Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla have been working together as an artistic double act since 1995.  Their work posits visual analogies through fusing comedy and daring political iconography to open up new possibilities for confronting and responding to the world in which we live.  In each of their pieces, be it sculpture, video or major installations such as the one presented during the 54^th Venice Biennale, the tandem takes aim at pressing social and political issues with fervor and wit.  Petrified Petrol Pump (Version III), made from black lava and travertine stone, broaches the contentious subject of energy consumption.

While their practice is often associated with music and sound, the deafening silence of Petrified Petrol Pump (Version III) confronts the viewer with a historical acuity made possible only through the convergence of the ideological and symbolic values of its media.  Similar to the ash-trapped bodies of Pompeii, fossilized skeletons of extinct animals or bygone civilizations, Allora & Calzadilla have sped up time, turning a contemporary symbol of energy into the future reliquary it may one day become. Metaphor drawn from such incongruous visual dialogues represents the very crux of their practice.  As described by Allora: “Metaphor, for us, is a primary resource in questioning the limits and boundaries of all so-called truths.  By means of creative combination or substitution, metaphors can produce new insights and meanings” (Jennifer Allora in interview with Carlos Motta, "Allora & Calzadilla," Bomb Magazine, Issue 109, Fall 2009).  As is typical with their practice, the artists wield irony and troubling juxtapositions as a means of contributing to overwhelming global issues.

With works housed in the Museum of Modern Art and the Tate Collection, combined with being prevalent names on the biennial circuit, this artist duo has become internationally recognized for their diverse practice.  Petrified Petrol Pump (Version III) epitomizes the archetype of the dichotomous, thought-provoking and often troubling juxtapositions that have propelled Allora & Calzadilla to critical acclaim.