by Maria Sofou
German conceptual artist HA Schult created this stunning installation back in 2001.
For Love Letters Building, Schult sent out a call for love letters to the public in order to cover the facade of a former Berlin post office with them. His call received an overwhelming response, resulting to over 150.000 letters that ranged from brokenhearted to humorous – a letter read, “I can’t live without you. The loss feels deeper by the day. It is a pity you’re a cat.”. The artist used about 35.000 of the collected love letters to plaster the outside of the building in a colourful mass of paper, while 115.000 more were found inside.
Schult,best known for his piece Trash People, has been traveling the world for over 19 years with his ‘army’ of hundreds of human-sized figures constructed with cans, license plates, soda bottles and trash in general, calling attention to the massive consumption of Western society. For Love Letters Building he used purposeful documentation instead of unwanted detritus, creating a a beautiful piece that we absolutely love.
See for yourselves:
