In Toronto, they throw books in the street and call it art to make a statement about congested traffic.
“We want literature to take over the streets and conquer public spaces, freely offering those passersby a traffic-free place which, for some hours, will succumb to the humble power of the written word.”
They laid down this artistic installation on one of the city’s busiest streets.
“Thus, a city area which is typically reserved for speed, pollution and noise, will become, for one night, a place for quietness, calm and coexistance illuminated by the vague, soft light coming out of the lighted pages.”
During the exhibit, people walked on the books, took pictures of themselves on the books, and took most of the books home with them. I don’t know whether Toronto’s traffic congestion has changed since receiving this smite from the humble word.
You have to realize that this was the land of the Art Strike, where a bunch of artists no one was aware of loudly announced that they would produce no art, as a protest against art’s cultural unimportance. Nobody who wasn’t participating noticed at the time, or afterwards.
That’s hilarious. Even if you just made that up, it’s funny.