Looking for ways to recharge the brain and fuel lively conversation with friends and family? Dive into PST Art, presented by Getty, which for the next five months will showcase the works of more than 800 artists as they explore the intersections of art and science. The 70-plus exhibitions span the past and present, and some reveal fascinating visions of life in the future.
This year’s PST Art event theme is “Art and Science Collide,” and it launched with an “explosion” — a daytime fireworks performance by contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang at L.A. Memorial Coliseum on September 15. The mind-boggling array of topics run the gamut from ancient cosmologies to Indigenous sci-fi, sustainable agriculture, AI, biotechnology, and environmental justice.
There are myriad opportunities to connect with PST Art, including here in town. Head to the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) in Paseo Nuevo for Sangre de Nopal/Blood of the Nopal: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Contemporary Art (Oct. 6–Jan. 12, 2025). Artist Sarah Rosalena, Assistant Professor of Computational Craft in UCSB’s Department of Art, who had an exhibition titled Pointing Star at MCASB in spring 2023, has her work on view in six PST Art exhibitions across Southern California (see story at bit.ly/4efxowD).