Those who’ve passed by Santa Monica Pier on Thursday nights might have noticed some of its newest additions: glowing neon balloons—some looking like stalagmites, others slightly phallic in shape—gently swaying in the ocean breeze.
They are, of course, art. The installation is part of the Pier’s Thursday night summer concert series, presented by the Santa Monica Pier and Snapchat, which garnered a reputation early on as a presenter of weiners. The piece, titled Light Wave, is by FriendsWithYou, a pair of artists whose work spans a variety of media and has appeared at Miami’s big art celebration, Art Basel.
According to a press release for the installation, the LED-lit installation, "transforms with the sunset from vivid forms into illuminated landscapes" and rises to heights of up to 45 feet. The neon sculptures were intended to undulate along the coastline like a wave.
Because it is part of the concert series, the large-scale art piece is put up every Thursday for that week’s concert, then taken down later that night, when the event is over. Light Wave first went up in July, when the concerts began, and will last until the series ends September 8.