Event #1: GLOW Art & Technology Festival

On September 28, 2013 I attended the GLOW festival at Santa Monica Pier and Beach. Unfortunately, I only got to see a few exhibits because I didn't realize the rest were on the pier! What I did see was both very interesting and new to me.

It was really amazing seeing all the light shows, performances, and the art pieces together with the brightly decorated pier and ocean background. I noticed that many of the art pieces included the use of technology in order to portray the artist's vision. This reminded me of the topic about "two cultures" because they had both art and science mixed into one vision. I really liked Rebeca Mendez's "CircumSolar, Migration 1, 2013", which was located on the sand right by the ocean. Mendez used a projector to show the migration path of the arctic tern. The arctic tern is a small sea bird known for its longest migration path from Antarctica to the Arctic every year. It is the one living creature on the earth that sees the most daytime light in its lifetime.

Mendez used a giant disk and 25-foot diameter screen to project her clips. Since Mendez is interested on issues of migration, of both human and animals, her clips showed a lot of unique activity in nature. There was a clip featuring a man walking across an icy tundra and a beautiful arctic tern flying in the sky.

I thought using a projector was a great idea especially since it was set up by the ocean. Since it was at night, all you focused on were the beautiful images and scenery. I thought that the audience could feel like they were witnessing the migration cycle along with the arctic fern. I thought this was a great combination between technology and art. 

http://glowsantamonica.org/