Wolfgang Laib’s extraordinarily concentrated installations are touching in an immediate and fundamental way, perhaps because they also address various levels of early childhood consciousness. Beeswax tunnels are redolent with an overwhelming scent of sweet honey and pollen; powdery piles of pollen are such a luminous yellow that you want to put your hands in it and play. Visitors to the installations are "opened up" to the spiritual dimension, become aware of the energetic presence of the natural materials shown, and are prepared for a spiritual and intellectual encounter with their symbolic content. This retrospective monograph features all of the key categories of Laib’s oeuvre, establishing the unique position and great auratic power of works that consistently question crucial issues. Exhibition schedule: Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, November 27, 2005 - February 26, 2006