Nestled amidst Palm Springs' quirky swimming pools, retro furniture shops, and an eccentric shrine to the city’s deity Sonny Bono, you'll stumble upon a reality-bending lawn exhibit that'll twist your brain into thinking it's hitched a ride fifty years into a dazzling and utterly perplexing future.
Behold! the ever-evolving masterpiece, affectionately known as RoboLights—a suburban spectacle of upcycled wizardry that could outshine even the quirkiest sci-fi B-movie sets.
What earthly reason could there be to dislike this experience? I mean, really, when was the last time you were welcomed by plastic driveway aliens and colossal robotic arms peeking from backyard trees? The neighbors, watching their home’s Zillow Zestimate freefall every year, must be positively thrilled, I'm sure.
Trying to encapsulate the visuals of RoboLights? Whimsical, joyful, gaudy, extensive, and insanely imaginative all pop to mind. And here's the curveball: it's all crafted from 100% recycled materials. Locals, take a moment to mull over that next time you contemplate hurling that broken umbrella into the trash.
Roaming the vast grounds is like navigating a futuristic zoo on an alternate planet. Simply follow the meandering path, its twists and turns offering a full tour and an up-close, personal view of how the behemoth came to be. Is that a melted calculator? Is that MY melted calculator? The one from the 6th grade? We’ve regressed.
Now, let's talk about the maestro behind this fantastical symphony—Kenny, the owner/creator/house liver/bearded wonder. He's a man on a mission, and what's that mission, you ask? To birth giant, colorful art sculptures as an extravagant expression of his artistic desires, naturally!
Proclaiming that RoboLights is "a project that’s never truly done," one can only imagine the level of skill required to birth these giants. Shirtless, sweaty, and working harder than hell the day I swung by, Kenny is a national treasure who should be sculpting monuments across America. Just picture it: folks in Main Street, USA, waking up to find a neon-green giraffe with sunglasses on their doorstep or a funky, metallic kangaroo chilling in the town square. It's the kind of artistic revolution that would make Michelangelo do a double take from the heavens above.
Some pieces are whimsical, and others are quite morbid. It's as if Tim Burton made a 'Transformers' movie but left the CGI behind.
Toilet Deer! My favorite
And let me emphasize again, this isn't on a vast plot of barren land or a commercially zoned storefront. All this wonderful absurdity unfolds in a single family's backyard, on a quiet suburban street, right down the block from where Frank Sinatra used to croon his tunes.
Fittingly, RoboLights becomes a HUGE hit during the holidays. Charging only a small fee per head, the spectacle draws in thousands of visitors each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, let's spare a moment to imagine the electric bill Kenny fronts for all of this—legendary, right? Hats off to you, Kenny, you da man.
Long live RoboLights! The project that, fingers crossed, will keep on trucking into eternity.
