Artwork
OrtaWater - Fluvial Intervention Unit
Lucy + Jorge Orta, 2005
- Ref: 1313
- Materials: Canadian maple wood canoe, steel structure, water network, 2 light projectors, gloves, 4 buckets, 4 crates, 4 water drums, 2 water tanks, 4 flasks, various objects, copper pipes and taps, audio MP3, speakers, 24 OrtaWater bottles
- Dimensions: 260 x 510 x 120cm
- Catalogued: Lucy + Jorge Orta: Food Water Life, Princeton Architectural Press, NY, pp.94-95; Lucy + Jorge Orta Antarctica, p15 & 47, Electa Italy; Lucy + Jorge Pattern Book, pp88-89, Black Dog Publishing, UK
- Exhibition history: 2005 Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venezia; 2006 Gallery Continua Beijing, China; 2007-2008 Natural World Museum, tour; 2008 awarded the Green Leaf prize for sculpture with an environmental message by the United Nations Art for the Environment Program
- Courtesy: Courtesy of the Artists
- Concept: Large organic structures, labyrinthian agglomerates of metal and tubing that evoke the circulation of a network of waterways that garland the planet. Organic glass and fabric extensions, orderly series of jerry cans and water bottles mounted on rudimentary vehicles, tricycles, canoes, boats, rickshaws... The artworks Lucy + Jorge Orta create stem from the idea that the imagination is a means of constructing the world and that the images we produce can help to model sustainable forms of development and possible new modes of coexistence. OrtaWater came to be because of the fact that the planet is thirsty. Water is the origin, the source of life. It is the fountain of youth. It is purity. It is everything: survival and well-being. And it is everywhere, around us and inside us. And yet a billion people suffer the tragic consequences of not having access to clean water. The number of countries in this situation is soaring. The sustainable use of the world’s water reserves requires their limited and efficient use and the equitable allocation of available resources –generally speaking, these things are not being done. Gabi Scardi extract from the publication Drink Water!
