One of my favorite urban art collectives, Luz Interruptus of Madrid, Spain, recently did a lovely installation called Recuerdos Enjaulados or Caged Memories that included their first ever public participation. Typically their installations are more of the guerilla nature.

On a sunday in the Plaza de Ministriles in Madrid where the collection would be installed, the art collective invited te neighborhood out to participate by bringing little mementos which would be placed inside the cages to be hung in the plaza. Many people joined in the festivities with music, dancing and a warm breakfast in the middle of a community street that was closed down for 5 hours during the event. In the end over 300 items were collected ranging from the spontaneous to the emotional that would act as a representation of the community as a whole, helping to bring these people together and instill a personal atsmophere into the space.

The items were each individually placed in golden cages and hung over the plaza like strings of lights. At night they would be illuminated to convert the previously gray plaza into a beautiful place where people could gather under the light and enjoy the warmth and the sentimental nature of the space. The cages were scheduled to be hung for 20 days, half at the end of 2009 and the other half into the beginning of the new year.

An unusual thing happened after the installation was complete, it snowed a great deal and covered the plaza with a blanket of white and filled the cages. The look was beautiful. But unfortunately, the weight of snow caused a few of the cages to fall. The installation had to be taken down and reinstalled once the snow disappeared. Above are some photos of the beautiful snow-filled plaza on the night of the first snowfall and below are images of the completed installation as looks lit at night after being reinstalled.

images via Luz Interruptus