Santa Monica Close up

What a bird!

Fabian Lewkowicz — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:01:00 +0000

A brown Pelican entertains pier goers on Monday, July 7, 2008, in Santa Monica. Pelicans are a large, gregarious aquatic bird of warm regions, allied to the cormorants and gannets. They are heavy-bodied, long-necked birds with large, flat bills. Pelicans are graceful swimmers and fliers, often seen flying in long lines or circling at great heights. The pelicans are indeed famous for their beaks, which they fill with huge gulps of water, strain out the liquid, and eat the remaining fish or squid. The California brown pelican is strictly an ocean bird.

"Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican!

His bill holds more than his belican.

He can take in his beak

Enough food for a week.

But I'm darned if I know how the helican."

Dixon Lanier Merritt

(1879-1972)

On One Leg

Fabian Lewkowicz — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:43:00 +0000

A Seagull stands on one leg at the Santa Monica Pier on July 18, 2008. Gulls (often informally Seagulls) are birds in the family Laridae. They are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls. They have stout, longish bills, and webbed feet. Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. The live food often includes crabs and small fish. Apart from the kittiwakes, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea.at the Santa Monica Pier on July 18, 2008.

Primal Source

Fabian Lewkowicz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:17:00 +0000

Primal Source by Usman Haque lights up the sky north of the Santa Monica Pier as part of the GLOW art festival on Sunday, July 19, 2008. Primal Source invites the public to participate in the making of the art, creating at once a spectacle to watch and a spectacle to join. Primal Source is an all-night performance/installation brought to life through the active participation of festival-goers. Located on the beach near the Pier, and making use of a large-scale outdoor waterscreen projection system, Primal Source will appear like a mirage, glowing with colours and ebullient patterns generated by the competing or collaborative voices, music and screams of people nearby.

Psychedelic art

Fabian Lewkowicz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:13:00 +0000

A guest checks-out the art installation EX-SE-08 (by Shih Chieh Huang) underneath the Santa Monica Pier during the GLOW Art Festival at on Sunday, July 20, 2008. An installation of common objects, such as water bottles and plastic bags, are transformed through light, air (directed by small fans), and fanciful constructions into an underwater grotto, at once enchanting and unnerving.

Illumination Migration

Fabian Lewkowicz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:12:00 +0000

Illumination Migration by Frank Rozasy glows on Santa Monica Beach during the GLOW Art Festival on Sunday, July 20, 2008. Comprised of 950 variously hued glow sticks, vertically set in rows of 20 each and creating a 60 x 120 foot form on the beach, the sticks will be continually moved, from back row to front row, mimicking both the movement of the tide and more specifically the grunion’s coming ashore and returning to sea

GLOW

Fabian Lewkowicz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:11:00 +0000

Guest examine a neon art piece Santa Monica Beach on during the GLOW Art Festival at on Sunday, July 20, 2008.

The Migration of the Marine Tumbleweed

Fabian Lewkowicz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:10:00 +0000

The Migration of the Marine Tumbleweed BY Greenmeme (Freya Bardell & Brian Howe) floats north of the Santa Monica Pier as part of the GLOW art festival on Saturday, July 19, 2008. Marine tumbleweed refers to the “trash vortex”, an area located in the Pacific Ocean and larger than Texas, composed of plastic bottles and other detritus from civilization.Tumbleweed will use recycled plastic bottles, aggregated and composed into large floating tumbleweeds, illuminated from within by LEDs and floated at varying distances from the Pier.

Dunnage Ball

Fabian Lewkowicz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:07:00 +0000

Guest of GLOW art Festival climb into Peter Tolkin Projects' Dunnage Ball at Santa Monica Beach on Saturday, July 19, 2008. Composed of 30 dunnage bags (used to isolate and stabilize cargo during transportation), a 22’ diameter molecular-like structure was internally illuminated and placed on the beach in the northern end of the Glow zone. The public can sit within it and gaze out to the ocean and beyond.

Moon Theater

Fabian Lewkowicz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:05:00 +0000

Moon Theater by Nova Jiang & Michael Kontopoulos is staged at Santa Monica Beach on during the GLOW Art Festival at on Sunday, July 20, 2008. Extending the common hand-shadow play of simple forms (i.e. the cast shadow of a rabbit), this project interjects the responsive capacity of specially constructed software to recognize basic forms and generate appropriate responses. For instance, if a visitor creates a rabbit form, the computer could trigger a response in which that form jumps off the screen, which will be in the shape of a full moon.

Nocturnal Affairs

Fabian Lewkowicz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:04:00 +0000

Caroline Maxwell from the Department of Nocturnal Affairs types up a report during the GLOW Art Festival at on Sunday, July 20, 2008. Located on Palisades Park, The Department of Nocturnal Affairs, DNA, was a fully staffed and furnished field office for the collection of information regarding the nocturnal wildlife in Los Angeles County in general and in the Glow zone specifically. The public was asked to report wildlife sightings to the DNA, reports were recorded and made visible for the public by posting on a map and those reporting sightings received a glow-in-the-dark sticker.