Connector Mobile Village VI - Makrowear
Date:
2000 - 2002
Ref:
0706
Materials:
Aluminium coated polyester, reversible Solden Lycra, open cell polyurethane, portable solar panel, silkscreen print, zips
Dimensions:
690 x 340cm
Catalogued:
Cover / pp60,61 Lucy + Jorge Orta Pattern Book, Black Dog Publishing UK 2007; p 119 Lucy + Jorge Orta, Antarctica, Electa Italy 2008
Exhibition history:
2013 Hangzhou Fibre Triennial, China; 2005 University of Brighton Art Gallery, UK
Courtesy:
Lucy + Jorge Orta
Makrowear is the sixth addition in the Connector Mobile Village series. The work was created following a residency on the Makrolab research station, which was located on Rottness Island, off the Western Coast of Australia in 2000. Founded by Slovenian artist Marko Peljhan, Makrolab is an autonomous research station capable of sustaining four interdisciplinary researchers for up to 120 days in remote locations around the world. The station is equipped to accommodate artists, scientists and tactical media workers, providing them with basic tools for their collaborative or independent research.
Lucy Orta spent seven days on the research station, where she sketched-up ideas for a modular crew uniform, Makrowear. Each Makrowear pod doubles up as a jacket, a sleeping bag, a rucksack and a storage unit that can be attached to the interior structure of the Makrolab. The pods are interchangeable according to daily functions. The jacket section of the pods have been silkscreen printed with an environmental charter created in response to the residency. The portable solar panel can power a laptop computer and recharge a mobile phone, for use on field expeditions.