Dario Robleto: The Signal

Few people walk the line between art and science quite as deliberately as the Texan artist Dario Robleto. Much of his work measures and records human activity at a scale that is both intimate and universal, most notably in the form of heartbeats and brain activity, but for years he has also been preoccupied by more cosmic questions: whether we are alone in the universe, and how we might reckon with the answer. His latest exhibition is centred around a feature-length film he directed, co-wrote and co-edited: Ancient Beacons Long for Notice (2024), which uses the Golden Record – a long-playing album featuring sounds, voices and songs of Earth that was appended to Voyager I and Voyager II in 1977 – as a way of thinking about how to communicate the essence of humanity. Also on display are several artworks that demonstrate Robleto’s interest in natural history, such as American Seabed (2014), an installation of prehistoric whale ear bones adorned by different species of butterfly (8 December–25 May 2025).

Find out more from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary

Still from Ancient Beacons Long for Notice (2024) by Dario Robleto, commissioned by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Amon Carter Museum of American Art. © Dario Robleto

Still from Ancient Beacons Long for Notice (2024) by Dario Robleto, commissioned by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Amon Carter Museum of American Art. © Dario Robleto

American Seabed (2014; detail), Dario Robleto. Courtesy and © Dario Robleto