Life Guard Amazonia

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Studio Orta - 0932_Life Guard_2
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Studio Orta - 0932_1

Date: 2016
Ref: 0932
Materials: Stretcher bed, wooden mannequin, diverse textiles, ceramic resin hands and feet, certificate of Moral Ownership
Dimensions: 70w x 188l x 188h cm
Exhibition history: 2022 La Patinoire Royale⎟Galerie Valérie Bach, Brussels, Belgium; 2019 Museo Novencento, Florence, Italy; 2016 Attenborough Art Centre, Leicester, UK
Courtesy: Lucy + Jorge Orta

The figure depicted in the “Amazon Life Guard” has carefully assembled a colourful, diverse collection of floral species and laid them out on a linen tarp. Early herbalists and botanists collected plants for medicinal study purposes, and here the association with the original function of the Red Cross stretcher reminds us of the wounded body in need of treatment and care. Likewise, the Amazon rainforest, planet earth’s vital organ is under threat from deforestation and climate change with consequences that will irrevocably affect the health of all living organisms.