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Unique Sensory Art Experience in Santa Barbara

UCSB hosts a Luminarium for a mind-blowing experience.

Unique Sensory Art Experience in Santa Barbara

This weekend, Friday, May 5, through Sunday, May 7, UC Santa Barbara will be displaying a Daedalum Luminarium. This sensory art exhibit, free and open to the public, can be visited from noon until 6 p.m. each day on the Lagoon Lawn, hosted by the Associated Students Program Board (ASPB).

A luminarium is a sculpture that uses natural light and is “made with a very thin PVC that's less than half a millimeter thin, glued together to make these domed-in tunnels of color,” said Ashanti, a Luminaria manager. The sculpture is open to all ages and abilities. There are a few requirements, such as having an adult accompany kids 16 and younger, no strollers, and no animals.

The inside of the sculpture is warm and features a blend of blue, green, yellow, and red colors. The circular, pod-like structures can look like a long canal, or a bursting web. Because the sculpture requires natural light, the shifting brightness of colors makes the experience unique. It was like walking into a kaleidoscope.

These egg-shaped pods are part of the Daedalum Luminarium, on view at the UCSB lagoon May 5-7. | Photo: Richelle Boyd