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A Strange Desert Mirage in Joshua Tree, California

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Is this a desert mirage?

The platonic idea of a house?

What seems to be a transparent house is in fact strips of mirror reflecting a 360 degree view from the center of a vast desert plan.

The reflected view is virtually identical on every side, creating the illusion of transparency.

The strips of mirror are interspersed with knotty old wooden planks.

A 70 year old hut forms the armature of the strange edifice.

Artist Phillip K Smith III created the piece: Lucid Stead.

The strange house exacerbates the solitary nature of the desert, creating a greater awareness of its loneliness.

Even its own shadow is roped in to add to this surreal creation.

The measured pace of the lonely setting is increased somehow by the mirroring of the vast empty surround.

As dusk falls, Smith engineers a delirious, almost spiritual experience, adding in a playful use of color.

But what a long lonely drive with water for the artist to keep these mirrors clean.