Shelter / Survival - alternative homes for fantastic lives
16 febbraio - 13 aprile 2008, Hiroshima (Japan)
The group exhibition ‘Shelter / Survival - alternative homes for fantastic lives’, held at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, explores concepts of shelter in art and design, alternative homes and sites in creative interpretations of survival. As tools for surviving a wide-range of potential perils, the exhibits transcend genre in their quest to expand the creative potential of art. Body Architecture and Refuge Wear, the work of Lucy Orta, appears particularly significant within the context of this ‘global’ need to find new and alternative solutions for emerging social issues which cross all boundaries and which connect with the aims and objectives of contemporary artists working with different media. Orta’s work blurs the practices of architecture and fashion: a dress to live in and a house to dress. The inhabitants are protected from the world in a minimum space for reflection and meditation; they become enveloped in a safe and protected space, a four-dimensional universe, multifunctional and mobile. The artist first developed the Refuge Wear series in the early 90’s at a time of economic decline provoked by the conflicts in Iraq, the Balkans and Rwanda, and the plight of the millions of refugees fleeing their homes. She has spent several years working with refugee and homeless communities, developing objects to communicate their issues to a wider public. This work reflects the base of Professor Orta’s research at the London College of Fashion, as newly appointed Professor of Art, Fashion and the Environment. Her transversal approach to the artistic practice is a way of calling into question fashion, design, architecture, theatre, urban planning and visual arts. A shared territory for ethics and aesthetics with a strong role played by the emerging social themes of our times. Info: e-mail: info@studio-orta.com; www.studio-orta.com - www.hcmca.cf.city.hiroshima.jp