Julian Charrière
Love-in
2022

Borosilicate glass, stainless-steel, lamp, palm oil, distilled water
267 x 52 x 52 cm

Love-In comprises an immense glass tube, set within a metal frame that resembles scientific laboratory equipment. Inside the vessel, palm oil, as red as magma from the planet’s superheated mantle, is warmed from below. Viscous bubbles ebb and flow throughout this oversized lava lamp, creating a psychedelic play of light. This process of transformation echoes the state of environmental flux affecting oil palm-growing regions of the world. Global demand for palm oil—a common cooking oil and ingredient in packaged foods, cosmetics, and even biofuel—is a significant driver of deforestation and attendant loss of biodiversity in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Amid today’s multilayered ecological crisis, Love-In situates the profusion of environmental catastrophes within the cozy glow of our intimate interior domains.