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Orange Functional

Alexandre Arrechea

Alexandre Arrechea, Orange Functional, Lassonde Art Trail. Photo Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker.

Orange Functional, 2022
Alexandre Arrechea

Steel, basketball nets

Alexandre Arrechea’s artworks often draw on the language of everyday urban infrastructure, design, and architecture.

 

Orange Functional is installed at one of the main entrances to Biidaasige Park, in the plaza of Old Firehall 30. The sculpture mimics the organic form of a tree with basketball hoops at the ends of its branches. This composition echoes the new park plantings and also introduces a familiar opportunity for people to engage in play in shared space.

 

By changing the design of a standard piece of basketball equipment, Arrechea challenges the traditional rules of the game, inviting participants to replace rules they know with new modes of play.

 

This is one of a series of functional basketball sculptures produced by the artist, and he invites everyone to bring their own basketballs and take a shot. As the balls fall to the ground, they evoke the harvest of fruit and remind us of our responsibility to value nature and community experiences.

A tall, bright red, tree-like sculpture with multiple basketball hoops on its branches stands on a brick-paved area. Two basketballs rest at its base.
A tall, bright red, tree-like sculpture with multiple basketball hoops on its branches.
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Alexandre Arrechea

Cuban

Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea is internationally renowned for his incisive site-specific approach. Created by engaging with the historical, cultural, ideological, and philosophical legacies of each location, his multidisciplinary works foster meaningful dialogues between architecture, cultural memory, and the public.

 

Though initially recognized as a founding member of the Cuban collective Los Carpinteros (1991-2003), Arrechea has produced several momentously ambitious public projects as a solo artist, such as Dreaming With Lions (2020), an immersive circular installation temporarily installed on Miami Beach. His work has been presented at leading global institutions, including Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba; the Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California; and is additionally held in several major permanent collections, including MoMA, NYC, New York; LACMA, Los Angeles, California; Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; MUDAM, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York.

 

 

Portrait of Alexandre Arrechea. Courtesy the artist.