The End of the World

“The metals selected for this project [from top to bottom: cobalt, rare earths, copper, tin, nickel, lithium, manganese, coltan, germanium, platinum] are “critical raw materials,” a recent European Commission defined list of resources required for the energy transition. They are defined, principally, by a lack of “security.” The definition is political, it means a high risk of supply shortages to the west.

Most of these metals are related to electricity generation, storage, and transmission, as well as data transmission and storage. They are also ubiquitous materials, used in our bodies to cables that cross entire continents to convey electricity.

There is currently a rush for these critical materials. Solar and electric power is impossible without them. Electronics rely on them. They make communication possible. The list of this project’s selected minerals is not exhaustive, being exhaustive would be unfeasible. Instead, the list is a portrait of key metals from a range of geological environments, histories, and geopolitical contexts that are and will be responsible for the actual and future violence at the heart of renewable energies.”

— Alfredo Jaar


The End of the World (2023–2024) by Alfredo Jaar is a minimalist sculpture—a cube measuring 4 cm only on each side–whose ten materials embody the industrial, technological, and geopolitical stakes of our globalized economy. Its surrounding void space flooded with red light suggests a cosmology, as if the entire world—its current state and its future—revolves around the sculpture.

The exhibition has been developed with contributions from a team selected by Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025), including advisors Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira, and Rasha Salti; editor-in-chief Siddhartha Mitter; and research assistant Rory Tsapayi.

This marks Jaar’s fifth participation in the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, following previous editions in 1986, 2007, 2009, and in 2013, when he represented Chile.