CAST of Characters

Your faithful correspondent finds collaborations compelling, whether between artists in various genres or among cooperating venues. Both are in play with the current showcase series at Santa Barbara Center for Art, Science, and Technology (SBCAST), where three of its Artists in Residence are staging weekend exhibits of installation art, design, multimedia projects, and performances. The series kicked off last weekend with Meighann A. Helene’s “Rusted Roots” installation of works that feature cold-casted organic matter in iron, bronze, and copper that was accompanied by Adam Potter Scott’s “The Automatic Orchestra,” which generates music in real-time based on input of human heart rates.

This weekend brings the opening of Maria Constanza Ferreira’s “Into the Crystal Hourglass” involving immersive and interactive installations, experimental films and soundscapes, an exhibit that represents the culmination of the artist’s two-year experiment with time and light and the self-generative structures of synthetic crystals and the body’s relationship to nature and technology. Lindsey Appleyard’s series “She was Real,” which will be on view September 25-26, serves as a tribute to her mother and employs stained glass, metal work, photography, video manipulation, and more to examine the body vs. the spirit and questions about death and living. Both exhibits have receptions from 6:30-8:30 pm on their respective Saturdays, and reopen for viewing from 1-5 pm the following Sunday. 

All three of the artists and some of their pieces from the exhibitions migrate over to SOhO for an after-hours reception this Saturday, September 18, starting at 10 pm, when Ben Betts, Sandy Hawkins, and DJ Jamen will provide the entertainment. Visit https://sbcast.org.

‘People are Strange’? It’s an ‘Unwritten’ Rule

On the surface it’s hard to imagine the pairing of the musical entertainers for Saturday’s One805 Live!, a benefit for the nonprofit that put together the massive Kick Ash Bash back in spring 2018. After all, Robby Krieger and Natasha Bedingfield don’t have a lot in common. Krieger, the guitarist and co-songwriter best known from the Doors, is 75 years old; Bedingfield is still in her 30s. Krieger is quintessentially American, an anchor in the pioneering 1960s rock band, while Bedingfield is British through-and-through, with a fan base across the pond that embraces her every move.

On the other hand, both embrace philanthropic causes, which is the whole point of the event, which raises funds for One805’s prepare-equip-support ethos of aiding Santa Barbara’s first responders in keeping us and them safe. The end-of-summer celebration takes place in a private garden at the Winn-Twining estate in Montecito, with gourmet food and fun and even a Firefighter Cook-off, which almost seems like a contradiction in terms, although appropriate considering the Doors’ breakthrough hit was “Light My Fire”. 

The event is sold out, but you can find more on how to help One805 at either (805) 826-3552 or visit https://one805.org.