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Art displays attract Coachella fest fans

Xochitl Pena • The Desert Sun • April 18, 2009

Some festivalgoers anticipate the artwork at the three-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio almost as much as the musical performers.

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The displays — including a 90-foot-tall Bamboo Starscraper and a flame-throwing serpent — offer an awe-inspiring show.

“It's like a playground for adults. There's a lot of cool art,” said Kristina Kovacs, 25, of New York.

On Friday afternoon, Kovacs and her friend Thomas Gaglio, 30, of New York City were drooling over the La Familia Divina Shrine, created out of reused and found material such as soup cans and old photos.

Other eye-catching displays included:

Hands of Man: Keep your eyes on this piece of mobile art because it doesn't have a set spot. It's an enormous metallic hand that mimics the movement of human hands with super strength, crushing junkyard cars to the delight of festivalgoers.

Pyrocardium: People clip on a heart monitor and have flames shoot out of 12-foot-tall pipes that pulsate to the rhythm of their heartbeat. “It gives people a real interactive way to experience their own body and it looks very cool,” said Dustin Boyer of False Profit Labs, who created the display.

The Do Lab: This is the third year this display, using wooden pallets, has been at Coachella providing music and shade for tired music fans. “They have a lot of different elements. Wood, water and tents, and red flowers,” said Zina Strait, 46, who was taking a picture of her husband in front of a waterfall, part of the display. “It attracts like a bee.”