From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
The Retablo Boxes of 0, Lima
For the Andean tradition, see Andean weaving adaptations. For Beach Surgery's architectural symbolism, see Rico the Architect.
A twelve-box retablo installation interpreting Beach Surgery through the Peruvian retablo tradition — painted wooden narrative boxes traditionally depicting saints or miraculous events, here depicting moments from the novel's two halves. The artist remains unidentified in fandom records; most sources refer to the work as "the 0 series" or "the null boxes."[citation needed]
Each box renders one moment in vivid acrylics on wood, domestic-scale, frontal perspective. The innovation lies in their architectural relationship: rather than standing independently, they interlock and nest, forcing viewers to move physically through the installation to see each scene — a material analogue to Chapter 1's traverse across parallel wires.
The twelfth box contains only red dust and an empty surgical kit, referencing Katita's makeshift clinic. Visitors report the box's contents alter between viewings, though documentation is inconsistent.[citation needed]
Retablo tradition anchors the story in Andean material culture: the form's devotional, folk-sacred register (saints replaced with Leif and Katita) renders the narrative lived, domestic, spiritually urgent. This mirrors Rico the Architect's impossible interiors — architecture that breathes. The exhibition has travelled through Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia; current location unknown.