You’ve probably seen these images already: books shining in the dark, filling entire streets, bringing calmness and magic to the hectic urban scenery.
These were pictures of book installations carried by an anonymous art group Luzinterruptus.
First performances, in Madrid and New York, were illegal, but the one in Melbourne, and now in Toronto, got all the permits.
The project is called “Literature vs. Traffic.” The group picks up a street or city area typically associated with noise, pollution, and traffic jams, and turns it into a place of quietness.
We want literature to take over the streets and conquer public spaces, giving passersby a traffic-free space for some time, and let them succumb to the humble power of the written word.
The Toronto “Literature vs. Traffic” installation was a part of Nuit Blanche Toronto 2016 and took place on September 30, 2016, on Hagerman Street, near Toronto City Hall.
The street was filled with over 10,000 books. They were donated by Salvation Army. It took the team of volunteers as much as twelve days to install little lights inside the books that made them magically glow in the dark.
“Literature vs. Traffic” installation in Toronto
Via Design Taxi.
