Consumerist Christmas Tree – The tree made by thousands of plastic bags

Spanish art collective Luzinterruptus’ Consumerist Christmas Tree had been installed and was commissioned by Artichoke, for Lumiere, Durham 2013.

The concept behind the installation was to represent, in a symbolic and universally recognizable way, the over-consumption of plastic bags and, on the other hand, the squandering that typically takes place during the holidays, like Christmas or New Year.

The piece was carried out  with the collaboration of the nearby businesses, the residents associations and collages and took one week to complete all the process.

Many artists and volunteers then hung the stuffed bags on a 9-meter-high, cone-shaped structure in the Prince Bishops Shopping Centre plaza.

Christmas lights had transformed the heaps of trash into a neon, translucent Christmas tree, resembling the merger of a shopping spree and a family of jellyfish.

Furthermore, to illuminate the entire path that led to the tree, the artist hung some strings of lights that they covered with the leftover bags, turning simple low consumption light bulbs, into colorful garlands of light that brought to the street a festival-like environment.

Once the Holidays are over, all the plastics will be conveniently recycled and the structures will be reused.

Luzinterruptus is an anonymous artistic group, implementing urban interventions in public spaces. Light is an integral part of their work and is used to draw attention to social, environmental and political issues within cities and other environments. Although much of Luzinterruptus’ work has an element of activism, they also focus on highlighting forgotten and unused corners of urban spaces.

The photos belong to Photographer Gustavo Sanabria.

Source: http://www.luzinterruptus.com