TENT presented the first major solo exhibition of Lara Almarcegui in the Netherlands. Since the nineties, Almarcegui has developed an impressive oeuvre that includes both criticism of the modernist idea of progress and a reflection on the unforeseen consequences of spatial planning.
Rotterdam artist Lara Almarcegui (Zaragoza, 1972) distinguishes herself through a radical combination of social engagement and a conceptual approach. Her research into wastelands, ruins and building materials connects with themes such as attention to the environment, the consequences of economic growth, the consequences of spatial use, the slipping of time in space, the potential of decay.
In the exhibition, Almarcegui's guides and slide/photo series about empty spaces in metropolises such as London, New York and São Paulo were shown together for the first time. Photographic reports of the breaking open of floors of, among others, Secession in Vienna and the RAI building in Amsterdam were shown in mutual connection.
The core of the exhibition was a new installation based on an exact calculation of the building material used to construct the central space of TENT. Monumental mountains of recycled building rubble formed the exact equivalent of the material with which this space was built, from a mountain of 62 cubic meters of concrete to a mountain of just under a cubic meter of glass.
With thanks to: AVS Engineering, Calduran Kalkzandsteen BV, Drentse Recycling Maatschappij BV, ExPoSchuim Nijmegen BV, Heros Sluiskil, J. Luyt BV, Maltha Glass Recycling, P. van der Kooij Schiedam, REKO Recycling Combination and Fonds BKVB.