The Peacewheel

I grew up a child of the 1950s-60s. This generation began to question the validity of war as a problem solving tool. We were exposed in media, that an anti-war sentiment was a matter of great importance, especially through music. Society at large had evolved into recognizing the futility of war in a nuclear age. A metaphor developed to clearly define the concept. MAD, short for mutually assured destruction to the total annihilation of our species.

In some, myself included, it struck a cord to became a common theme worthy to pursue and expand upon. Peace in our time, and an end to war. This concept imprinted in me and became a theme often included into my artwork.

Herein is a short history to some of my peace themed activist art, and activities involved in making large peace signs. I used these idealistic artworks as a method for promoting peace into the public consciousness and into the media.

I have made many many peace based images in my art, but herein focus on what I initially called, the Peace-wheel. The first one I made was approximately 2002. I made it to roll in antiwar protests in Los Angeles in response to the Iraqi war. The peace wheels series were basically made with a metal armature of electrical conduit and fiberglass. They could be rolled like a large bicycle wheel.

The LA Peace-wheel was around 9 ft high and surrounded by green colored fiberglass. I rolled it in: downtown LA antiwar protests; an annual Topanga Canyon Memorial Day Parade; and at several Hollywood protest marches.

In September 2005 I flew to Washington DC to make a 2nd version of the Peacewheel and roll it in an antiwar protest. This one I call the DC Peace-wheel. It was made similar in construction, fiberglass and metal. But its colors were to be red brown black pinks biege and yellow, symbolizing the colors from all our differing races. We all want the same; peace in our time.

Arriving in DC airport on a Thursday, I rented an SUV and went to Home Depot to purchase needed supplies, conduit, oil paint and fiberglass materials. I had brought a jig saw and pipe bender and some tools with me on the plane. Having the ingredients together all I needed was a place to build it. I drove to Falls Church area and found a large church and large parking lot. Nobody was at the church, but behind the church I located electricity for the jig saw. I cut the metal and began shaping the wheel. By nightfall I had the metal armature finished, and slept in the parking lot of the church. The next morning when people came in to work I knocked on the door. The pastor, a lady, actually liked the idea of what I was doing and approved for me to finish what I started. I put plastic on the ground and finished fiberglassing the wheel. On Saturday I rolled it at the largest antiwar/peace protest to that date, ever held at the Whitehouse. On Sunday I left the Peacewheel with that church, and flew back to LA.

Meanwhile the wars kept going. In early 2006, the Iraq war was still in full swing with mounting fighting and increasing death toll. In May 2006 I decided that a Peacewheel could make a larger statement if it were attached to the Hollywood Sign, as a message for the world, that not everyone in America agreed with these continuing wars.

LAPD pretty much knew who I was in 2006. One time they had followed me home from some one of the antiwar protests I had participated in. Once I had led a parade protest for the group The World Can’t Wait, rolling 3 peace wheels, with 2 friends. LAPD just sat in their squad car looking at us, while we unloaded the peace wheels. Didn’t say anything, just watched and drove off. Good, they noticed.

Putting one on the Hollywood sign would not be a permitted action. It would never be approved by any government agency.

Along with the fact that I was a practicing attorney, I decided it would be best to do this on the QT, guerrilla style at night, under cover of darkness using stealth. So, I studied the situation and came up with a plan to put a Peacewheel onto the Hollywood Sign. The Y seemed a fitting place.

The Hollywood sign is kinda big, like 45 to 60ft tall from the ground to the top, and is not easily accessible. It has motion sensors on it, probably cameras, and will trigger police investigation. I did not really want to discuss the logistics of what I wanted to do with them.

So, the plan. I bought a small crossbow pistol, some fishing line, some rope and attached these to a tree limb shaped like a 3 pronged Y. Then I waited for the right time. I left the phone at home on May 12, 2006. It was on a Friday night during a rainstorm after midnight. Me with the partially dis-mantled peace-wheel lashed to the top of my Jeep, and drove out to the Burbank neighborhood close to where the Hollywood Sign was located.

I had to throw it over a fence and re-assemble the apparatus, and then rolled it about a quarter mile or so. You’ll never really appreciate the size of the sign until you’re standing under it at night.

I went behind the H-Sign and shot my crossbow arrow, attached with the fishing line, over the top of the Y character on the sign. It worked perfectly in retrospect, but at the time this was happening it was kinda frustrating. Finding that arrow at night in the rain, it took me awhile, like 15 minutes or so, to find that fishing line with the arrow attached. For a minute or 2 I thought this plan was going to be James Bond denied.

But, I’m stubborn. Finally, I located the fishing line, and then carried the Peacewheel around to the front of the Hollywood Sign. Then I attached the fishing line to the rope which was attached to the Peacewheel. One end of the rope was attached to the tree limb, and the other end to the peace wheel. I went around to the backside, and carefully pulled up on the whole contraption (good word choice). The fishing line attached to the attached to the…well you got it right?

Eventually, the arrow shaped part of the tree limb Y came over the back of the Hollywood Sign Y. Like an arrow goes in but does not come out. When I let some of the slack off to the fishing line, the weight of the Peacewheel pulled the contraption back towards the front of the Hollywood Sign. As planned, the Y branch of the tree limb, caught itself and got stuck in the large letter Y.

Yayyy happy dance time. The plan had worked. I cut the fishing line and started my trek back to the car. It was really dark and lonely, kinda scary out there. Maybe there were lions, tigers or bears out there, and or maybe more likely coyotes or big cats. Maybe more likely though, some nice LAPD policemen waiting for me at my car. But no, nothing, just me, quiet and light rain.

I went back several days later being careful to keep a long distance away and took some photos of the hanging feat. I did not seek out any recognition and was satisfied with the message the art was sending out. I stayed mum and LAPD probably had better cases to solve.

Someone on the internet alerted to a story CNN had done about defacing of the Hollywood Sign. Well, that’s the day I learned for myself 100% proof positive, our media are big liars. CNN had put their spin on what I had done claiming someone had “painted” aka, tagged, the Hollywood Sign.

That was the first time I knew for 100% that our media is un-willing to tell a clear and unbiased story.

CNN’s spin was that some lowlife peacenik had painted onto hugely popular Hollywood sign. Only a “criminal tagger” type would clearly be disrespectful to the owners and the public. The story the media put out was designed to denigrate the message. The message was Peace. There was no paint involved. It did no damage to the Hollywood Sign.

Why would they do that? Peter Paul and Mary song lyrics include a passage about how if you want to say a message about peace, it has to be stated in between the lines.

II dig, rock and roll music

I could really get it on in that scene

I think I could say somethin’ if you know what I mean

But if I really say it, the radio won’t play it

Unless I lay it between the lines”

Apparently nothing has changed.

Yes, in order to remove the Peace-wheel would not be easy, but all that needed to be done was to cut the rope or the tree part and drop it down. How they did it and and what happened to the artwork, I never found out. I never asked them to give it back.

Maybe now would be a good time. We need to have a conversation in this country why the promotion of war is all over out media 24/7. Money for war promoting nationalism patriotism this and that, parades, TV commercials with red white and blue contrails blowing out the ass of some triple jumbo bomber jets with girls with big pom pots bouncing into our living rooms on the TV. Money, how much you need son?

You want to have a promoted conversation about peace? Good luck. No time, no money, no deal. Boring doesn’t pay. Land of the Free. SAMO.

But, the wars kept going and I had more protesting to do, and thus needed a new Peacewheel so back to my story.

The next Peacewheel I designed was made with more fiberglass, and made to look like it was made out of large feathers. This was the Dreamcatcher Peacewheel. Its theme was for a Dreamcatcher to radiate out vibrations for peace.

It rolled at several protests in Hollywood 2005-2007.

I also made 2 other Peacewheels to go with the Dreamcatcher, which myself and 2 friends rolled at the DooDah parade in 2006-2007. For clarity, here is one of those versions which demonstrate how the Peacewheels work and roll. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8HkchJGmHw at 12:49 ish.

The Dreamcatcher Peacewheel and the other 2, evolved into a further manifestation, The Peace Machine Peacewheel, which I took to the Greenman Burning Man in September 2007.

The Burning Man artwork was an interactive art performance piece designed to kinetically roll across the landscape with its wind catching features. Here I combined 3 Peacewheel armatures together through a central axle. It was about 9 foot tall and about 40 inches wide.  It was made by combining three large peace signs together and joined by a center hub. There were also wind catching devices attached to catch the wind speed causing the large wheel to roll itself. It would stand up on its own, and in theory, propel itself.

I took it out on the “palaya” at the Burning Man of 2007, along with magic markers tied to the railings. The Burning Man theme that year was to promote Green Energy.

My concept was for a peace machine to be propelled by the wind and designed for the public to interact with it. The overall concept for this Dream Catcher Peace Machine, was that people would write on it, with the magic markers attached, expressly writing their dreams, or aspirations and wishes onto the apparatus. Think fortune cookie in reverse. You the actor are the author.

Its performance completion would be for it to roll off into the sunset like a Bogart movie, and disperse everyone’s wishes and dreams into the heavens. It was a good concept.

On the day that I got it assembled I had to roll it out to the palaya, a way from where my campsite was at Seventh and Kelp Forest.  So as I was rolling it through Center Camp, (Burn HQ) it started getting kinda windy. Then it turned into one of those infamous dust storms from hell, think of the one from Hallelugjah Trail.

Let’s just say that I found out that the wind catching devices were fully operational and I had to wrestle it to with it to keep it from crashing.  When I got close to center camp I found a pole to tie it to, while a dust storm was raging.  It was like a little cubby hole with a couch, where I could wait out the storm. It was so dusty I could not see the cars on the other side of the road about 10 feet away. The place  where I sat out the dust storm, and had tied the Peacewheel up to was at the radio station tower for the Burning Man.  As the dust began to settle, I began to roll the Peace Catcher out towards the Pole, and through the middle of Center Camp.

Although the wheel was somewhat damaged by the wind it still rolled. As the dust storm died down enough, I started to roll it through Center Camp on my way to the Palaya. The radio Burning man DJ’s started playing music and people started dancing and then the light changed.

At that time the most amazing thing happened.  The sky went from full darkly opaque dust, onto a bright dust filled light, and then into to a somewhat opaque blue sky. It went from dark dust storm from hell into a full on end to end, double rainbow within the time span of 10 minutes. I had never seen such a vivid rainbow as this, much less a double one.   Enclosed if you look closely you can see the the double rainbow and people reacting. I also included a photo of the dust storm from hell about 5 minutes before the rainbow photos.

Part of this idea for project was enlisting people to write their dreams, or affirmations, upon the device, as the Peace Catcher, also is a dream catcher.  It captures the wish in it that people wrote on it. The idea of the piece is that by making your wish, or affirmation, upon it,  would give a little power to the talisman, from the person making the wish, into this piece of art.  After the wish is stated upon it, the idea is that the winds will come and take this affirmation or wish, and disperse it to the cosmic consciousness and or heavens, or as you see fitting. 

The only criteria I told participants was to make a positive wish, or one that included peace as an ideal.

Later, that night, someone embellished the Peace Machine with solar powered Christmas lights. This was a perfect addition so it would be noticeable in the dark.

After the burn was over, I reassembled the contraption in downtown LA for the Decompression after-party. That’s the last time it was together.

My imagination wish is that the project did achieve its reason to exist. Perhaps these wishes still exists out there somewhere, and keeps making peace: worldwide.  It also stands on its own as a piece of sculpture. Eventually the sun took its toll and the fiberglass feathers disintegrated. This is not a bad thing. It would again arise in a new form.

The next iteration of Peacewheel rolled in Pasadena following the regular Rosebowl day parade in 2012. I called this the Greenwheel and added a the Green Sword of Peace attached to it. Occupy Wall Street made a large Octopus to parade as a counter to the usual Rose Bowl festivities. Their piece was about how corruption has so many tentacles to it. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/occupy-rose-parade-2012-277288/.

My idea was to battle with the Octopus with the Green Swaord of Peace, which was attached to the Peacewheel. It was symbolic for green energy disrupting and defeating the dirty energy industry to which the war industry is attached. During the parade the Occupy Octopus would stop at intersections and spin. I would symbolically fight the Octopus tentacles as it spun around in the intersection, with the Green Sword of Peace.

Because I was fighting the Octopus I wasn’t able to get photos until the end where the Octopus lay still. As it rested, I slew it then and there. Snicker.

It actually was a lot of work getting it done and I was sore the next day. I must have rolled that thing 5 or 6 miles by the time it was all over. Nobody ever said achieving peace would be easy.

Things were pretty quiet for the Peace wheels for some time after that.

In 2013 myself and a like minded Parisian artist friend, decided we would jointly produce an art show for peace in Paris France. For my part of the project, call it the Punk Pink Paris Peace-wheel. This one was to be different and designed to incorporate a French influence, the Eiffel Tower. I wanted to hang it from the Tower, but this was not meant to be.

I started the Paris version on the computer and printed it at home in San Diego. I put the coated papers into my suitcase for Paris. Upon arrival I bought additional supplies to make the armature, from metal paints, and wood. The printed and prepared paper covering was attached to it. Picture here.

Not all peace wheels are the same, and this one was smaller a little over 7 ft high. As for the plan was to suspend it from the Eiffel Tower, I found it was well guarded 24-7. No midnight approaches were viable.

My friend suggested we could take it to the Paris Peace-wall. What’s that? https://www.travelfranceonline.com/mur-de-la-paix-wall-peace/

It turned out to be the most perfect venue for doing a peace performance action. First we did a joint gallery art showing at my friends apartment/gallery space in downtown Paris. I was showing photos of the previous peace wheel projects, along with the newly made one, for the Paris exhibit.

After the showing, I had planned to take it, the Punk Pink Paris Peace Wheel folded into 2 sections, onto a city bus, and re-assemble it when I got to the Eiffel Tower. So off we went to catch a bus.

Well, the bus driver looked at me and asked where I was going, (in French of course) and I told him to the Tower. Not on that thing on this bus, was his reply. It would have fit easily in my mind, maybe a little twisting and turning but, hey plans change right? Be water.

The friend acquantences I was with said it’s too far to walk. My reply was just tell me the way to go. Did I mention I can be stubborn? So, off we all went. As it turned out this was way shorter of a walk than Rose Parade project had been.

So, when we arrived at the Peacewall, it turned out there was a Michael Jackson revival going on, complete with impersonators, tunes and dancing revelers. We were well received. Local Parisians were invited to write their own affirmations and dreams on this interactive Peacewheel artwork. Picture here.

As the day turned to dark I had to decide what to do with it. I removed the skin from the armature and carried it in my lap when we went back on a bus. I put it in a box and flew back home to San Diego the next day.

It remained in that box until 2023 when Israel/Gaza war happened. From the idealistic viewpoint I be, war is abhorrent, outdated and should be abolished. I decided it was time to go once again to the bat cave, and to get it out of its box. I lay it in the yard and began reworking it to fit the armatures from earlier Peace Wheel projects where I did the Doo/Dah Parade in Pasadena. I needed to resize the Punk Pink Paris project and fit onto one of these old armatures. It took months to get it ready to roll again.

When it was ready to roll I took it to the Super Girl Pro surfing contest in Oceanside in 2024 as an interactive art piece. I invited the public to again write their dreams and aspirations onto it.

It was named the Paris/Oceanside Peoples Dream Catcher Peacewheel.

This is the one that is now before us. I am proposing to mount this outside of the the San Diego Peace Center. The plan is to mount it where it can be seen from afar, and for the night-time, to add some solar power string lights.

I invite the public to again participate by adding their own wishes and dreams. The more wishes go into its making the more power it has as a talisman, sending out vibrations in this world we live in.

War is a thing which requires action. Peace is no different, it’s not just the absence of war. It’s a positive assertion we need to generate. Its an action verb and just Yin has its Yang, it needs to be manifested into existence

Im sure there are those who doubt my the validity of my assertions, that my actions are valueless, and a non starter. Peace in out time is impossible right?

But, it’s a free world, so we are told. I am practicing my freedom and raising my voice into the consciousness to generate an ideal into existence. Peace can be achieved but we need more people to stop what they are doing and do something about causing it to happen.

If you see a speeding car with your children heading towards a cliff, should you just watch it go over, or try to stop it. That is obvious to me, how about you?

I am just an instigator for peace and you are the actors which manifest it. Bring colored magic markers. We need more peace makers in this world if we want our species to survive. It’s not really that complicated. Join us.

Any questions?

Sincerely,

Stephen F. Gary Esq.

CC: Audit Unit

Enclosure: Notice of hearing w/fax