Studio Orta

“Each individual keeps an eye on, and protects, the other. One individual’s life depends on the life of the other. In Lucy’s work, the warmth of one gives warmth to the other. The physical link weaves a social link.” Paul Virilo, Refuge Wear. Editions Jean Michel Place, 1994.

The body of work Nexus Architecture is regarded as an emblem of Orta’s practice. Nexus means link or bond. In this case, symbolic content is more important than functional. The work consists of groups of workers-overalls, inter-connected via a system of channels and zippers. The connecting elements are direct embodiments of the idea of social link, a ‘social sculpture’ exhbited in the museum settings or worn in public spaces and used for ephemeral interventions. During public interventions, performers and passers-by become physically involved in the construction of each scenario, which is filmed and photographed: climbing into the suits, zippering the Nexus, creating an unusual closeness, questioning interdependence by being part of it, physical and visceral. The recurring manifestations of the work create a poetical series of interrelated segments regardless of religion, sex, age or social status.