Caterpillar's Longing

Caterpillar's Longing — festival artwork in Indio, USA.

Caterpillar’s Longing, better known as Coachella Caterpillar & Coachella Butterfly, was Poetic Kinetics’ Coachella art project for 2015. This art installation encompassed two pieces, Papilio Merraculous (Coachella Caterpillar) and Desiderium Eruca (Coachella Butterfly). Together they create one piece symbolizing the social appetites of our youth in the journey of self-discovery and personal transformation.

This gargantuan kinetic sculpture (90 feet long by 17 feet in diameter) was modeled after the Monarch Caterpillar. Situated around a 12-ton variable-reach industrial forklift on a PVC and fabric façade, Caterpillar’s Longing can raise its head to a height of up to 45 feet into the air.

It also features an innovative mechanical walking-leg system designed to simulate the naturalistic slinky motion of a caterpillar, plus six animatronic legs that give it the ability to crawl across the grassy fields. Internal systems control illumination technology, giving the creature a soft and unforgettable bioluminescence at night.