OrtaWater

OrtaWater focuses on the general scarcity of water and issues surrounding the privatization and corporate control effecting access to clean water. Reflecting on ‘Operational Aesthetics’, the overarching aim of their artistic process is to contribute proactively to the broadening of our understanding and development of sustainable solutions for the water dilemmas ahead in playful and accessible manners. The artists create sculptures combining functional source-based objects, photography, steel welding, sound and objects related to the water problematic. The work commissioned by the Austrian Pavilion of the International Expo 2008 Zaragoza is entitled ‘OrtaWater Zillie Fluvial Unit’. It incorporates the traditional Zillie canoe form the mountain regions of Austria, with an organic steel structure which forms a ‘bottle rack for hundreds of bottles of water collected from destinations around the world.OrtaWater was the focus of major survey exhibitions at the Hangar Biccoca contemporary art centre in Milan (2008); the Venice Biennale and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam (2005) and the Galleria Continua Beijing (2006).‘OrtaWater’ received an ‘Award for Sculpture’ that combines artistic excellence with an environmental message, presented by the United Nations Environment Programme at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo 2007.