BICENTENNIAL “BIRTHDAY” PROPOSAL - 1979

In 1979, Van Sant was asked by the Los Angeles Bicentennial Commission to propose a public artwork to mark the bicentennial of the founding of the city of Los Angeles (September 1981). After some difficulty coming up with an idea, he was inspired by the sight of sunlight reflected off the tall buildings of downtown Los Angeles and a satellite photograph that registered reflected sunlight as white light.

The final proposal involved, firstly, enrolling the most significant players in US earth and space science and technology as participants in the project. These included NASA, the US Geological Survey, the City of Los Angeles Survey and Earth Resources Satellite Data Processing Center, and scientists at Stanford Research Institute. Secondly, the design, mass-production, and distribution to all LA schools, of an accurate mirror station.

The plan was this: at a pre-arranged time, using co-ordinates published in that day’s Los Angeles Times, the schools would simultaneously calibrate their mirror stations to reflect sunlight back to the LANDSAT-2, which was orbiting at a height of approximately 600 miles, systematically collecting images of the Earth usingmultispectral scanner sensors. Because the sensors registered reflected sunlight as white light, the resulting LANDSAT image of Southern California would have seen Los Angeles “lighted up like a giant birthday cake.” [1]

To provide proof of concept, Van Sant conducted a successful demonstration project titled Reflections From Earth in June 1980. However, although the Bicentennial Committee was “ecstatic” about the proposal, the project never came to fruition due to lack of funds. [2] As Van Sant explained, “in August of 1980, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 1984 Olympics to the City of Los Angeles. Donors for the Bicentennial Celebration evaporated in favor of the ’84 Olympics.” [3]