Victoria Vesna and UCLA Art|Sci Collective: [Alien] Star Dust Meets Plankton

[Alien] Star Dust Meets Plankton is an iteration of ALIEN STAR DUST: Signal to Noise, a multifaceted and multidisciplinary project conceptualized and created by artist Victoria Vesna, which originally premiered March 10, 2020 in Vienna at the meteorite gallery of the Natural History Museum. This research-based art project invites viewers to gain an intimate understanding of the importance and complexity of dust and microbes.

Every creature contains hydrogen atoms, and every material element is manufactured in stars through their fusion. Humans, along with their myriad siblings of animals, plants, insects, plankton, bacteria, fungi, and viruses, are created from stardust by nuclear fusion. We all function together in vibratory fields from the bottom up, just as nature and nanotechnology work.

Visitor information

Projections of plankton on the northern side of UCLA’s campus will happen in parallel to projections of meteorites exploding on the campus’s southern end. Audiences are invited to make the walk from one side of the campus to the other while listening on their phones to the binaural sounds of explosions of the cosmos mixed with underwater noises. This sensorial experience will also be available online as a collective meditation. 

To experience the full scope of [Alien] Star Dust Meets Plankton, start at the Broad Arts Center, North Campus and immerse yourself in the Noise Aquarium, then follow the map and guided soundscape to the California NanoSystems Institute, South Campus. End by immersing yourself in [Alien] Star Dust.

Each 30-minute cycle starts on the hour and the half-hour. Bring a mobile device and headphones. 

Public parking is available at a wide variety of parking lots on the UCLA campus for $13.00 per car, per day. The closest parking to the Broad Arts Center is located in Lot 3.

[Alien] Star Dust Meets Plankton is curated by Anuradha Vikram and produced by Victoria Vesna in collaboration with the UCLA Art|Sci Collective: James Gimzewski, Paul Geluso, Ivana Dama, Clinton Van Arman, Alfred Vendl, Martina Froeschl, and John Brumley.

About the Artist

Victoria Vesna

Victoria Vesna is an artist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Department of Design Media Arts and is Director of the UCLA Art|Sci Center. With her installations she investigates how communication technologies affect collective behavior and perceptions of identity shift in relation to scientific innovation (PhD, University of Wales, 2000). Her work involves long-term collaborations with composers, nano-scientists, neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists, and she brings this experience to students. She has exhibited her work in more than 20 solo exhibitions, 70 group shows, has been published in over 20 papers and given over 100 invited talks in the last decade.

Health and Accessibility

This exhibition is an in-person event. Attendees may be required to wear a face mask and present proof of vaccination in accordance with COVID safety measures. 

Please note that this exhibition spans a length of the UCLA campus, which might present accessibility challenges to individuals with mobility limitations.