DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN ANNOUNCES NEXT BLOCKBUSTER EXHIBIT— ELECTRIC DESERT—OPENING OCTOBER 2018
February 26, 2018Phoenix (Feb. 27, 2018) Desert Botanical Garden is excited to announce its latest blockbuster exhibition—Electric Desert | A Light and Sound Experience by Klip Collective—opening October 2018. Cactus and desert become a living canvas in this nighttime experience, taking visitors on an immersive journey through the Garden using light and original music. This is Klip’s second garden installation; the first was at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Ticket on-sale date will be announced in May at dbg.org.
Electric Desert includes six site-specific locations, with each experience inspired by and related to the Garden. These will be located at OttosenEntry Garden, Sybil B. Harrington Cactus and Succulent Galleries, Stardust Plaza, Fine Family Contemplation Garden, Sonoran Desert Loop Trail and the Garden’s butte.
“I look forward to creating site-specific work on the grounds of Desert Botanical Garden and forming a relationship with the space,” says Klip Collective’s Ricardo Rivera. “I think the most exciting thing about the desert environment is really the forms and the color. The color is amazing. It’s going to be great for projection and light … and it’s really going to glow.”
The Garden’s art exhibitions have become a vibrant and compelling point of pride in the Valley’s cultural scene. In 2008-2009, Dale Chihuly’s glass sculptures drew 547,000 visitors, and a return exhibition in 2013-2014 attracted a record-breaking 631,000 guests. Nighttime viewing became wildly popular, as the contrast infused Chihuly’s works with a heightened dramatic feel.
In 2015-2016, the Garden presented its first evening only exhibition. Artist Bruce Munro’s immersive, large-scale installations—Sonoran Light—attracted 318,000 visitors, as well as substantial economic impact and community excitement.
“With three successful ‘blockbuster exhibitions’ under its belt, the Garden is poised to host a sustained, eight-month exhibit that is anticipated to generate large attendance, community buzz and strong economic impact,” says Ken Schutz, executive director of Desert Botanical Garden. “We cannot wait to see how Ricardo transforms our desert plants that will lead our guests with an experiential visit through the desert.”
We invite you to see desert, light and sound unite in a mesmerizing display like never before. For more information, visit dbg.org. Sponsored by The Steele Foundation.
About Klip Collective
Founded in 2003, Klip Collective is an experiential video shop that uses virtual reality, projection mapping, storytelling and soundscapes to create captivating, immersive sensory experiences on behalf of institutions, corporate clients and cultural partners. Philadelphia born but globally based, Klip Collective has created projection experiences in a diverse array of environments across the world. Under the creative direction of video artist Ricardo Rivera, Klip Collective has had installations at Longwood Gardens, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Central Park, the Center for Contemporary Art in Moscow and Sundance Film Festival. Visit klip.tv to learn more.
About Desert Botanical Garden
Desert Botanical Garden features 50,000 plants from across the world. The Garden allows visitors to experience the beauty of the desert like never before. For 78 years, the Garden’s commitment to the community is to advance excellence in education, research, exhibition and conservation of desert plants of the world with emphasis on the Southwestern United States.
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