By Rand Pate Los Angeles
Me and my group of a dozen friends had a lot of anticipation for Santa Monica's greatly hyped [Glow] event [on Saturday]. This event, which could have had such resonance, fell flat on many levels. The first indication of this was the area south of the pier where rows of glow sticks were stuck in the sand. Talk about unimaginative. This is art? More like art fart. A few dozen helium balloons tied together on the north side of the pier managed to be even more disappointing. At least the bouncy pillow structure was lit and somewhat more creative. The only thing that managed to captivate my attention for more than a pass-by was the projections against the water spray. Looking something like the aurora borealis this piece was beautiful to look at and did show me something I hadn't seen before... kind of.
What I did gather from this is the need and demand for something of this nature. There were so many people attending that you would think they were giving away free money. The crowds were intense and there were lines everywhere. I didn't even manage to make my way onto the pier but was told later it was just as well since there were no additional art installations there. The hanging sculptures under the pier were creative and fun if you were fortunate enough to see them.
I really wanted to see the orchestra perform on the Ferris wheel. Did that even happen? There was no way to know what was happening when and there wasn't enough going on to convince me fight the crowds and dodge the baby strollers to wait around and see. And what about the installation where the sea was to glow? Did anyone see that? Did you have to walk to the end of pier to view it? A little more information would have been greatly appreciated. And with an overcast evening, someone missed a great opportunity to light up the sky with lasers. I totally expected to see that anyway and was shocked at how it was just too obvious to be absent.
I applaud Santa Monica for "allowing" us to use our beach for a night to have a party. That in itself seems like a ludicrous statement. I find it appalling that we need "anyone's" permission to make use of the beach. But be that as it may, kudos to the companies that sponsored the event and made this happen. Obviously people are looking for something such as this. We live in the land of make believe where creating the seemingly impossible is a reality. Perhaps with a little more practice the organizers can find a way to do this with better results. It costs each of us a lot of money to live here. The crowd last night proved that Angeleno's are eager for ways to get out of their homes, away from their TVs, and enjoy some time with their neighbors, friends and families. I think the city should try harder to give more back to its citizens and perhaps stop telling us what we can't do, so that we can discover what we can.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 25, 2008. Read the original PDF.