Urban Armor

Having seen Lucy Orta’s work in a gallery, I found it interesting that one of the first points Paul Virilio makes in his review is that her work is best viewed in a real world context. Because her pieces touch on homeslessness, isolation, physical as well as social threats, Virilio believes that the Urban Armor derive more meaning when seen through a wider lens.

I had a similar response when I saw her work last week. The pieces were thought-provoking when seen as sculptural object s on pedestals, but viewing them in action (on video) really brought Orta’s ideas home.

While I agree with some of Virilio’s points (his take on Orta’s Collective Wear and its correlation to societal links) I had trouble following others. I failed to see how Orta’s work comments on the breakdown of the nuclear family, and I had trouble seeing how today’s “streets are hell.” It seemed a little overly dramatic to me.