When our friends at KCRW told us about an upcoming contemporary art event called GLOW, which is inspired by Paris' all-night cultural festival, Nuit Blanche, and grunion, at first all we could think about was that cheesy romantic scene from "Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead." Ah, good ol' Christina Applegate.

But then we snapped back to the current decade and discovered that GLOW is a free event taking over the Santa Monica Pier on Saturday, July 19 from 7p.m. to 7a.m. that will feature 20 interactive multimedia art installations (like a revolving orchestra on the Ferris wheel, floating recycled "tumbleweed" sculptures illuminated by LEDs, an ambient sound project on the carousel) music by KCRW DJs and much more.

The point of all this aesthetically-pleasing fun? To invite exploration and play, while encouraging the audience to abandon their usual sleeping patterns to stay awake all night—just like back in college during exams week. Among the internationally-known artists participating in this unique event: Usman Haque, a London-based talent who recently created an airborne sculpture constructed of 1,000 helium balloons for the 2006 Singapore Biennale and Shih Chieh Huang, a New York-based artist who is transforming the area under the Pier into a Neptunian lair.

In other words, the slate is so exciting that we bet this time around you're not going to need all that Starbucks to stay awake!

For more information please visit www.smgov.net/smarts/glow.

- Caroline Stanley

Similar Topics:art, evnt, Santa Monica

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