When we talk about nostalgia and music fests, it normally has to do with reunion sets and throwback acts in the lineup. But at this year’s Coachella, that fondness for days gone has seeped into its larger-than-life art installations.
One of the fest’s most recognizable installations, a massive articulated astronaut that roams across the Coachella grounds, is back after first making its debut at the 2014 edition of the fest—and cementing itself as one of the icons of Coachella for attendees and onlookers alike.
The astronaut, though, looks like it’s seem some shit (hey, welcome to 2019). L.A. design studio and Coachella installation veterans Poetic Kinetics have given Overview Effect a gritty makeover, with a beat-up, burned-on-reentry–looking space suit that’s not nearly as pristine as its 2014 debut, which you can see below.
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
“All over its body there is evidence, or clues, of the fantastical story of where it went,” says Patrick Shearn, founder of Poetic Kinetics (already, we’ve spotted a trio of festival wristbands).
Photograph: Courtesy Lance Gerber
Like the 2014 edition, you’ll be able to post selfies to Instagram and tag it with #PKMission19 for a chance to have your face pop up inside the visor and your name on its suit tag. The installation will remain up for both weekends of Coachella, which runs April 12–14 and April 19–21.
The 70-foot-fall creation (which measures about 45-feet in its typical crouched position) will be roaming the Coachella grounds for both weekends of the fest. It joins a slew of other photogenic installations, like Francis Kéré’s baobob tree-like Sarbalé ke, Office Kovacs’ Colossal Cacti and Sofia Enriquez’s paisley MISMO, plus the return of the kaleidoscopic SPECTRA tower from NEWSUBSTANCE, which will remain a fixture of the fest for the next three years.
Photograph: Courtesy Lance Gerber
Photograph: Courtesy Lance Gerber
Photograph: Courtesy Lance Gerber
Photograph: Courtesy Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Coachella