The pen is may be mightier than the sword, but it proved mightier than the internal combustion engine too when a stunning art installation literally stopped traffic.
Spanish lighting wizards Luz Interruptus – whose Plastic Garbage Guarding the Museum we featured recently – were invited to Melbourne to recreate their dazzling work Literature vs Traffic, which they first created subversively in New York, as part of the Light in Winter festival. Sections of Federation Square were cordoned off and traffic withdrew to allow 10,000 LED-lit books to be safely laid out, creating a snow-like wonderland amid the usually sterile concrete.
The books were donated by the Salvation Army, having been deemed unwanted by public libraries, and a trickle became a river which took control of the square over the course of a month-long installation. Visitors to the festival were invited to take home the tome that took their fancy, and at the end of the project the books were given to passing drivers who slowed to check out what was going on.
BLAH
