Desert Botanical Garden, Arizona, Presents ScanLAB Projects’ Major Installation FRAMERATE: Desert Pulse
July 25, 2025Desert Botanical Garden invites guests to experience the Sonoran Desert like never before with FRAMERATE: Desert Pulse—a multi-sensory art exhibition by London-based artists ScanLAB Projects. Featuring five monumental video installations composed of thousands of high-resolution images, this transformative experience explores the pulse of the desert through photography, motion and sound to awaken a deeper appreciation of the desert.
Desert Pulse premiers Oct. 11, 2025, through May 10, 2026. The exhibit captures a year of transformation across Phoenix, the Garden and the Sonoran Desert using cutting-edge 3D scanning technology. ScanLAB documents the subtle shifts of cactus blooms, sediment flows and seasonal change inviting visitors to see the desert through a new lens.
This bold show has been years in the making, which involved a team of highly-specialized photographers to record scans and photographs of 15 sites across the Valley for one year. Some of the locations include the Tonto National Forest, the Salt River, McDowell Mountain Preserve, as well as a few spots within the Garden.
“Curating Desert Pulse has been a process of peeling back assumptions, inviting the viewer to consider not just what deserts are, but what they represent: resilience, transformation and the unseen networks that sustain life.” said Elaine McGinn, the Garden’s Chief Experience Officer. “The exhibition is not just a display of art — it is a meditation on what it means to belong, to remember, and to reimagine the unique and beautiful place we call home, the Sonoran Desert.”
Desert Pulse continues the Garden’s tradition of presenting world-class art that connects visitors to nature. “FRAMERATE is a glimpse into the future of cinema, a sobering observation, and a hopeful moment – all at once,” says ScanLAB Projects Director Matt Shaw. Past blockbuster exhibitions like Chihuly in the Desert, Bruce Munro and Fernando Botero have transformed the Garden into a living gallery. Through these impressive exhibits and ongoing programming, the Garden remains a leader at the intersection of art, culture and conservation.
The exhibit is included with general admission. Member reservations open Aug. 3, and tickets for the public go on sale Sept. 3
ABOUT SCANLAB PROJECTS
ScanLAB Projects is a pioneering creative practice. They digitize the world, transforming temporary moments and spaces into compelling experiences, images and film. They design online environments, immersive installations and objects. They use their craft as a way to bear witness to the world, collaborating with musicians, dancers, researchers and scientists on evocative and meaningful stories. ScanLAB’s primary medium is 3D scanning, a form of machine vision that they believe is the future of photography. As the electronic eyes for billions of mobile phones and driverless vehicles, 3D scanners are the cartographers of the future. By critically observing places and events through the eyes of these machines, their work hopes to glance at the future we will all inhabit. ScanLAB’s award-winning work has been featured on the BBC, The Guardian and The New York Times and has been exhibited internationally, including at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The New Museum NYC, South by Southwest and the Venice Biennale.
To view ScanLAB projects, past work visit: Work | ScanLAB Projects
ABOUT DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN
Discover the tranquil vibrancy of 50,000 desert plants nestled amid the red rocks of the Papago Buttes at Desert Botanical Garden. An Arizona icon for 84 years, the Garden has grown into a compelling attraction and desert conservation pioneer, offering worldly plants, vibrant trails, world-class exhibitions, festive events and so much more.