Studio Orta

Following on from All in One Basket (act I) (Paris 1997), HortiRecycling Enterprise (act II) was commissioned by the Weiner Secession in 1999. Act two proposes a system of reconditioning and distributing waste fruit and vegetable that is discarded by city market vendors. The enterprise was piloted in the Naschmarkt opposite the Viennese gallery. Instead of discarding damaged fruit and vegetables, the market vendors were given the artists' brightly colored silkscreen-printed bags, to fill with rejected produce throughout the day. The bags were collected using two Processing Units, mobile structures with integrated shopping carts, sink, hotplates, and freezer. Ripe produce was immediately cleaned, chopped, and cooked on location by the famous chef, Han Staud. The freshly prepared delicacies were offered to the general public in exchange for discussions about sustainable initiatives.

Inside the Wiener Secession’s first-floor gallery, Orta installed a fully-functioning kitchen complete with a wooden pulley system, which was used to haul groceries in baskets to the upper floor of the building. Market produce was sucessfully delivered or winced into the gallery; cleaned, cooked and then bottled or frozen in dainty portions ready for distribution. This pilot action linked the market and the gallery, art and life, building bridges to diverse communities across the city and demonstrating the power of socially engaged practice, to bring about change.