Brave New Work Is Coming to Santa Barbara

The intersection of art and technology is filled with mind-boggling, exciting, and admittedly sometimes scary possibilities. But the future is coming whether you like it or not — which is why we’re so pleased to share that a three-day, citywide symposium titled “Brave New Work: AI and Tech in the Hands of Artists,” is coming to Santa Barbara October 7-9. 

Gathering leading artists and scientists, the event includes an educational symposium, contemporary art exhibitions, networking opportunities, casual receptions, and public art. A few of the noteworthy participants include internationally renowned contemporary artists Nancy Baker Cahill, JoAnn Kuchera-Morin, Victoria Vesna, and Beatie Wolfe, and technology leaders Kevin Davis, Ken Kosic and Alan Macy.

The brainchild of organizer Michael Delgado, who has worked in partnership with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, and UCSB, the event has evolved naturally from Santa Barbara’s vibrant art and science community and the hunger for information and collaboration. 

The tension between human expression and expeditious technologies is the heart of the symposium, he explained. Santa Barbara is a leading center for AI and other technologies that are transforming how we interact with both the natural and digital environments. 

“There are amazing contemporary art and scientific breakthroughs being made here that are recognized around the world but have gone widely unknown in their own backyard. Brave New Work aims to engage and energize the wider local community to experience and enjoy these amazing, visually spectacular advances,” said Delgado.

Some of the panel discussions throughout the three-day event include: “The Human Element: Designing Empathy into the Machine Age,” a cross-disciplinary conversation about how we can ensure that the future of artificial intelligence remains rooted in human values, emotion, and connection. “Signals & Systems: Artists Rewiring Perception in the Age of Intelligent Media” is a multimedia panel featuring pioneering artist-speakers in a dynamic conversation about the new architectures of perception, connection, and meaning in our digitally entangled world. And, among others, “A Brief History of the Impossible” explores how historical artists anticipated AI with a look at art history through the lens of contemporary technologies.

In addition to social and networking events and breakout opportunities, there will also be contemporary art on view, including: A visit to “Symbiosis or Schism: The AI–Human Odyssey,” a companion exhibition curated by the Brill Family Foundation at SBCAW, with more than a dozen artists addressing the theme of the opportunity and threats posed by AI in wide-ranging approaches. 

Among the other artistic components to see are an AR installation by Nancy Baker Cahill at Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara. There will be an artist presentation to Santa Barbara High’s VADA students on “New Storytelling Methodologies by Supercollider artistic director Isabel Beavers, as well as performances of excerpts from the groundbreaking Quantum Concerto by Professor JoAnn Kuchera-Morin at UCSB’s AlloSphere. 

There will also be free projected public art works produced with sophisticated technologies by Nancy Baker Cahill, Richelle Ellis/Supercollider, Victoria Vesna, Beatie Wolfe, and Yuge Zhou that focus on environmental, societal, and humanist themes in inspiring ways at the Michael Towbes Library Plaza.

For more information, to purchase tickets, and view the complete schedule for Brave New Work, October 7-9, see bravenewwork.org.