PST Art: Art and Science Collide is a five-month-long exhibit in Southern California showcasing how science and art merge. It is the largest event of its kind in the United States, and the exhibits are featured in numerous locations. It debuted in September and has sparked people’s interest in the wonders of the world, which is both enhanced and challenged by old and new technologies and science.
The features range from ancient astronomical instruments to the latest in AI technology. Visitors are invited to observe the history of the harmony of art and science and immerse themselves in the fascinating world of light, color, sound, and smell.
Locations
PST Art is held in Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Diego, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, and Caltech. Los Angeles offers three locations: the Getty Museum, Gallery Luisotti, and the Autry Museum of the Old West. Pasadena has three locations: USC Pacific Asia Museum, ArtCenter College of Design, and the Norton Simon Museum. Several institutions are participating, such as LACMA and UCR Arts at UC Riverside.
Exhibits
The artistic materials shown are vast and span thousands of years of history. Exhibits include ancient Aboriginal drawings from Australia, Mesoamerican vessels and textiles, and medieval Islamic illustrated books. At the Getty Center, Spectrum 14 welcomes visitors to interact with bands of spectral light, which are in tune with Earth’s rotational orbit.
The prism of light activates the architecture and bodies of the visitors. The exhibit traces the circadian rhythm of the planet and visitors. Lumen: The Art and Science of Light takes visitors to the Middle Ages with unique installations by Helen Pashigan and Ross, exploring the curiosity of light by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers, theologians, and artists.
The adjacent exhibit features Sensing the Future: Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.). The exhibition explores their multimedia projects and sets the collaborative work as the cornerstone of trailblazing art-science collaborations in postwar history.
Caltech
Caltech’s signature exhibit is Crossing Over: Art and Science at Caltech 1920-2020. The exhibition surveys 100 years of noteworthy crossovers at the scientific institution. It features works from their collection, including rare first-edition books in physics and astronomy. There are also scientific drawings, posters, and data visualizations across academic disciplines.
Sensory Mementos + Interstellar Soundings is a part of the exhibit Blended Worlds: Experiments in Interplanetary Imagination. It invites visitors into an extraordinary environment where they can smell Earth’s lost scents and hear sounds from exoplanets.
Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
Geffen Contemporary at MOCA features Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, a site-specific display of light and color. The exhibit introduces visitors to the phantasmagoria of reflection, refraction, and reverberation. The other large-scale exhibit, We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art explores the use and symbolism of color in Mesoamerican art. It emphasizes the Indigenous philosophy reflected in figurines, ceramics, meals, and textiles. There is also a modern-era exhibit, Color in Motion: Chromatic Explorations of Cinema, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
The exhibit chronicles the history of film colors, from the earliest hand-painted silent films to the modern era’s digital coloration, focusing on the psychological impact and significance of color in entertainment.
Other Openings
PST ART boasts many public events and new openings with the exhibits. The other openings include Joseph Beuys: In Defense of Nature and Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice.
The exciting event is featured in over 70 institutions where visitors can encounter plants, mushrooms, bees, rocks, water, and more. The sensory production bridges the gap between art and science in an informative and compelling way. The shows aim to compel visitors to realize that they and the environmental elements are waves and particles sharing the same breath.
