This was the second time Santa Monica has hosted "glow," an all night art festival featuring large scale modern art installations sprinkled along the beach and in the parks around the Santa Monica Pier. The first festival was in 2008 and was modeled after Nuit Blanche, which started in Europe in the late 1990's. In 2008, we ventured into the world of glow, not knowing what to expect. While numerous exhibits were underwhelming, a couple were visually and conceptually awesome. My favorite '08 installation by far was Shih Chieh Huang's deep sea creatures made from trash installation under the pier (http://www.messymix.com/showvideo/exse08.php).
This year, we hoped to see something equally mind-blowing, but were severely disappointed. While certain pieces were well executed, nothing was as spectacular as the sea creatures, and many things were not only conceptually boring, but they were so poorly executed that it led one to believe tonight was the first time the artist even actually tested their idea. Projections weren't strong enough, many installations depended on "feedback" from crowd movement, but didn't really bring anything interesting or unique, and some pieces still weren't functioning or even present at 10:30pm (three and a half hours after the beginning of glow). Among the better pieces were Hadrian Predock & John Frane's Luminous Passage, a "land bridge" leading the from solid ground to the edge of the ocean; Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Sandbox, an interactive piece that actually worked; 18th St Art Center & LA Commons' Howling at the Sun, an enactment of a Native American myth about the battle between the Sun and Coyote; and Steve Roden's coast lines; two projections of vibrantly colored hand drawn Pacific coastlines, one heading north and one heading south.
This year, we hoped to see something equally mind-blowing, but were severely disappointed. While certain pieces were well executed, nothing was as spectacular as the sea creatures, and many things were not only conceptually boring, but they were so poorly executed that it led one to believe tonight was the first time the artist even actually tested their idea. Projections weren't strong enough, many installations depended on "feedback" from crowd movement, but didn't really bring anything interesting or unique, and some pieces still weren't functioning or even present at 10:30pm (three and a half hours after the beginning of glow). Among the better pieces were Hadrian Predock & John Frane's Luminous Passage, a "land bridge" leading the from solid ground to the edge of the ocean; Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Sandbox, an interactive piece that actually worked; 18th St Art Center & LA Commons' Howling at the Sun, an enactment of a Native American myth about the battle between the Sun and Coyote; and Steve Roden's coast lines; two projections of vibrantly colored hand drawn Pacific coastlines, one heading north and one heading south.
DNA Sequencer by Syyn Labs
Would have been cool if it responded to touch and light as promised.
Instead, just a basically a light show to music.
Would have been cool if it responded to touch and light as promised.
Instead, just a basically a light show to music.
Bummer. Lack of capital? Lack of champion?
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