Abram Santa Cruz / Liquid PXL 

Mini Nova 

On display November 5–14, 2021 

Los Angeles, California 

Mini Nova is a collection of four giant steel and acrylic sculptures that appear as endlessly exploding stars. Each of these 15-foot diameter sculptures consist of 41 light tubes that shoot out from the central node. At night, the sculptures come to life with hundreds of colorful LED animations, creating bright and mesmerizing bursts of light.  

Their spherical shape is attributed to the geodesic sphere that lies at the heart of a dandelion, which references the artwork’s original configuration, titled Electric Dandelions. For Canal Convergence 2021, the artwork will be set in the Arizona Canal with the spheres rising above the water. The new spatial context of the artwork allows for an updated narrative, where the four sculptures erupt with patterns and colors against the dark abyss of the canal water, like exploding stars twinkling in the night sky.     

Artist Biography   

Liquid PXL, led by Abram Santa Cruz, is a Los Angeles-based group of artists, engineers, and friends, dedicated to creating fun and large-scale interactive art installations. Their first major art project was featured at Burning Man in 2012, followed by their first music festival exhibit at Lucidity in Santa Barbara, California, in 2013. Since then, they have completed six art installations, with two projects awarded the Arts Grant from Burning Man and several works exhibiting internationally. 

Artwork structural engineering performed by Sirius Structures.