Apple has commissioned an artist and design studio to create a permanent public sculpture at the Apple Park Visitor Center containing sand from deserts across the world.
The sculpture, titled “Mirage,” is being created by artist Katie Paterson and Zeller & Moye. It’s made up of more than 400 glass cylinders, created by melting down sand from deserts across the globe, that are arranged in wave-like formations.
According to the artist’s website, which was spotted by 9to5Mac, the installation will be located next to the olive grove adjacent to the Apple Park Visitor Center.
Paterson said that the glass cylinders will have sand from subtropical, coastal, rain-shadow, interior, mountainous, volcanic, and fossilized deserts.
A closer image of the glass cylinders. Credit: Katie Paterson
“Visitors can interact with the artwork, walking alongside and through it, where the glass will subtly melt into the landscape, like a desert mirage. The arrangement of the glass columns will move from desert-to-desert, from East-to-West across the world, beginning at Apple Park,” Paterson wrote.
Paterson is a Scottish artist who works with scientists and researchers across the world on projects that “consider our place on Earth in the context of geological time and change.” She has been exhibited across the world, from New York City to Seoul.
A mockup of the “Mirage” sculpture at night. Credit: Katie Paterson
Apple selected Paterson and Zeller & Moye after a search for artists who met specific criteria for public art at Apple’s Cupertino, California headquarters.
The “Mirage” installation will be completed in 2022, Paterson said.
