A river of 10,000 glowing books flooded the streets of Toronto

Literature lovers will agree that books are beautiful whether they’re lined up alphabetically on book shelves, or stacked high on a coffee table. So imagine the magical scene that took over Toronto on September 30. As part of the city’s Nuit Blanche festival – a free, city-wide celebration of contemporary art – the streets were flooded with glowing books. Literature Vs Traffic was created with the help of volunteers to transform a street normally packed with cars and lorries with a 100,000 donated books. According to the artists, Luzinterruptus, the books represent the ‘conqueror of public space with traffic yielding to the modest power of the written word’. Luzinterruptus is an anonymous artistic group from Madrid whose work centers around urban interventions in public spaces using light. They often use donated or waste material to highlight various social and politic issues. At the end of the evening, people were then able to take one book away with them – signifying the installation recycling itself. In an age where iPads and Kindles are replacing our reading of traditional paper backs, the book river is supposed to ‘honour their enlightening power and celebrates the texture of the paper books’. ‘In the end, the river of lit books will provide a lasting memory for the audience,’ the collective say. ‘The book they bring home and the memory of the transformation will change their relationship with the street.’ Luzinterruptus, please come to London. You can see more of Lola Martinez’s photography on her website. http://ift.tt/2bRY3RH | Metro News via IFTTT

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