Fruits of Labor

Category: Statue

Fruits of Labor (2003)
Artist: Rob Neilson

Carbon reinforced plastic, steel, paint
168” x 108” x 96”
Commissioning Body: Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs
Location: East Valley Solid Resources Management Complex

Fruits of Labor is a monument to the labor and productive work involved in the process of recycling. It is intended to be a celebration of the end goal of this noble endeavor: a healthy, fertile, clean local and global environment.

It is said that those of us concerned with the environment should “ Think globally and act locally”. I have chosen the avocado to symbolize the locale; Southern California, where vast majority of America’s avocados are grown. To portray the importance of the local effort and specifically, the labor of the East Valley Solid Resources Complex, the “avocado” is designed to cradle, nurture and protect the global element of the piece.

By using the imagery of fruit in such a prominent and fantastic manner, I am hoping to convey the idea of fruitfulness, both in terms of the work done at the site (i.e. the “fruits of one’s labor”) and in an environmental sense – a clean, healthy, fruitful Earth.