In the exhibition 'Allora & Calzadilla: Specters of Noon', seven sculptural pieces by the artists Allora & Calzadilla revolve around the unique notion of "Acedia".
As described by early Christian texts, Acedia refers to a demon that surrounds the soul during the daytime. This notion functions as a manifestation of noon's hold over humanity and as a metaphor for the uncertainties of our day.
The artists share their statement about the artworks: "In the fourth century, Evagrius Ponticus, in laying out the seven deadly sins, described the 'most oppressive' of all temptations as Acedia, a spiritual dryness and lack of care towards the world that plagues during the hot midday hours and is characterized by a feeling of psychic exhaustion and listlessness ... Acedia makes the present intolerable and the future impossible to imagine."
The monumental coal sculpture cast from a tree struck by lightning, 'Entelichy', is among the pieces on show. The artists made the sculpture from a species of tree that can be found in the forest of Montignac, France, where the large tree uprooted after a storm was found by several teenagers in 1940.
Another work revealed in the exhibition is 'Blackout'. The artists constructed the piece from an exploded transformer, which went out of commission when Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico in 2017. The sculptors cut the transformer's steel casing in half to reveal its inner workings, which they then cast in bronze.
The artists worked closely with the award-winning composer David Lang to develop daily background sounds that continually run with the exhibition's eight-hour cycle. The noises, which are a mix of instrumental, vocal, and electrical recordings, react to and stimulate the works of art on display.
The Menil Collection's main building will display these works of art until June 20.