Immersive, Completely Silent “Desert”

Last year, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum captured the public’s attention with a working, solid gold toilet installed in one of its restrooms. This year, they're are going for something a little more subtle: A “desert” that’s acoustically soundproofed to prevent anything but the lowest of ambient sounds. PSAD Synthetic Desert III, as the installation is formally titled, is the creation of West Coast artist Doug Wheeler, who originally conceived the idea nearly 50 years ago.
 Working in collaboration with the museum, Wheeler is finally realizing the project after all this time. more