Omnipotents Omnipresents

Spirituality and science, the cyclical state of nature and the transformation of life, cycles that fade and return. Tonet Amorós takes the notion of the larva as a metaphor for all living things. In his installation of larval forms, a central lead body filled with paraffin is heated in 37-minute cycles. As it cools, the scent of paraffin spreads through the space, in a synesthetic gesture that adds an olfactory register to the visual one. Arranged in concentric ovals around it are some 160 paraffin larvae: their number corresponds to the melting point of waxy solids in degrees Fahrenheit. The red carpet adds a religious or sacral dimension to an installation where the notion of time is fundamental, both in the sense of biological change—the passage from one state to another—and in the religious sense—the passage from darkness to light.