sad side of "Glow"

(as published in the Santa Monica Daily Press July 24th 2008)

Dear Editor,

Saturday night Santa Monica city hosted “glow,” an all night event focused on artistic vision expressed through light. “Glow” took over the Santa Monica pier, the surrounding beach and the Palisades Park. “Glow” promised to be a great celebration of all the beauty that could be California, a huge public art event exploring and glorifying light on the beach we are so lucky to have. After I received the first email describing the event I knew I could not miss this. Judging from the massive attendance, I was not alone in this feeling. It was heart warming to see the Pier crawling with all members of the Angeleno community, swarming across the beach to the luminescent art installation and otherwise enjoying the perks that living beach side affords us. I myself was almost glowing with the community spirit that was pulsing through the event.

Yet in the midst of this celebration, the ugliness of the Angelenos reached the height of its grotesque parody of itself tonight. The beach and artistic vision soured when the glow sticks of one artist sprawling across the beach in imitation of the tide shift of the ocean was destroying by Angelenos tearing the glow sticks from their arrangement in the sand and stealing them away into the night or perverting their natural geometry with lewd shapes. The visionary artist was left to beg his glow sticks – his art – back from the thieves, many who simple refused. Where was the event staff to protect the project? I small band of preteen girls ran past me yelling at each other “Quick. Some guy’s collection them. Hide them.” They were each carrying an arm full of glowing sticks. Where were the parents to teach their children simple decency? Hours later as I left, disappointed that Frank Rozasy’s “Illumination Migration” was unable to be recreated, I still saw people carrying away these glow sticks. They were designed just for this event, and were easily differentiated from the slender glow sticks for sale. And where were the police when this all fell apart to at least aid this artist in retrieving his scattered art? I did not see them.

Unfortunately I did not see the art either. Not the way the creator intended. I saw the glow sticks mimicking the movements of the crowd instead of “mimicking both the movements of the tide and more specifically the grunion’s coming ashore and returning to sea.” All I saw was the ugliness of the people of Santa Monica and Los Angeles. And it made me sick.
As an artist myself, although a very different kind, I can understand the wrenching pain that tears deep into the stomach when a creative endeavor of this magnitude or of any size, is destroyed by the very people it was meant to inspire. I know it is too much to ask every single person involved in this travesty is apologize to Frank Rozasy. But I am asking that all pilfered glow sticks be returned to him. And I ask the entire Angeleno community to think next time before they so selfishly destroy the creativity of an individual and the opportunity for others to share in the experience of artistic expression.

You can reach Frank Rozasy at frank.rozasy@verizon.com

Callan Stout