byoprojects:

Luzinterruptus is an anonymous art collective that builds installations in public spaces using “light as raw material and the night as our canvas”. The group uses their creativity to protest or bring attention to issues that are affecting public spaces. They primarily install in Madrid, but have created pieces in other big cities as well. Their goal with each installation is that it will convey a message to passers by without the need for instructions.

Luzinterruptus gets their ideas for installations in the problems they encounter in their “daily wanderings” that may have been overlooked. They create their work spontaneously and clandestinely and make a great effort to use simple, recyclable material. The installations are left for pedestrians to interact with, and every attempt is made so that the piece is not overly invasive or damaging to the space.

One project that particularly touched me is “Agua potable corriendo por las calles” or “Drinking water running through the streets” from January 2012. Over the past 30 years in Madrid, more than 50% of the public fountains have become dismantled, broken, without a tap, or dry. The city used to be full of fountains, but now in order to drink water when out in Madrid, one must buy a bottle or go into a bar. Today to find a fountain in very warm Madrid, one must walk more than 5 kms (3 Miles).

Luzinterruptus wished to “criticize the indifference of the administration in regards to a necessary public service” through this piece. For four months they collected empty glass bottles of the supplement Infatrini – which was keeping a friend’s sick daughter alive. They installed these bottles, filled with light, on four unused public fountains in the center of the city – bringing them back to life for a night with luminous “streams of water”. They wanted to say that “water is necessary for life” and that drinking fountains are “necessary and beautiful”. View more amazing images here »>

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How is this project making the world a better place?

Work like this that highlights public issues in beautiful ways is making the world a better place. It supports citizens who may not have a voice and offers a peaceful and beautiful alternative for speaking up about issues that affect the public.

Who is the intended audience?

Anyone who is interested in the intersection of art + design and public issues. Also, citizens and government officials of cities where Luzinterruptus has installed work.

How can our readers extend the impact of this project?

Follow updates on new work by Luzinterruptus here and think about alternative ways of making your voice heard on issues that matter to you in your own city.

images from http://danweinrich.com/

byoprojects:

Thank You For Coming (TYFC) is a new restaurant/hang-out project in Los Angeles, CA that will change the way that staff, patrons, and managers interact with food and space. Featuring a collaborative and participatory management style and residency program TYFC will give staff and citizens an opportunity to exercise their diverse interests, desires and skills including cooking for the public, farming, and experimenting with the space.

We hope to open later this spring, and we are currently seeking funding through our kickstarter campaign and resources to get TYFC off the ground. 

Introducing THANK YOU FOR COMING from Jenn Su on Vimeo.

It’s not just our management structure that encourages participation - we’ve designed an unpartitioned, open floorplan for TYFC to encourage interaction with all processes and functions, ranging from kitchen chatter to cooking to bookkeeping. Eaters will sit on one side of a shared counter, while cooks utilize the opposite side as a prep surface. Ingredients will be grown in container gardens that are adjacent and easily accessible to the kitchen, promoting activities like picking and cooking your own foods. Additional seating will be around a communal table that spans the length of the room and a continuously updated display board will communicate the restaurant’s current resource needs (e.g. ingredients, help wanted, money), as well as display opportunities for participation, such as upcoming events and residency openings. The plan allows for easy adaptation and transformation of the space into temporary, and often simultaneous environments for events, performances, classes, informal meetings and other types of ad hoc activities.

1) How does this project make the world a better place?

TYFC is about hanging out and having fun and connecting with friends and strangers and aspires to:

• inspire people to actively participate in all aspects of running the space, providing opportunities they may not have otherwise had
• help people engage in meals differently (e.g. by cooking themselves, bartering a skill for it, harvesting and foraging their own ingredients, or eating with new tools) giving them a deeper understanding of the foods they consume 
• nourish
• be transparent about how the restaurant operates, including where the food comes from, how much it costs, how it is made, and who prepares it
• learn how to cook feed better 
• be a place where people aren’t afraid to come alone
• create collaborative relationships; encourage people to come back again and again
• realize a low-impact, low-resource system through growing food on-site, composting, recycling and reusing salvaged materials and equipment whenever possible

2) Who is the intended audience?

Anyone who’s game — seriously! We definitely want to involve local residents and neighbors as much as we can. We’re super psyched about the friends we’ve already made in the neighborhood — we already have a regular named Vincent who drops in on us everyday asking us when we’re going to be open! He has been a great source of motivation and inspiration and we look forward to fostering more of these interactions. 

3) How can our readers extend the impact of this project?

We are currently seeking funding through our kickstarter campaign and resources to get it off the ground — we need help getting the word out and help connecting to folks who are interested in helping and being a part of the project. A big part of our process has to do with getting and staying inspired, and we are open to all kinds of ideas, suggestions, and feedback!