Presented by the UCLA Art|Sci Center in collaboration with the Advanced Light Microscopy & Spectroscopy (ALMS) Lab at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and the Smart Image Content Research Center at Chung-Ang University, South Korea.

LightFest 3.0 brings together artists, scientists, medical researchers, and cultural practitioners to explore light across scales—from AI microscopy and spectroscopy to media arts, sustainability, and contemplative cultural practices. Organized in conjunction with UNESCO International Day of Light, the two-day symposium examines how imaging technologies are transforming medicine, scientific research, and creative expression.

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DESCRIPTION

The “Falling Into the Future” Exhibition-Planning Symposium at Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara(December 14, 2025) brought together artists, curators, and scholars to explore kinetic and technology-based art and develop ideas for a future exhibition.

John DiLeva Halpern
Co-Founder Institute for Cultural Activism International a US 501(C)3

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Press Releases

Margret Wibmer
Fritz Horstman Shingle Valley Bird song
JDH Breathing Room
CAI Bird Song Sunflower

Links

www.studioicai.org
wikipedia.org
www.johnhalperntheworks.com
www.mdsfilms.com

DESCRIPTION

World Leaders in Contemporary Art and Technology gather in Santa Barbara to discuss the future.

“Brave New Work, AI and Tech in the Hands of Artists” is a contemporary art exhibition and three-day symposium in Santa Barbara showcasing internationally recognized artists and speakers who are utilizing exciting new technologies to tell compelling stories centered on the environment, cultural identities, and community. City-wide, the event includes networking opportunities, casual receptions, and public art.

BNW is an intimate forum. Lectures are capped at only 150-200 attendees. The value of this conference is precisely in its scale. It is a rare opportunity to see world leaders talk about their explorations at the intersection of art and science and to interact with passionate regional leaders focused on building a like minded community.

Participating Institutions:

ART, DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE MUSEUM > COMMUNITY ARTS WORKSHOP > UCSB MEDIA ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY > SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART > MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SANTA BARBARA > SANTA BARBARA CENTER FOR ART AND TECHNOLOGY > VISUAL ART AND DESIGN ACADEMY <

www.bravenewwork.org

The Pieces are Titled
“Cento”, AR installation, Whitney Museum of American Art, Nancy Baker Cahill, 2025
“Hyperaccumulators, Generative video, Isabel Beavers, 2025
“Trampoline Color Exercise”, LED Takeover of Times Square, Yuge Zhuo 2025

DESCRIPTION

Tate St Ives presents Arise Alive, a major exhibition of the work of Liliane Lijn. Surveying Lijn’s career over five decades, this expansive survey features key works by an artist whose wide-ranging practice includes sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, collage, video and performance. Lijn – one of the first women artists to create kinetic works – explores the intersection of art, poetry and science, combining surrealism, mythology, philosophy, scientific innovation and feminism. Organised by Haus der Kunst in Munich and mumok in Vienna, in collaboration with Tate St Ives, Arise Alive is the most comprehensive survey of the artist’s work to date.

The exhibition explores three key themes that span Lijn’s career: kinetic art – initially through motorisation and optical effects; light and energy – giving visible form to immaterial and invisible forces; and feminism and the body – challenging dominant ideas of the feminine in art and technology.

DESCRIPTION

David Bermant’s forward looking vision of the importance of the art of our time incorporating the science of our time is a driving force of our creative practice and research at the AlloSphere Facility and the AlloSphere instrument. We are at the intersection of the arts, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and strive to create exciting new areas of artistic creation, scientific discovery, and a new form of education. This intersection has given us the potential to have a crucial dialogue about the most important issues that we need to engage and to understand for the future growth of our world community. The Bermant Foundation’s generous gift will facilitate the AlloSphere to conduct our research, creative practice, and education within the university, and bring this information out to the community by opening our doors to the public, presenting forward looking installations from our team as well as guest visiting artists.

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DESCRIPTION

Located in MOXI’s Light Track, the Drip Chamber utilizes light and water to create a playful and immersive experience for visitors. In the glass chamber, liquid drips into a reservoir creating small ripples. The ripples are projected onto the floor, displaying mesmerizing patterns of light and color.

DESCRIPTION

Cicadas are the loudest insects in the world. In New Zealand, the most common species is the chorus cicada (Amphipsalta zelandica), renowned for its rhythmic and persistent sound that heralds the end of summer. Known in Māori as kihikihi wawā, kihikihi is an onomatopoeic term mimicking the cicada’s sound, while wawā means ‘to make a loud indistinct noise, roar, rumble’.

The Kihikihi project draws inspiration from the chorus cicada’s unique appearance, sound, and behavior. However, in many ways, it addresses the interrelationship of insects, plants, and humans in general – the shared ecosystem we all need for survival.

In the Kihikihi installation, the audience can activate ‘electronic insects’ by placing them on ‘electronic trees’. The audience is invited to explore the sonic, tactile and visual relationships through play: they can pick up insects, place them on the sculptural plants, explore successful placements, and once contact is made, the insect starts glowing and chirping. Each insect has a unique rhythm. The insects form an insect orchestra, their voices blending and interweaving into a polyrhythmic sound cloud.

The trees express themselves sonically as well, and contact with insects influences their sound in a subtle way. Emitting a gentle wind-like sound, the tree sculptures provide an airy layer to the beats of the insects. When an insect connects with a tree, the tree’s sound slightly softens, signifying the nuanced impact of interspecies connections.

While playful, Kihikihi invites reflection on insect decline and its broader implications. With robotic pollinators already in development, what are we losing – culturally and emotionally – if natural insects disappear? Who will sing for us in summer?

Website

Video

Te Aka Māori-English, English-Māori Dictionary, s.v. “kihikihi,” accessed October 25, 2024, www.maoridictionary.co.nz