Around 4,000 people filled the Los Angeles Coliseum on September 15 to witness the kickoff event for the Getty Museum’s $20 million PST ART: Art & Science Collide, in which over dozens of institutions present exhibitions around a unifying theme.
They didn’t anticipate having to duck for cover.
The museum’s collaboration with Chinese pyrotechnics artist Cai Guo-Qiang saw spent fireworks and their stone-like byproducts rain down on attendees, with many in the crowd requiring first aid after being hit
The 30-minute fireworks display unfolded over five acts that became increasingly explosive. People were also reportedly scared out of their wits around the University of Southern California (USC) campus and surrounding neighborhoods due to the rising smoke and ear-splitting blasts in the night sky.
Many USC students were preparing to evacuate the campus and posted messages on social media asking if their lives were in danger, fearing the commotion was gunfire and exploding bombs.
It’s not known how many people were injured – or how. Getty spokesperson Alexandria Sivak wrote in an email to the Art Newspaper, “Unfortunately, pieces of debris fell on some people. We know a few of them required first aid. Of course this is distressing to us, and we have expressed our concern to the people for whom we have contact information.”
One visitor told TAN that he was forced to cover his ears with his hands because of the noise, and said his left hand was hit by debris. “I had this moment of panic because it hurt, and I was expecting more of these rocks to be raining down,” he said. “It triggered my anxiety, thinking something really went wrong. If I didn’t have my hands up, it could have hit my face.” He added that “I could have been blinded.”
The J. Paul Getty Trust, which is the world’s richest arts organization, commissioned the public pyrotechnics show – titled WE ARE – from Cai. In total, the Getty has forked out $20 million in grants on this edition of PST ART, with the money mostly going to museums and organizations in southern California to stage their own shows merging art and science.
Acknowledging the disturbance that the fireworks caused, the Getty issued a public statement saying it regretted what happened—but added that “the Coliseum followed its normal process for events held at the stadium and notified municipal partners.”
PST ART: Art & Science Collide describes itself as “Southern California’s landmark arts event. This year’s edition involves more than 800 artists and over 70 exhibitions.
