Inside the Pulse: A Journey to London to meet the minds behind Framerate Desert Pulse

There’s something about London that never fails to stir the imagination. Its skyline is a collage of centuries-old landmarks and sharp-edged modernity, much like the creative minds that call it home.

As I boarded a flight bound for the British capital, my destination was not one of the city’s many famous museums or galleries, but the studio where a new generation of artists are creating an exhibition for Desert Botanical Garden that promises to challenge, inspire and provoke. I was in town to meet with ScanLAB Projects artists and founders, Matt Shaw and Will Trossell, the creative team behind the upcoming exhibition at the Garden, Desert Pulse.

Art can feel distant when you only encounter it on clean white walls, but witnessing its creation—the chaotic and inspired process behind it—was a reminder of why it matters. My time in London was about seeing the evolution first hand for Desert Pulse through the eyes of its storytellers.

A Studio Visit to East London

Working in a garden setting presents unique opportunities and challenges for artists. Exhibits have to function not just visually but also spatially and seasonally. At Desert Botanical Garden, artworks need to coexist with cactus and agaves, endure weather variations and be in sync with the rhythm of the Garden experiences. This opportunity was met with sheer enthusiasm by Matt and Will.

ScanLAB Projects, located in a converted warehouse in East London, bore the usual creative chaos—plaster molds, half-formed sculptures, archival photographs, team members enmeshed in their creative roles—but also a surprising serenity. Sunlight filtered through Victorian-era windows into a large room where computer monitors and technology were alive with images from the Sonoran Desert.

On a table bathed in the afternoon sun sat a small collection of thriving cactus, offering inspiration to the project and giving reference to their fellow species half way around the word.

In another space a robotic arm hung from the ceiling holding a camera to capture 360-degree images of cactus flowers blooming in all their color and splendor across multiple days of bloom and decline. These images are certain to provide a vibrant kaleidoscope of color to the exhibition.

During my visit, Matt and Will shared insights about their creative process for Desert Pulse. What stood out to me is the balance between individual vision and shared intent. They have spent the last two years developing the exhibit by forming a dialogue with the desert that those of us who live here will easily recognize. 

ScanLAB’s approach to artistic storytelling creates a multi-sensory journey through different desert typologies—from the cracked basins of fire damaged landscapes to the vibrant ecosystems of the Salt River. The exhibition is not just a display of art — it is a meditation on what it means to belong, to remember, and to reimagine the unique and beautiful place we call home, the Sonoran Desert.

The exhibit will dispel the often-misconceived image of deserts as empty or barren. Visitors will experience a world that brims with life that has evolved to flourish in extremes. Desert Pulse captures the dualities of the desert—fragility and strength, isolation and communion, desolation and beauty. Each frame of the artwork aims to explore the resilience, minimalism, and quiet grandeur of desert ecosystems.

In an age of climate crisis, deserts carry a unique symbolism. They are places of both depletion and adaptation. Curating Desert Pulse has been a process of peeling back assumptions, inviting the viewer to consider not just what deserts are, but what they represent: resilience, transformation and the unseen networks that sustain life.

The exhibit will include three large outdoor installations and will culminate with a temporal, immersive experience in The RAF Exhibit Gallery. Like the desert itself, Desert Pulse asks its audience for patience, attention, and care. And perhaps, in a quiet way, it suggests that nature doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes, it waits quietly to surprise us with unexpected beauty.

Desert Pulse by ScanLAB Projects opens October 2025 and will continue through May 2026.

This blog was written by Desert Botanical Garden Chief Experience Officer Elaine McGinn.