Illuminating 'Literature vs. Traffic'
John Hill
25. October 2016
Photo: Lola Martinez, via Luzinterruptus
As part of the eleventh edition of Nuit Blanche Toronto, which took place the first night of October, the anonymous art group Luzinterruptus covered a street with softly illuminated books, the latest iteration of their Literature vs. Traffic installation.
Through Literature vs. Traffic Luzinterruptus "want literature to take over the streets and conquer public spaces, freely offering those passersby a traffic-free place which, for some hours, will succumb to the humble power of the written word." It was the fourth time the group installed the piece, but only the second one with legal permits in place.
The installation consisted of 10,000 books donated by the Salvation Army. As the short film below shows, revelers could take home the books, in effect recyling the installation and spreading the idea of words over cars.
Given that Luzinterruptus contends they "use light as a raw material and the dark as our canvas," it is not enough to just place the books on a street. Punctuating them with small lights that glow softly behind the pages allows the installation to take on a more ethereal character at night and express the "light of knowledge."
Photo: Lola Martinez, via Luzinterruptus
Photo: Lola Martinez, via Luzinterruptus
Photo: Lola Martinez, via Luzinterruptus
Photo: Lola Martinez, via Luzinterruptus
Volunteers installing the lights (Photo: Luzinterruptus)
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Illuminating 'Literature vs. Traffic'
on 10/25/16