Lucy Orta

LucyOrta'sworkexaminesthesocialbondswithincommunitiesandtherelationshipsbetweenindividualsandtheirenvironments.Intheearly1990s,Ortabeganaseriesofworkscalled"RefugeWear"thatcombinedarchitecture,fashionandsocialactivism.Thisseriestooktheformoftent-likemobilestructuresthattransformintoitemsofclothing,sleepingbagsandbivouacs.Ortaenvisionedtheseasemergencystructuresfornomadicpopulations,forthehomelessandforcrisissituationssuchasearthquakezones.Orta'sworkhassincegrowntoincorporateinterdisciplinaryworkshops,contemporarydanceandotheractionsthatexplorenotionsofidentity,sharedspaceandnetworking.Theseprojectsincludecollaborationswithsuchmarginalizedgroupsastheunemployed,thehomelessandimmigrants.Herrecentseriesofworksentitled"ModularArchitecture"and"NexusArchitecture",continuethisthemeofobjectswhicharemoresymbolicthatpracticallyuseful.The"NexusArchitecture"serieshastakenmanyforms,includingboilersuit-likegarmentswhicharewornbymultipleparticipants.Thesuitsarejoinedby"umbilical"structuresconnectingoneperson'sstomachtoanother'sbackandrepresentthesociallinksbetweenpeople.