Form in the Age of Living Materials. Interview with Curator Pablo José Ramírez

The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles is presenting "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials," an exhibition curated by Pablo José Ramírez running until August 23. Featuring 22 artists from the Americas, the show explores materials such as avocado, cacao, achiote, cochineal, stone, clay, and natural dyes that evolve, degrade, or transform over time. Organized into three acts, the exhibition challenges conventional notions of the art object by treating these materials as living agents with memory and agency, rooted in Indigenous knowledge and the concept of "brownness." In an interview, Ramírez discusses how these materials destabilize extractivist logics and institutional frameworks, forcing a rethinking of conservation protocols and the very conditions of exhibition-making.

This exhibition matters because it pushes contemporary art discourse beyond static objects toward processual, temporal, and materially engaged practices. By centering materials that are alive and unstable, Ramírez foregrounds Indigenous epistemologies and critiques colonial extractivism, offering a model for curatorial practice that learns from artists rather than imposing institutional narratives. The show also raises urgent questions about museum conservation and how institutions can accommodate works that breathe, bleed, or decay, potentially reshaping future exhibition standards.