GLOW: One Reporter's Opinion

The GLOW festival started at sundown Saturday night and didn't stop until after sunrise Sunday morning. The event was hosted by the City of Santa Monica and The Santa Monica Arts Foundation. It was sponsored by local businesses including The King's Head Pub as well as larger corporations.

There were various installations, performances and exhibits scheduled throughout the night, so the experience changed drastically as the event progressed. Earlier arrivals had many more entertainment options, such as the much-lauded Ferris Wheel Orchestra. Unfortunately for the early birds, there were also hassles like traffic, the crowd, and long lines.

For those of us arriving after midnight, the event was much more chill. Many of the rowdier people bailed at 2am when the liquor went away, leaving behind artists, hard-core "Burning Man" types, half-naked hippie chicks, the helplessly wasted and the very asleep. We spent most of the evening being serenaded by Machine Project's Pirate Lullabyes and being hypnotized by light installations. We didn't even make it to the May Company building. Only two more years until our next chance...

EX-SE-08, "an underwater grotto" was definitely one of the most popular installations of the evening, in spite of being hidden away in a dark area beneath the pier. Each inflatable sculpture contained tiny lights and fans. The digitally controlled effects would cause the sculptures to light up, inflate, and expand like magical creatures. Besides the giant squid/octopus shapes, there were tiny spinning sculptures and spiky creatures that were a little bit scary. (Elise Thompson)