Food & The Public Sphere is a survey of socially engaging public works, sculpture and objects by internationally acclaimed artists Lucy + Jorge Orta.
Through the visually engaging work of Lucy + Jorge Orta, which traverses the social and ecological sphere, and engages thousands of people through a carefully crafted participatory process,
this monograph will explore their practice through the notion of operational aesthetics’. The publication positions their practice in context with major concerns of the 21st century:
environmental change, species loss, food scarcity, food waste, and sustainable development. It will explore how the artists’ unique visual language and methods tackle the global issues that
are affecting our livelihoods, focusing on how their artwork resonates with diverse audiences, and as a consequence, demonstrates the importance of art as a creative agent for awareness and
change.
Orta’s food recycling projects, mass open-air meals, gleaned gastronomic diners, and mobile soups kitchens have pioneered a renewed interest in the politics of food. Communities all over the
worldworking from the scale of global food networks down to local methods for farming and cookingare seeking ways to make the food system better serve the needs of people and the planet.
After decades of successful food production in massive quantities, producing cheap produce, policymakers and citizens are recognizing the environmental and social cost of this process. The
over-industrialisation of food has forced small farms to surrender to agribusiness, reduced biodiversity in favour of monoculture crops, and assaulted communities with debilitating chronic
diseases. Lucy + Jorge Orta illuminate, through the diversity of their work, issues of abundance, scarcity, waste and loss, while drawing people into a reflective experience of art that
combines the aesthetics of eating, drinking, cooking, and dining.
The publication will bring together, for the first time, the culmination of twenty-years dedication to the power of art and food. A compelling image-led, large-format design, will gives a
feel for the breath-taking and highly engaging work the Orta duo create. Also featuring scrapbook-like’ photos of the genesis and installation of the works as they progress: from the issues
at stake, to the studio, to the final locations of representation.
Food & The Public Sphere is the fourth title to be published on the work of Lucy and Jorge Orta by Black Dog Publishing. The previous titles are Light Work: Lucy + Jorge Orta, Lucy +
Jorge Orta Pattern Book: An Introduction to Collaborative Practices and Mapping the Invisible: EU-Roma Gypsies.
Publication release to coincide with the solo exhibition Lucy + Jorge Orta: Food at Peterborough City Gallery, Autumn 2016.
