Verde Letal

In Oscar Villalobos new installation, *Residuo Precioso* (Precious Residue), the viewer is suddenly transported to the contradictory landscape of the Colombian emerald. The floor, covered in mine rock, and the presence of a mining cart filled with sacks overflowing with green fragments reveal both the exuberance of natural wealth and the devastation left in the wake of its extraction.

Villalobos turns to *borralla*—the dusty, discarded byproduct of stone polishing—as a metaphor for what remains invisible in official narratives: environmental destruction, the anonymous bodies digging in precarious conditions, and communities displaced by an economy that turns territories into spoils. In contrast to the pristine nature of the gem circulating in the global market, the artist confronts the viewer with its flip side: the raw materiality of the discarded—that which does not sparkle and is not put on display.

The use of live video footage from the mines introduces a dimension of immediacy and surveillance. It is not merely a matter of observing a mine, but of acknowledging that the scene is unfolding in real time, far removed from the museum or the art fair. Through this, Villalobos creates a counterpoint between aesthetic experience and political consciousness, between visual fascination and ethical discomfort.

True to the coherence of his body of work, Villalobos once again places the viewer at the intersection of the tensions that have shaped Colombian history: power, extractivism, displacement, and the global market. Yet, he does so with a forcefulness that goes beyond mere denunciation. His installation invites reflection on the paradox of a country that, amidst the most exuberant natural wealth, continues to bear the scars of its own exploitation. In this sense, *Residuo Precioso* stands not only as a visual testimony but as a vehicle for memory and collective questioning.