Wherever you go, there it is.

All that plastic you use, have used. You tucked those bags into drawers, plastic bins, containers, closets, cupboards, and boxes. They propagate and spread themselves and take over rooms, and very soon your home is overflowing with them, bursting from the windows, nearly ready to cause the place to explode.

Or so it would appear in this installation in the middle of a fine shopping district of Essen in western Germany. During the recent Essen Light Festival the artist collective Luzinterruptus says their goal was to show in a dramatic way the effect of “our compulsive use of plastic in our daily lives.” Collecting bags and packing windows of this historic façade was tricky work requiring a sense of design and engineering construction so that it could glow from inside.

Ultimately, the team was satisfied, they say, because the installation “rendered the impression that the building was about to explode due to the pressure of the plastic stuffed in its interior.”

“The contrast between the traditional architecture and the colorful appearance of the windows generated an unsettling, though somehow beautiful, sight that brought to mind the lively stained windows of a cathedral with interior lights.”

The team would like to thank the volunteers who helped with this project, including Bigrit, Maren, Misha, Sanine, Nygam, Lukar, and Satya, “who worked with us during the entire process and offered us their kindness and companionship.” In addition, “We also want to thank the building owners for letting us intervene in their lovely edifice.”

238

138

45