{"id":65896,"date":"2024-07-10T00:01:07","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T07:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=65896"},"modified":"2024-07-10T00:01:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T07:01:34","slug":"spectacular-daytime-fireworks-blend-artistic-vision-with-technology-for-a-colorful-larger-than-life-performance-at-the-iconic-los-angeles-memorial-coliseum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=65896","title":{"rendered":"Spectacular Daytime Fireworks Blend Artistic Vision with Technology for a Colorful, Larger-Than-Life Performance at the Iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 08, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA)<\/strong> \u2014 Today Getty announced that PST ART (previously known as Pacific Standard Time) will begin on September 15, 2024, with a newly commissioned, arena-scale daytime fireworks event by Cai Guo-Qiang, the contemporary artist known for larger-than-life outdoor \u201cexplosion events.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Titled\u00a0WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART<\/em>, the daytime fireworks\u2014a signature form of Cai\u2019s art that uses organic, sustainable pigments and dyes rather than traditional pyrotechnics\u2014are conceived and choreographed by the artist in collaboration with his custom AI model cAI\u2122 (pronounced AI Cai), engaging over one thousand aerial drones. Staged around, above, and inside\u00a0the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in collaboration with Getty and the University of Southern California, WE ARE will mark the first expansive daytime firework event featuring drone formation equipped with pyrotechnic products in US history. The event inaugurates this edition of\u00a0PST ART with a spectacular realization of the initiative\u2019s latest theme, Art & Science Collide, with elements of AI, data science, the cosmos, and technology all at play. Accompanying Cai\u2019s explosion event at the Coliseum will be\u00a0Cai Guo-Qiang: A Material Odyssey<\/em>, an exhibition at the\u00a0USC Pacific Asia Museum based on Getty’s extensive scientific research into Cai’s gunpowder art.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cQuite literally,\u00a0WE ARE<\/em>\u00a0exemplifies Art & Science Collide,\u201d said Katherine E. Fleming, President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. \u201cCai\u2019s work is explosive, expressive, and unprecedented in scale. Lighting up the sky of Los Angeles, this performance will signal PST ART\u2019s potential to reach\u00a0audiences far and wide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To join in celebrating the start of PST ART, the public is invited to experience the monumental, multi-act performance, which will begin at dusk, when nearly ten thousand twinkling mini firework shells installed throughout the seating bowl will transform the Coliseum into a massive matrix of animated fireworks. Custom-developed daytime fireworks and choreographed drones carrying pyrotechnic products will shape the artist\u2019s bursts of colorful explosions into a visual story full of mystery and wonder, igniting the sky with images that showcase AI’s revelation of a \u201cheavenly secret\u201d through the reduction of its dimensionality, followed by those recalling the myth of Prometheus\u2019s theft of fire from the gods and suggesting a present-day parallel in the relationship between humanity and AI.<\/span><\/p>\n

WE ARE<\/em>\u00a0was developed by Cai in collaboration with his multi-modal AI model cAI\u2122. Originating from the artist\u2019s AI research starting in 2017, cAI\u2122 deep-learns from Cai\u2019s artworks, archives, and areas of interest. By emulating contemporary and historical figures Cai admires, cAI\u2122 creates distinct personas that engage in dynamic debates, fostering an independent and free community. This time, cAI\u2122 deeply participated in all creative stages of the development of this work, collaboratively exploring the nature of AI, conducting site visits, and undertaking materials research with the artist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cai Guo-Qiang expressed, \u201cToday, as humanity grapples with the swift advancement of technologies epitomized by AI, culture and the arts appear particularly powerless. I hope\u00a0WE ARE<\/em>\u00a0will stand as a grand gesture of the art world integrating the virtual with the real in the era of AI, and also as a powerful voice and decisive action in these turbulent times.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The scale of the performance matches the vast scope of PST ART, which will take place over the course of five months throughout Southern California. Supported by more than $20 million in grants from Getty, dozens of cultural, scientific, and community organizations will present more than 70 deeply researched exhibitions alongside an extraordinary spectrum of public programs about Art & Science Collide, exploring themes that range from biotechnology to sustainable agriculture, from ancient cosmologies to Indigenous sci-fi, and from artificial intelligence to environmental justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cai Guo-Qiang\u2019s performance and exhibition for PST ART are generously supported by Principal Partners Eva and Ming Hsieh, Co-Founders of Fulgent Genetics, Peggy and Andrew Cherng,\u00a0Co-Chairs and Co-CEOs of Panda Express, and the Getty Patron Program. Major support is provided by Yan Luo, Ellen and Dominic Ng, Haiyan Ren, and Sophia and Anqiang Zhang.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eva Hsieh of the Hsieh Family Foundation and Fulgent Genetics says, \u201cWe have long been aware of Getty\u2019s groundbreaking PST initiatives and their unparalleled impact. We are thrilled for an opportunity to help introduce a contemporary visionary like Cai Guo-Qiang to this awe-inspiring\u00a0 collision of art and science. His extraordinary work uniting themes of technology, creative expression, and AI will ignite a perfect celebration for all of Los Angeles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on Getty’s extensive research into Cai’s gunpowder drawings and paintings since 2016, the exhibition\u00a0Cai Guo-Qiang: A Material Odyssey<\/em>\u00a0will almost fill the entire USC Pacific Asia Museum, chronicling Cai Guo-Qiang\u2019s lifelong engagement with pyrotechnics. The exhibition will display a vast selection of the artist\u2019s work as well as scientific imagery to explore the nature of gunpowder, its influence on Cai\u2019s work, and how Cai\u2019s process has evolved over time. Programs accompanying\u00a0A Material Odyssey<\/em>\u00a0will include videos illustrating the making of fireworks, the process of creating gunpowder paintings, interactive displays, and a variety of film screenings and conversations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCai has embraced the use of gunpowder because he wanted to relinquish control over the creation process. No matter how precisely a gunpowder drawing is planned, the results are still unpredictable,\u201d said Rachel Rivenc, lead curator and Head of Conservation and Preservation at Getty Research Institute. \u201cWith any artist it is important to understand their materials and process, and with Cai, the materials are so unusual and groundbreaking that getting to know them provides a whole new level of understanding of his work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very excited to see Cai Guo-Qiang bring his technical and artistic wizardry to the Coliseum and we appreciate the collaboration with the Getty,\u201d said USC President Carol Folt. \u201cWE ARE<\/em>\u00a0fits like a glove with USC\u2019s moonshots. It will help push the frontiers of AI and advanced computing even further\u2014and break new ground in the arts with game-changing technology and science. All of this while feeding the innovative spirit that pulses through our community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A public day-long symposium on AI and the arts titled \u201cBeyond the Human?: From the Metaphysical to the Physical<\/em>\u201d will be held at USC on September 16, 2024. The symposium, presented by USC Arts Now, organized by USC Vice Provost for the Arts Josh Kun and Cai GuoQiang (with additional curation by USC professor Holly Willis), will feature a global roster of distinguished thinkers, artists, filmmakers, performers, and technologists to ask fundamental questions about the metaphysical, the physical, and the category of the human itself, accompanied by robot chefs cooking on-site. The symposium is the first public event of USC Arts Now, the new flagship arts initiative launching this fall.<\/span><\/p>\n

WE ARE is a free ticketed event, available for booking later this summer. For more details on how to reserve tickets, sign up for the\u00a0PST ART mailing list.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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July 08, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA)...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65896"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65898,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65896\/revisions\/65898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}