Last week I spent two days in the gallery watching the installation of the Fallen Fruit “wallpaper” for the upcoming exhibition EATLACMA, opening this weekend. While going through our permanent collection picking out pieces for the show, the artists of Fallen Fruit came across two works which they used as inspiration for their wallpaper design.
England, Spitalfields, "Panel With Design of Fruit Trees," c. 1720, purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Erskin
Becky Cohen, "Apple Espalier, Potager du Roi, Versailles," 1994–1997, gift of Michael Stolper
I asked Austin Young, one of the members of Fallen Fruit, about their ideas behind the wallpaper. He explained that the design is made from public fruit that they gathered around Silverlake, while the background resembles the colors of a California sunset. Young also told me the original idea was to use all rotted fruit for the pattern. Though they veered away from the concept, they still managed to put a few rotted pieces in there. Pieces that Young rotted in his own yard! There are also other little things to find, like a fly, a bee coming out of one of the oranges, or little fruit flies (all actual size).
Meghan Moran, Graphic Designer