The Bay Lights Finally Turn On, and the Results Are Fantastic

The abstract, swirling patterns in Leo Villareal's titanic Bay Lights installation will inspire different mental pictures in different people. Some might see playing among the 1.8 miles of white LEDs the waves of the Pacific Ocean or the furious wildfires that plague California. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has already stated what he expects to divine amid the 25,000 individually programmed lamps: "For me, it's the mustache you'll see every night."

Lee gave the shout-out to his ultra-famous 'stache during a press conference Tuesday a few hours before the kickoff of the Bay Lights, the $8 million photon sculpture that will adorn the western span of the Bay Bridge for the next two years. (Or maybe longer, if people decide they like it there. Perhaps increasing its longevity chances, it will take three painstaking months to disassemble.) Enthusiasm was just pinging off the walls for the 9 p.m. lighting.