Last night Los Angeles was host to a beautiful symphony of destruction courtesy of Mark Pauline's Survival Research Laboratories (SRL). SRL was started nearly 30 years ago, and consists of artists and creative technicians dedicated to re-directing the techniques, tools, and tenets of industry, science, and the military away from their typical manifestations in practicality, product or warfare. The show was pure carnage - all robots and fire billowing from the downtown arts district near the 4th street bridge, just south of SciArc. The sleeping giants began to thrash about, spew fire, shoot cannons and systematically destroy one another until there was nothing left but smoldering piles of ashes, twisted metal and mutilated faux goats. It was beyond amazing (and unbelievable they did it in the middle of a public street). I managed to snap lots of pictures from my vantage point, but you really get a good sense of the experience from the movies on the SRL web site. Thank you organizer Susan Joyce, Dangerous Curve, Mark Pauline and SRL!