Artists Launder Government Waste

Madrid-based art collective, Luzinterruptus, has struck again.

Their project, Colón Washes Whiter, is comprised of 50 illuminated laundry detergent containers constructed into a towering monument in the middle of Madrid, and critiques the Spanish governments expenditure of $5.3 million to move a public sculpture of Christopher Columbus a few meters away. The monument was moved in 2009, at the height of the economic crisis.

Keep in mind that in the Spanish language, “Colón” refers to Columbus, as in Christopher. It is also the name of a laundry detergent that allegedly provides a whiter wash than other laundry soaps. Incidentally, if we were to write “Colon” without the accent mark we would have the anatomical body part. Nice.

What was wrong with the previous location, you ask? Nothing.