B Inspired: Light Interventions – Street Light Art

Based in the streets of Madrid, guerilla art duo Luzinterruptus, create a variety of temporary light installations aimed to highlight problems within the city. The duo is headed by an artist and a photographer who aim to use the artwork to create awareness of the social and environmental troubles that occur in today’s society.

The images above are taken from Luzinterruptus’ most recent piece which took place on May 15th at Plaza de la Cebada in Madrid. Consisting of numerous plastic cups and containers that have been filled with blue liquid and lit up, the piece represents the community swimming pool that was demolished in 2008, with a promise of a new pool that has yet to materialise. Plans for the area are now geared around a high-end entertainment centre and gourmet food marketplace which most local residents will be priced out of enjoying.

Luzinterruptus took their work to New York City and produced the above piece. The installation consists of 800 books with a light attached to each, aiming to replace traffic with literature.

The collective duo had this to say about their work;

“We began to act on the streets of Madrid at the end of 2008 with the simple idea of focusing people´s attention by using light on problems that we found in the city and that seem to go unnoticed to the authorities and citizens. But everything that we do does not have a subversive aim. Sometimes we simply want to embellish, or to highlight anonymous places or corners that seem special or objects to which we think extraordinary artistic value, although they have been left on the streets for unknown seasons, with artistic intention, by anonymous people.”

The above images are taken from an installation in which Luzinterruptus tried to encourage locals to use their bicycles as a preferable form of transport. To achieve this, the collective used the ‘annoying’ bollards that line the pathways throughout Madrid, assembling bicycle seats and safety lighting to them. The idea was to point out the overuse of the bollards, which have been placed to stop vehicles taking up parking space on the footpath.

Luzinterruptus have highlighted that this space could be used for public bicycle lanes, encouraging people to sit on them, thus making them realise that the room is ideal for vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles to travel together in harmony!

To view more of Luzinterruptus’ light installations then take a look at their website - www.luzinterruptus.com

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