Wolfgang Laib, Pollen from Hazelnut

Days, months and years of labor laid right before your eyes, materialized. Laib’s piece reminded me of the artworks of Buddhist monks – pieces made of ephemeral, powdery materials on the floor that are diligently worked on over long spans of time, but could be destroyed in an instant. Wolfgang Laib lives and works in the same small village in Germany that he did as a child, collecting pollen by hand every year during the spring and summer. As the name implies, the pollen in this piece was collected from hazelnut bushes. It was as if Laib was a worker bee himself, exhibiting the results of his efforts.

Thinking about Laib’s ritual – a set of repeated actions done with an intended meaning or consciousness – of collecting the pollen and his intimacy with the material and his natural surroundings makes me feel an odd sense of intimacy and introspection myself.

"I am not afraid of beauty, unlike most artists today. The pollen, the milk, the beeswax, they have a beauty that is incredible, that is beyond the imagination, something which you cannot believe is a reality–and it is the most real. I could not make it myself, I could not create it myself, but I can participate in it. Trying to create it yourself is only a tragedy, participating in it is a big chance."