Unexpected visitor surprises Art & Nature light show

The UFO made it more interesting.

Not long after Saturday’s Art & Nature laser show started on Main Beach, the “UFO” missile launched from a Navy submarine, painting the sky with a mysterious blue and white streak amid a fog-like shroud.

Even the laser show guys turned to each other as if to say, “What the heck?”

Officially, the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs conducted a Trident II (D5) missile test flight at sea from the Kentucky, an Ohio class submarine, in the Pacific Test Range.

Unofficially, it was a UFO that fit perfectly with the surreal laser light show, which resembled a 1960s psychedelic concert. With Gregorian chants playing in the background, artist Laddie John Dill beamed various colorful patterns onto the sand from the cliff near Las Brisas, courtesy of the Laguna Art Museum.

“You don’t know the red tape I had to go through to arrange this with the Navy,” Dill joked after the show. “A lot of people asked me if that was part of the show, and I said, ‘Well, it looks like it is.’”

Dill said his crew was so preoccupied with executing the beach maneuvers that it took them a minute to see to the missile — and even then they were stumped.

“They thought there might have been something wrong with the lens for a second,” Dill said. “They were concentrating so much on getting the program right that they never noticed it at first. We thought it was bouncing off and then maybe hitting a fog bank coming in or something like that. But no such luck.”

Meanwhile, back on the beach, Dill’s show focused on two primary elements. The first was a single green beam that hugged the water’s edge, so when a wave broke on top of the light, the ray seemingly scattered across the surf.

The second was the laser patterns that flickered on the beach like spirographs.

The show itself was carefully choreographed to the chants that set a somber musical background. Some people grumbled about the monotony, wondering if it was ever going to pick up. But it was never intended to be a ‘70s disco party.

“Disneyland is better,” said one elderly man, who clearly liked to hear himself complain. Throughout the event, he announced — a little too loudly — how he felt.

Confused about the psychedelic lights, he likened it to a generation he probably never appreciated the first time around.

“We could have Timothy Leary explain it but he’s dead,” he said, laughing at his own comment.

“Honey, shh,” his wife said, sensing the glares around her.

Dill said he never pays much attention to people who don’t even try to understand the artistic concept.

“You don’t. If you did, you’d get so depressed,” he said. “Try to do anything and you’re going to get some naysayers. I don’t make any apologies for it. It was just pure sensual. The connection with nature was obvious, from sand to water and all that. But after that, it was just pure sensuocity and beautifulness.”

There’s no doubt the museum’s free annual Art & Nature project is popular with the public. The cliff and beach area were packed with onlookers.

The combination of art and nature is compelling for a reason. Ever since artists started drawing in caves, art and nature have been symbiotic partners.

Dill said his favorite part was the green laser in the water.

“When I first did it, I couldn’t believe it was so effective,” he said. “I thought it would change it a little bit, or mess up the line or something, but I didn’t realize that it would look like the line would hold in it. It looked like the line was traveling down the wave. So it was like this last burst of energy that occurred.”

Dill had to jump through several jurisdictional hoops to get the show approved. Originally, he wanted to use glass neon tubes in the sand, but the proposal was denied.

Finally, after months of preparation with the help of partners Jon Robertson of Laserium and artist Jack Barnhill, Dill felt happy with the result.

“I’ve never done a performance quite like that,” he said. “The finale was made almost exclusively for people on the beach. The people were enveloped with this roar of color that had the illusion of coming out of the sea and just rushing up the beach.”

The people on the beach seemed to enjoy the show, especially the children who chased the lights like kittens. A few waded into the surf to try and touch the green laser, giddy over the possibility.

With shows like this, it’s about sparking the imagination. And what better way to do that than dancing rainbows of color and a UFO for good measure.

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.