luz interruptus: 1000 poems by mail

‘1000 poems by mail,’ created by luz interruptus

spanish interventionist collective luz interruptus leaves their normal canvas of the urban street to unite literature, light, and  public space in ‘1000 poems by mail.’

the installation was created for the ‘2010 poetas por km2’ spanish poetry festival in madrid, spain. 1,000 white envelopes were hung throughout the garden of la casa de américa, each of which contained a small light and a poem specifically written for the event by one of 17 poets.

the lit envelopes illuminate the garden space

for three days, the filled envelopes illuminated the space, which was also the site of poetry readings and performances. on the last night, the envelopes were offered to the public to keep or send along to a loved one. tables and pens were available for the envelopes to be addressed, and following the festival, luz interruptus quickly mailed out the collected poems, which continued to be illuminated in the envelopes by their lights.

full view of the installation

the 1000 poems remained hung for three days

in addition to providing a multisensory backdrop in which to experience the poetry festival, the installation sought to reafford a place of importance to the written word and to traditional letters.

detail view of the envelopes

the seventeen poets who contributed to the project are ajo, peru saizprez, mayra oyuela, javier de la rosa, javier nadie, la más bella, raúl zurita, julián herbert, reynaldo jiménez, emila persola, héctor avellán, linda wong, eduardo scala, pep gómez, maria eloy-garcía, josep pedrals, and gabriel vallecillo.

after the festival, people could address the envelopes, and luz interruptus mailed them still lit to their recipients