ARCO LISBOA 2025 | GEOMETRY OF DISAPPEARANCE

In her proposal "Geometry of Disappearance" for ARCO LISBOA 2025, Amélie Esterházy uses salt, the ocean, and cobalt blue as transformative elements to reflect on impermanence, transformation, and humanity’s fragile connection to nature. Salt, symbolizing both preservation and decay, embodies the tension between permanence and dissolution. The ocean, in its boundless flux, evinces cosmic rhythms, where tides echo the gravitational pull of celestial bodies, and cobalt blue bridges the earthly and the infinite, linking the tangible with the transcendent.

Part of Esterházy’s inspiration draws on the philosophical concept of crystallization, as articulated by thinkers like Henri Bergson and Gaston Bachelard. For Bachelard, crystallization is more than a geological process—it is a poetic metaphor for becoming, a momentary stillness within the flow of time. Just as water transforms into salt, the ephemeral becomes tangible, and through its connection to its origin, the tangible remains alive. Cobalt blue deepens this dialogue, symbolizing the space between matter and the depths and the sky, the f inite and the eternal. Through these layered metaphors, Esterházy invites the viewer to contemplate the delicate balance between transformation and continuity that underpins both nature and existence itself.

Amélie Esterházy (*1982 Regensburg), lives and works in Berlin. Her work examines and questions universal notions of science and philosophy through symmetrical structures and their underlying algorithms. Esterházy's diverse practice includes sculptures, installations, works on paper, videos and drawing. In 2023, she participated in numerous national and international exhibitions. Including in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Art Biesenthal with a large-scale outdoor sculpture. In collaboration with the German-Israeli architect Zvi Hecker (1931 2023), she created her first 'Land Art' installation.