The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles has opened "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials," an exhibition featuring 18 contemporary artists—many Indigenous and Latinx—alongside four historic figures. The show includes immersive soundscapes by Raven Chacon, soil installations by Edgar Calel, decomposing avocado works by Carmen Argote, films by Ana Mendieta, and rammed-earth pieces by Jackie Amézquita, all exploring the intersection of life, earth, and time.
This exhibition matters because it reframes artistic practice through the lens of living materials and non-linear time, challenging Western notions of chronology and permanence. By centering Indigenous and Latinx perspectives and featuring works that physically change over the course of the show, the Hammer Museum presents a vital, decolonial approach to contemporary art that connects the human body to the earth's processes.