Food / Water / Life, l’appel à projets de Lucy + Jorge Orta

Food Water Life with Lucy + Jorge Orta 

Program dates: January 19, 2015 – February 27, 2015

Application deadline: Extended to July 16, 2014

« Let us imagine, just for a second, that we will somehow manage to fix the current state of emergency and find a way to avoid collapsing into a greater economic depression before climate change becomes irreversible—before we run out of drinkable water and fossil fuels; before the unrest that arises because more than half of our world’s population is living in hunger, with no shelter or homeland, becomes stronger; and before we irrevocably lose our natural capital and the knowledge (and wisdom) necessary to come up with a balanced and fair way to produce and distribute our food, clothing, shelter, and wealth to each spot of our planet. Let us envision a true world of tomorrow » Carbonaro, Simonetta. Foreward. Lucy + Jorge Orta: Food Water Life. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2012.

Food Water Life is a project spanning close to two decades of Lucy + Jorge Orta’s collaborative work. Drawing on these themes, the Food Water Life residency invites participants to explore concerns that define the twenty-first century – biodiversity, environmental sustainability, social economy, human rights – and through artistic practice envision a world of tomorrow.

As heirs to the genre of social sculpture, formulated by the German artist and activist Joseph Beuys in the 1960s, the Orta’s works are relics of their own function.  Their captivating assemblages such as Processing Units (1999-2008) and Purification Factory (2012) form operative platforms for the preparation of food and water purification. Other projects such as Antarctica World Passport (2008-2012), operate as an effort to amend the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Their practice poses many questions to be explored throughout this program.  As artists, how might we address contradictions between formal aesthetics and social function?  In what ways can works of art foster constructive dialogue and pave a critical path within the problematic direction of this world?  Ultimately, what contributions can artists make to social and environmental sustainability?

Through group discussions, reflection, individual studio time, critiques, and workshops this residency will provide a platform for a diversity of creative activity that aims to profoundly change human habits, how we interact with the environment and each other.  Artists working across all mediums who share a deep interest in these issues are invited to gather, brainstorm and create.

All applicants must be fluent in English, however special consideration may be granted to artists who are bilingual also speaking French or Spanish.

How to apply
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