Berlin-based French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière's latest exhibition, *Hard Core*, has opened at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart, Tasmania. Carved into 250-million-year-old sandstone on the Berriedale Peninsula, the show explores humanity's relationship with deep time through works that incorporate glacial erratics, drill cores repaired with metals, and a permanent installation called *Breathe* (2026) that releases oxygen trapped in ancient Pilbara rocks for visitors to inhale. The exhibition also features volcanic lava bombs and mirrored chambers that simulate standing inside a volcano.
This exhibition matters because it reframes humanity's consumption of Earth's resources within a geological timescale, highlighting how materials that took millions of years to form are extracted in an instant. By merging art with earth science—including collaborations with scientists and references to the Great Oxidation Event—Charrière positions humans as a geological force, urging viewers to reconsider their environmental impact. The show's setting within MONA's rock-cut architecture amplifies its themes, making geological history tangible and immediate.