INDIO, CA — Phillip K. Smith III, who used mirrors and LEDs to transform the look of an abandoned desert cabin from day into night for two weeks last fall, a project titled Lucid Stead (lucidstead.com), has been commissioned by the organizers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for a new work, Reflection Field. Also incorporating mirrored surfaces and LED light sources, the artwork is expected to serve as a key artistic focal point for the 2014 festival, which returns to the Empire Polo Club fairgrounds here April 11-13 and April 18-20.
Coachella founder Paul Tollett, president of Goldenvoice, is said to have bankrolled the ambitious project, which required $800,000 in LED gear alone, according to a report in The Los Angeles Times.
Another key component drawing nearly 100,000 to the desert for six days and nights this year, of course, are the more than 150 acts set to perform for each of the three day weekends, with headliners including a reunited OutKast (Friday shows) along with Muse (Saturday shows) and Arcade Fire (Sunday shows).
Other top draws in the eclectic lineup include Queens of the Stone Age, Nas, Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Ellie Goulding, Skrillex, Motörhead, Foster the People, Lorde, Zedd, Beck, The Replacements, Mogwai, ASAP Ferg, Haim, MGMT, Young & Sick and Kid Cudi.
Tickets for the 2014 event went on sale Jan. 10 at 10 a.m. PST and reportedly sold out within two hours and 37 minutes.
For more details, visit www.coachella.com.
