You can't beat free when it comes to city sponsored art shows, especially
when they're held on the atmospheric Santa Monica Pier.

From sundown to sunup the pier was host to a multi-exhibit rave of lasers as well as an impromptu Bohemian crowd. After looking for parking for an hour and shelling out some serious green, the neon beacon of the pier's ferris wheel was a warm glow of alternating track lights. Not the same old wheel with weenie blink lights flickering meekly in the wind, this wheel featured pimped out orchestrated orbs of every imaginable shade.

Plenty of families milled alongside tripped out pot-heads in awe of the floating pods of light on the choppy dark waves while underneath the pier a
techno-colored school of suspended jelly fish balloons inhaled and
exhaled to a variety of house and trance music.

But up close and personal the mystical creatures looked more akin to clear Glaad trash bags than beasts from any abyss, with each exhalation of O2 making the deflated baggies shine like reclamation kitsch via Pavilion's.

For the event's first year running, these enchanted blow up cranes were a fun design with an oceanic pulse, a theme maintained in other installations like the exhibit that was a gigantic semi-circle spray of water. The wall of water captured holographic displays of neon tie-dye and interwoven fabric while an amazing array of techno beats and samba sounding jam sessions took over the pier.

The art was beautiful but only a drug induced haze could keep the party going after the music shut down at one and a majority of peeps fled for the warmth of their homes. The small crew that remained till the end probably enjoyed the crisp air and satisfying taste of a sausage egg McMuffin, but nothing short of MDMA could keep most people interested in a glorified light show without sound till 7am.