Construction Rubble of Secession's Main Hall 2010

Lara Almarcegui made this installation from construction rubble. I love the bluntness of this artwork. It's literally what's left over, the excess, the waste. The artist has brought different kinds of rubble together, each pile distinct in color and texture, creating a landscape of leftovers. It's as if she's saying, "Here, look at what we discard. Consider the materials that make up our built environment." I imagine Almarcegui, sifting through the debris, choosing, sorting, and arranging these piles. It's a tactile, physical process, not unlike making a painting. She draws attention to the life cycle of buildings, their creation, use, and eventual demolition. And maybe, just maybe, it's about revealing a hidden beauty in the discarded, transforming the unwanted into something worth contemplating. It reminds me of artists who work with found objects, transforming the everyday into something extraordinary.