Free Fruit For Everyone

Imagine strolling through your neighborhood, reaching up to pluck a ripe piece of fruit from a tree and savoring it on the spot—a vision of abundance and connection brought to life by Fallen Fruit. This collaboration between artists Austin Young, Matias Viegener, and David Burns uses fruit as their lens to view the world, tapping into its universal appeal. “Fruit is a democratic food,” explains Matias. “It’s not bound by class or race and is liked by everybody.” Their work began seven years ago with a simple yet powerful idea: mapping public fruit trees in their Silverlake neighborhood. They wanted to inspire neighbors to walk, explore, and reconnect with their surroundings. By publishing these maps online, they sparked a quiet revolution—people started picking fruit, talking to neighbors, and planting trees and vegetable gardens. What began as a small community project grew into a global movement.
Fallen Fruit’s work has since expanded far beyond Silverlake. In 2010, they held an exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), delving into the symbolic, abstract, and sociological meanings of fruit in art—from religious iconography to societal narratives. Today, their mission remains as vibrant as ever: imagining a world where fruit trees line every street, connecting people through shared sustenance and reimagining urban spaces. If given the chance to redesign Los Angeles, they dream of a fruit-centric cityscape, complete with an “Orange Street” and “Banana Circle,” where fresh fruit is within reach for everyone. Through their playful, profound vision, Fallen Fruit continues to transform how we see our cities—and ourselves.