900 Oranges is a bronze sculptural installation by Gathie Falk, commissioned for a residential development by Washington Properties at 35th Avenue and Cambie Street. It is installed in conjunction with two additional sculptures by the artist on the site: 18 Pairs of Blue and White Running Shoes and 10 Baseball Caps. The public artworks at this site continue Falk’s devotion to keen observations of everyday objects, as well as her interest in repetition, both of which have been central to her practice for over six decades.
For 900 Oranges, individual bronze oranges were cast in multiples from six new unique ceramic originals hand-sculpted by the artist, each varying slightly in size. The resulting pyramid is a monumental pile of oranges which are largely uniform in scale but that reveal subtle differences from one orange to the next. In conceiving of this work, Falk revisited her brilliantly glazed ceramic fruit piles of the 1960s, suggestive of grocery store fruit displays. Unlike her earlier ceramic piles, 900 Oranges takes on a new tactility through its presentation in bronze; ripe fruits are soft and transitory but here are represented by a material that is permanent and that resonates through history.