Rendering for Living Smoke: A Tribute to the Living Desert by Desert X 2021 artist Judy Chicago Courtesy of the artist and Desert X
Judy Chicago s planned “smoke sculpture” for this year s Desert X festival (12 March-16 May) in the Coachella Valley of California has hit a major snag. The Living Desert, a combination zoo and botanical garden laid out over 1,200 acres in Palm Desert, has backed out of hosting the performance on 9 April, following concerns from an environmental activist.
According to Chicago, based on a series of meetings with the venue, environmental precautions were already in place, such as locating the event 1½ miles away from animal habitats and using an electronic ignition to set off the coloured, nontoxic smoke, rather than hand ignition which would have been noisier. In person attendees would also have been limited, with most people watching the event online. And for the artist, this body of work, part of her