Contemporary Art in Context: Luzinterruptus

Based in Madrid, Spain, the anonymous artist group Luzinterruptus stages monumental urban interventions that focus on political and environmental issues. Their name comes from the Spanish word for “light” (luz), and the Latin word interruptus, meaning “interrupted.” The group creates large-scale installations that use light to transform common objects like books or plastic bags into evocative, glittering artworks.

Spotlighting Ecological Issues
Luzinterruptus prefers to share their ideas directly with the public and people on the street. Their work prompts viewers to contemplate issues, often ecological, that concern the public. Major projects include Literature Versus Traffic, Plastic Waste Labyrinth, and Plastic Islands.

To create The Plastic We Live With, the group collaborated with Essen Light Festival volunteers and members of the community where it was installed (Essen, Germany). Luzinterruptus collected thousands of plastic shopping bags from local stores and citizens. The bags were then stuffed and installed in the windows of a building façade for ten days, taking on the quality of stained glass. The completed installation inspired awe in viewers while reminding the public of the ecological disaster caused by the tons of plastic thrown away every year, causing serious damage to the environment.

Art History: Urban Interventions
Luzinterruptus fits into the contemporary category of “urban intervention art,” which has grown enormously over the last twenty years, influenced by artists like Banksy who work anonymously to share messages about social justice, environmental responsibility, and politics. It can take the form of massive street murals or transform urban spaces that have been abandoned or neglected.

Other urban intervention art groups include Washed Ashore, founded in 2010 in Oregon, who create monumental outdoor collaborative sculptures composed of plastics recovered from beaches. Alain Guerra (b. 1968) and Neraldo de la Paz (b. 1955), two Cuban artists working in Miami, formed the creative partnership Guerra de la Paz in 2002. They create massive sculptural installations from recycled clothing.

ARTIST Q&A
What are some of the biggest influences on your work?
L: We started working inspired by urban art and guerrilla interventions, counter-advertising, situationist drifts, and performance art.

We also wanted to transfer our ideas and critical thoughts to the street—share them in a context away from the galleries—but we didn’t want to permanently leave pieces that would deteriorate the environment. So, we thought of making ephemeral works with light as an ally since once it goes out, it doesn’t leave the slightest trace on the landscape.

We find our true inspiration outside the world of art. We observe the reality that surrounds us, we are attentive to the news, and we walk often through the streets—all of this connects us with the world in which we live, and that’s what really makes our creativity flourish.

In addition, we look for the most basic everyday materials that abound around us and to which we don’t give importance, and thanks to the light [incorporated into the installations], they become magical and surprising.

We don’t feel very influenced by other artists—since 2008, we have followed a personal line of work in which we have mixed light with less noble materials. Today there are many people doing this, but we were pioneers fifteen years ago.

As a collaborative group, what is a typical art-making session like?
L: We don’t have regular meetings, but when we meet, it’s usually for coffee or wine to share ideas; as we have said, each of us in our daily routines spends time observing and learning about current events, and if we have come up with an idea based on this information, we shape it together.

Sometimes we discuss personal issues, dreams, [and] movie images that we also incorporate into our creative universe. Sometimes the piece is born with a very clear shape, and other more technically complicated ones we outline together, then we transmit the idea to our illustrators who return it to us materialized to add to our dossier.

Are all the plastic and plastic bags in your works used or recycled?
L: We put a lot of effort into making calls to obtain plastic waste for our pieces; it’s not an easy thing because people tend to quickly get rid of these objects and don’t want to save them for us. That’s why sometimes we have to resort to recycling companies that get them in large quantities, although it’s not easy to work with this material since in these recycling plants, the plastic waste is not separated and it’s usually all mixed up, broken, and dirty. But in the end, with a lot of effort, we usually get it.

Do you feel that the environmentally/socially concerned nature of your work outweighs the artistic value of your installations?
L: Not especially. In fact, not all of our works talk about the environment—we also deal with political issues, especially in our guerrilla actions, or we try to discover the beauty of bland objects and landscapes that, with light, acquire a more poetic dimension.

We don’t have such an absolutely exemplary artistic behavior as to be free from contaminating the environment with our actions—we travel by plane, we spend energy, we use some small materials made of plastic, etc. (If looked at through a magnifying glass of sustainability, we wouldn’t come out well.)

Also, most of the time, environmental activism is associated with gratuitousness and altruism, and for now we charge for our work that we try to do in the most professional way possible.

This doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re very interested in the environment, and it’s a recurring theme in our work. We think that putting the problem in front of people’s eyes in an artistic way that one could call aesthetic, helps people approach it without mistrust and without preconceived ideas, thus promoting dialogue and perhaps debate.

DISCUSSION
Show students examples of installations by Luzinterruptus, including The Plastic We Live With. Ask questions such as:

What visual aspects of this installation did you notice first? What stands out the most?
Do the colors or design remind you of other types of art or architecture?
What everyday materials can you identify?
What message do you think the artists want to share with this piece?
What would you think if you were walking through your neighborhood and unexpectedly encountered a piece like this?

STUDIO EXPERIENCES

Create a collaborative sculpture using only recycled plastic bags. What techniques can you use to create form from such a thin material?
Design a work of art that uses light as a primary material.
Create a 2D artwork inspired by a social, environmental, or political topic that you care about.
Work collaboratively to plan a “public intervention” artwork at your school or in your local community. Be sure you obtain the proper permission for the artwork before staging the work. What issues do you think your fellow students and community members should be paying attention to? How can an intervention get them to think about it?

Guerilla Plastic