Kevin Bronson on April 14th, 2011

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As much as for its bounty of music, this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival promises to be a feast for the eyes. Multiple collaborations between the festival, artists and the Creators Project (a joint venture of Intel and Vice) promise to turn several of this year’s sets into multimedia spectacles.

You can even go to church. Well, visit a “cathedral,” anyway. One of the more intriguing projects will be an installation conceived by director Jonathan Glazer, Graft Architects and the space-rock band Spiritualized. In the space, fans will be able to experience “a physical manifestation” of the U.K. band’s seminal album “Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space.” Check out the teaser video.

And don’t be surprised if the main stage resembles something out of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” that was the intent, Ash Nehtu of United Visual Artists explains in this video. In fact, the group’s creative director Matt Clark says the stage is being treated as a “light and sound sculpture.” Among the sets that will feature extravagant visual collaborations are those by Animal Collective, Interpol (with David Lynch) and Arcade Fire. Brazilian audio-visual guru Muti Randolph is turning the Sahara Tent into an LED orgy too.

Even beyond the collaborations, artists such as Paul Van Dyk and A-Trak are debuting new productions for their music.

Earlier this week, the Times had a excellent rundown on Coachella visuals – recommended reading if you’re headed to the desert.

Photo via the Creators Project