Lucy + Jorge Orta Lead Kids Creative Lab at Peggy Guggenheim
The 2017 edition of Kids Creative Lab, a collaboration between Collezione Peggy Guggenheim and OVS, involved 1.4 million children from 50,000 classes across 6,000 Italian primary schools. International artists Lucy + Jorge Orta designed a creative workshop focused on water and marine ecosystem sustainability, using the SostenART Artist Kit. Participants wrote collective texts inspired by the surrealist Cadavre exquis technique, translated into color codes, and sealed in plastic bottles. These bottles formed a large marine landscape installation curated by the artists, exhibited at the Collezione Peggy Guggenheim from March 30 to April 17, 2017. The project addressed plastic pollution and recycling, building on the Orta's earlier works since 2005 on water scarcity and waste. The artists emphasized the role of art in environmental activism, citing predecessors like Joseph Beuys and Agnes Denes, and called for collaboration among citizens, philanthropists, businesses, and governments to make art accessible and educate the public.
Key facts
- Kids Creative Lab 2017 involved 1.4 million children, 50,000 classes, and 6,000 schools.
- Lucy + Jorge Orta collaborated with the Education Department of Collezione Peggy Guggenheim.
- The workshop used the SostenART Artist Kit and focused on water and marine ecosystem sustainability.
- Participants used the surrealist Cadavre exquis technique to write collective messages.
- Messages were translated into color codes and sealed in plastic bottles.
- The bottles were assembled into a marine landscape installation curated by Lucy + Jorge Orta.
- The installation was exhibited at Collezione Peggy Guggenheim from March 30 to April 17, 2017.
- The Orta's earlier works on water scarcity date back to 2005 at Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa.
- In 2009, the artists visited Zabaleen recycling community in Cairo and began transforming recycled bottles into sculptures.
- The project aimed to raise awareness about plastic pollution and promote recycling among youth.
Entities
Artists
- Lucy Orta
- Jorge Orta
- Richard Long
- Robert Smithson
- Walter De Maria
- Andy Goldsworthy
- Joseph Beuys
- Agnes Denes
Institutions
- Collezione Peggy Guggenheim
- OVS
- Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa
- Artribune
Locations
- Venezia
- Italy
- Cairo
- Egypt