Mini-Epicerie

Studio Orta - 0665

Date: 2015
Ref: 0665
Matériaux: Steel structure, 4 OrtaWater bottles, cast and lacquered aluminium, lacquered glass, tap, tube, wheels
Dimensions: 89 x 45 x 24cm
Exhibition history: 2019 non galerie Aline Vidal, Paris, France; 2016 City Gallery and Museum Peterborough, UK
Courtesy: Lucy + Jorge Orta

Vessels and containers have long appeared in Orta’s sculptures and installations —cloud-shapes sculpted from empty plastic bottles, jars of jam produced from gleaned fruit, and glass vials filled with clothes and flags— have all served important symbolic roles in their work. The cast aluminum jars, jugs, bottles, packages, and cartons in Épicerie, however, do not hold any contents, nor are they marked with significant texts or images. Rather, they are stripped of all labels and markings, revealing an aesthetic beauty born of functional design. Yet it is this absence that asks the fundamental consumer question: what about freedom of choice, if our purchases are made under the influence of seductive advertising campaigns?