interview below.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2023 installation view of Vincent Leroy, Molecular Cloud, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy Coachella

Interview with Vincent Leroy

designboom (DB): Over the years, you have created a variety of works, from magnifying glass curtains and floating bubbles to revolving meteor-like sculptures. Is your 2023 Coachella installation a continuation of a previous project or will it be something entirely new?

Vincent Leroy (VL): My work is often based on movement and ‘Molecular Cloud’ is a continuation of research and a subsequent project, ‘Molecules,’ imagined in 2022. Inspired by the scientific universe and molecular structures, the idea for this series was to use movement to transform combinations of simple geometric shapes – spheres – into organic and more complex shapes. For the Coachella art program, the same module is repeated seven times, and the whole thing forms the appearance of a moving cloud floating above people’s heads.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2023 installation view of Vincent Leroy, Molecular Cloud, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy Coachella

DB: Your pieces almost always play with reflection and distortion. What do these concepts mean to you, and will they also be central to your Coachella installation?

VL: Yes, it’s true that I like to play with the phenomena of perception and make my installations interact with the public while dialoguing with its surroundings. In a world that is becoming more and more dematerialized, we may neglect or no longer pay attention to the world around us. I want my works to be part of the real world and at the same time offer a different perspective by adding a poetic or dreamlike dimension.

This will also be the case with Coachella’s Molecular Cloud. From a distance, the installation resembles giant pink clouds floating in the air and from close up you can see the festival, the sky, and the people reflected in the colorful spheres. Furthermore, the augmented reality experience, developed in collaboration with the Coachella team, enhances the dreamlike dimension and the idea of dialogue between reality and fiction.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2023 installation view of Vincent Leroy, Molecular Cloud, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy Coachella

DB: ‘Vincent Leroy, who often journeys to the overlooked and sometimes uninhabitable corners of the world to display his ethereal works,’ Coachella mentions. What is it that draws you to these obscure landscapes? How does your latest installation interact with the arid desert site of the festival?

VL: Discovering new landscapes is always a great source of inspiration for me and this is particularly the case with deserts. We are so saturated with information and images in our everyday life that it is sometimes overwhelming. When I find myself in the desert or in virgin landscapes, it’s the opposite. I feel a sense of freedom as if in front of a blank page, where everything becomes possible.

In the case of Coachella, I also had the festive side of the event in mind, along with the light and the incredible colors of the Californian sky. This is one of the reasons why the installation is pink, I wanted a sunny, lively, and festive color.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2023 installation view of Vincent Leroy, Molecular Cloud, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy Coachella

DB: Your installations ‘prompt contemplation and meditation, touching the body, and releasing emotions.’ How do your works achieve this deep connection with the viewer? How do you hope the Coachella visitors will interact with your work?

VL: It is often through movement that my works touch the public. On the one hand, because movement always calls out – it arouses curiosity and surprises, but also because it has a universal dimension, in the way that movement is life. I use deliberately slowed down, fluid and continuous movements in order to create a hypnotic effect and to plunge the spectators into another temporality, detached from reality and more contemplative. I don’t really have a preconceived idea of how I’d like Coachella visitors to interact with Molecular Cloud, I just hope they enjoy it! 

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2023 installation view of Vincent Leroy, Molecular Cloud, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy Coachella

project info: 

name: Molecular Cloud
artist: Vincent Leroy | @vincent_leroy_studio
event: Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2023 | @coachella