Radioactive Control: LuzInterruptus Haunts Dockville Festival with Ghostly Nuclear Figures

Anonymous artist group <a href="http://www.luzinterruptus.com/" target="_blank">LuzInterruptus</a> rattled the crowds at Hamburg's Dockville Festival with a haunting installation that reminds us of the dangers of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nuclear-reactor-in-maryland-damaged-by-hurricane-irene/" target="_blank">nuclear power</a>. The Spanish collective is known for creating guerilla <a href="http://inhabitat.com/geek-alert-led-light-paintings-created-by-roomba-robot-vacuums/roomba-led-light-art-ibroomba-7/" target="_blank">LED light</a> installations throughout the streets of Madrid that they call "interventions." Their work often features slightly illuminated everyday materials and figures that would otherwise go unnoticed.

This particular intervention titled "Radioactive Control" consists of 100 decontamination suits propped up like <a href="http://inhabitat.com/farmadelphia/" target="_blank">scarecrows</a>, each illuminated with tiny LED lights. The arrangement of suits forms what looks like a small army.

Certainly an artistic intervention, the piece literally sheds light on the hazards of nuclear energy. The harrowing presence of these figures encourages reflection and thought about the consequences of using nuclear power and how <a href="http://inhabitat.com/e-coli-cleans-up-nuclear-waste-cheaply-efficiently/" target="_blank">radioactive waste </a>can and has invaded our environment.

The installation is set against a rural landscape and has a haunting effect on visitors, who can walk through the arrangement and immerse themselves in the formation, standing face to face with the figures. They may wonder if this could be <a href="http://inhabitat.com/obama-announces-8-billion-in-loan-guarantees-for-nuclear-power/" target="_blank">our future</a>, and whether we should get used to seeing this?

Irony does not fall short of this project however, as Germany was the first developed country to announce the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/germany-to-completely-phase-out-nuclear-power-by-2022/" target="_blank">abolition</a> of nuclear power by the year 2022.

The project also has an ironic edge, as, as Germany was the first developed country to announce the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/germany-to-completely-phase-out-nuclear-power-by-2022/" target="_blank">abolition</a> of nuclear power by the year 2022.

The illuminated figures could also be seen as a sort of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/911-memorial-uses-green-design-to-create-a-place-of-remembrance/" target="_blank">vigil</a> for those lost in nuclear disasters. The sheer number of radiation-related deaths is something difficult to ignore.