Madrid | Luzinterruptus’ work vs. new ‘Gag Law’

Luzinterruptus set up ephemeral work in Madrid against new Spanish ‘Gag Law’

On July 1st, the Spanish Parliament approved a law, entitled “Protection of Public Safety Bill” aimed to restrict some basic rights, such as freedom of assembly, speech, and information, for anti-terrorism purposes.
The law, dubbed “ley mortaza” (gag law), has been widely criticized in Spain; deemed by many unconstitutional, it is now under scrutiny by the Constitutional Court, but nevertheless fully in action.

The very same day the law came into force, the art group Luzinterruptus put one of its ephemeral installations in a public square in the Vallecas neighborhood of Madrid, to express its disagreement with the new law. Not by chance the square’s name is “Plaza de la Constitución”.

The installation, ironically entitled “The Government Doesn’t Give a Shit About the Spanish Constitution”, was composed of LED lights, semi-transparent toilet seats, and copies of articles of the Spanish Constitution related to the use of public space, the freedom of speech, and the basic rights of all citizens.
The intervention had also another scope; due to the new law, now it could be indeed considered an offense in itself, and its authors were legally prosecuted, thus it promptly demonstrated what the consequences of the new legislation really will be.

Luzinterruptus is a Spanish anonymous group, famous for its use of light and dark as means of artistic expression.
The group, one of the most interesting around, was founded in Madrid in 2008 and is renowned for its short-term urban interventions, that often live for only a few hours, or even less.
Differently from other “unorthodox” art collectives, Luzinterruptus always shows great respect for those public spaces which are the stage for its works, both because they deem them a “scarce resource” that somehow needs to be preserved, and to leave a “blank canvas” for intervention by others.

All images courtesy of Luzinterruptus