kimsooja floods coachella valley in iridescent light with glass installation at desert X

kimsooja brings glass installation at desert x in coachella valley

For Desert X 2025, Kimsooja transforms the vast expanse of Coachella Valley into a luminous mirage with To Breathe, an iridescent glass installation that interacts with the landscape. Located along Pierson Boulevard in Desert Hot Springs, the work is wrapped in a diffraction film that refracts natural light into a shifting spectrum of colors, immersing visitors in an ephemeral experience of light, air, and space.

Expanding on the artist’s exploration of bottari—traditional Korean fabric bundles used for carrying belongings—the spiraling piece also forms a connection with AlUla, Saudi Arabia, where another of her light-based works is located (find designboom’s previous coverage here), uniting the two arid regions.

Desert X 2025 installation view of Kimsooja, To Breathe – Coachella Valley | all images by Lance Gerber, courtesy Desert X

to breathe connects landscapes through iridescent light

Throughout her multidisciplinary practice, conceptual artist Kimsooja examines themes of movement, materiality, and interconnectedness. The transparent, textile-like film covering To Breathe features a grid of vertical and horizontal scratch lines, akin to warp and weft, which dissolve the boundaries between structure and environment. As the desert sun moves across the sky, the installation becomes a living canvas, continuously transforming in response to shifting light.

The work also forms a conceptual bridge between two distant landscapes: the Californian desert and AlUla, Saudi Arabia, where another of Kimsooja’s light-based installations is situated. This dialogue between sites reflects her ongoing engagement with the universality of natural elements—air, light, and land—while subtly referencing the Light and Space movement’s historical roots in the American West. Infused with philosophies from Chinese Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, the piece incorporates an East Asian perspective into the lineage of site-specific light-based art.

Kimsooja transforms the vast expanse of Coachella Valley into a luminous mirage

‘To Breathe’ is an iridescent glass installation that interacts with the landscape

the work is wrapped in a diffraction film that refracts natural light into a shifting spectrum of colors

immersing visitors in an ephemeral experience of light, air, and space

the spiraling piece also forms a connection with AlUla, where another of her light-based works is located

the transparent, textile-like film covering To Breathe features a grid of vertical and horizontal scratch lines

dissolving the boundaries between structure and environment

continuously transforming in response to shifting light

infused with philosophies from Chinese Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism

at dusk, the installation reflects the desert landscape

the glass acts as a filter, altering the appearance of the surroundings when viewed through it

project info:

name: To Breathe

artist: Kimsooja | @studiokimsooja

event: Desert X | @_desertx

location: Coachella Valley, California

dates: March 8th – May 11th, 2025

supported by: Ed Campanaro and Alan Weisberg, Ron Florance, Marcy and Harry Harczak, the Posner Foundation, Janelle Reiring, Melissa and John Russo, Roswitha Smale, and Richard H. Wood

photographer: Lance Gerber | @lance.gerber