LA-based collective Fallen Fruit envisions cities as communal gardens

David Allen Burns and Austin Young, the artistic duo forming Fallen Fruit, create immersive and captivating environments that offer audiences a fresh and unexpected perspective on fruit trees and museum collections, while simultaneously unveiling complex social constructs. Los Angeles-based collective started their artistic practice by creating maps of public fruit: the fruit trees growing on or over public property. Their extensive body of work encompasses a diverse range of mediums—photographic portraits, experimental documentary videos, and site-specific art. By utilising fruit as a medium to explore the familiar, along with public spaces and archives, Fallen Fruit delves into the uncharted territories of urban spaces, knowledge systems, and evolving notions of citizenship.

David Allen Burns says, “I think that with a great work of art, one of the things that is required for that artwork to have is the amount of power to create the space and accommodate not just one person or one way of thinking like the academic frame of art. An artwork should embrace the people, and give them the space to have one of these profound experiences where you can have an emotional response, whether it be through colour, smell, sound, form, or intellectual meaning. All of those qualities that come together allow you to become immersed in a moment, whether it be a painting on the wall or performance, or a sculpture. We spend a lot of energy creating space for people and making it possible to have a difficult conversation, should you be inspired to. That’s important to us. We want to create spaces for people to occupy the artwork, and to have it become more of a visceral experience. In that play, that performance, the tactile exists next to the intellectual and the aesthetic. We are always thinking about the alchemy of how we are using these different components, cooperatively and in conversation with each other."

The artist adds, “I think an important part of what makes the work that we do resonate with people is that we are doing very tangible things, whether it is working with fruit trees, public space and parks. But then we also work on more formal gallery and museum projects that are extremely visual and intellectual. I think it's a combination of these qualities that allows for success to take place. We enjoy play and participation. So when we make a work of art, we are not just making something to be put inside a picture frame and then put on the wall and allow it to be described by a text. That's fine, but that's not actually where our heart is.”

The essence of Fallen Fruit's work lies in reconfiguring the dynamics of sharing and unravelling our perceptions of what constitutes the public and the private domains. Through their artistic endeavours, David and Austin have discovered that "fruit" holds symbolic significance and transcends mere physicality. It embodies duality as both a subject and an object while exuding aesthetic allure. The essence of their creations often intertwines with notions of place and intergenerational wisdom, echoing a primal connection to our inherent ability to share our world with others. Envisioning our cities as communal gardens, they challenge us to imagine a reality where stepping outside our doors to savour a freshly picked apple replaces the mundane act of visiting a grocery store.

Fallen Fruit's project, The Endless Orchard, stands as an artwork that transcends boundaries. In fact, it is the world's largest collaborative public art project, bringing together individuals from all corners of the globe. The premise is simple yet powerful: anyone, regardless of their location, has the opportunity to participate by planting, mapping, and sharing fruit. This grassroots movement empowers citizens to transform their very own neighborhoods. Fruit, acting as a universal symbol of sharing, becomes the catalyst for change. Neighbors are encouraged to plant fruit trees in various spaces, be it in front of their residences, community centers, schools, businesses, or in the municipal spaces like parkways, bike paths and alleys. The beauty of The Endless Orchard lies in its accessibility. Anyone located anywhere, possesses the ability to contribute to this ever-expanding tapestry of fruit-bearing trees. By simply planting a fruit tree along the publicly accessible boundaries of their property, individuals can not only become a part of this project but also map their contribution on the initiative's dedicated website. The Endless Orchard represents a harmonious fusion of art, environmental protection, and community engagement. The artist duo comments: “We invite you to experience your city as a fruitful place, to radically shift public participation and the function of urban spaces, and to explore the meaning of community through creating and sharing new and abundant resources – like Fruit Trees”.

Young observes: “When you are younger, you are challenged with art that you don't even have open access to. You are just wondering: What am I seeing? I must be stupid because I don't understand it. And if I understand it, I will be a smarter person. This sort of modernism is fairly vague and may be meaningful, but you have to be taught to understand it. I think we are making art that people respond to viscerally, they respond to it emotionally. And they do love it, though they may not understand it at all.

When we are making our works, we are engaging different types of people. I love the way our work brings people together and doesn't create polarising conversations, because people find their own meaning in our works."