Construction Rubble of TENT's Central Space, TENT Rotterdam 2011

Lara Almarcegui made this piece at TENT Rotterdam using construction rubble. How radical is it to make something by not making? I love that Almarcegui uses materials that already exist, like she is unearthing art, or like the material is the art! Look at the texture. It’s like a really close-up landscape, but also completely abstract. It’s rough, it’s hard, and it’s real, but it's also a surface, almost like a painting. I love how the rubble piles up against the architecture of the building. Like the building is holding it back, defining its shape. Almarcegui reminds me of Robert Smithson, whose "Spiral Jetty" made land the material of art. It's like she is saying that everything around us has potential, and that art isn't always about adding something new but also about reframing what’s already there. It leaves you thinking – what else am I not seeing?