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Public sculpture coming to Apple Park Visitor Center next year invites you to tour the world’s deserts

Apple Park Visitor Center is the perfect place for a photo walk, and soon visitors will discover a totally new environment to capture and experience. Apple has commissioned artist Katie Paterson and studio Zeller & Moye to create a permanent public sculpture for the visitor center titled Mirage.

Constructed entirely from pure cast glass, Mirage will bring a global experience to Cupertino. Sand collected from deserts across the world will be melted down into over 400 cylinders and arranged in wave-like forms that mimic a desert dune. According to Paterson, Mirage will contain sand from subtropical deserts, coastal, rain-shadow, interior, mountainous, volcanic and fossilized deserts.

Paterson’s sculptural world tour will be located in the Swan Hill Olive tree grove at the north entrance to Apple Park Visitor Center. The grove runs parallel to N Tantau Avenue and connects to the visitor center parking garage with publicly accessible walking trails. Construction will be completed in 2022.

The goal of the installation is to spark wonder and awe, creating meaningful connections to nature in a gathering place that blends art, architecture, science, and nature. Referencing the sculpture’s name, the glass forms will melt into the landscape like a desert mirage as they wind through the trees. Visitors interacting with the artwork are invited to slow down and tune into the immensity and preciousness of our planet as they move through the deserts of the world from east to west.

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Katie Paterson is a Scottish artist whose projects seek to expand our time horizons. Paterson’s work has been exhibited internationally and often employs sophisticated technology to create human connections. Zeller & Moye, partner in the project, is a global architecture studio that has designed projects ranging from furniture to large cultural buildings. The studio’s working method aims to reconnect people with their natural environment by exploring the relationship between the built and natural. Paterson and Zeller & Moye were selected after a targeted global search for artists conducted by Artsource Consulting.

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In addition to the upcoming art installation, Apple Park Visitor Center features a Roof Terrace with views of Apple Park and a Cafe, both of which have reopened following public health closures in 2020. When available, the Apple Park Visitor Center Store offers opportunities to learn iPhone photography from Apple Creative Pros in some of the best free Today at Apple sessions offered at any Apple Store in the world.

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Avatar for Michael Steeber Michael Steeber

Michael is a Creative Editor who covered Apple Retail and design on 9to5Mac. His stories highlighted the work of talented artists, designers, and customers through a unique lens of architecture, creativity, and community.

Contact Michael on Twitter to share Apple Retail, design, and history stories: @MichaelSteeber

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