In 1996 Wanås exhibited works by six Nordic artists working in diabase. This mineral has been quarried north of Wanås since the 1880s and has long been regarded as an attractive material by artists, partly on account of the variations in its surface, from the rough grey of the quarried rock to the glossy dark black achieved when it is polished.

Altar I was Larsen’s contribution to the 1996 exhibition, a smooth seat made of this hard material. The diabase stone is polished so the upper surface is wavy and alludes to the primordial era when the diabase was liquid matter. The heavy stone slab is resting on two steel legs. This presentation gives the work the appearance of being a sample, a geological specimen. Its sides are coarse, cross-hammered, and in sharp contrast to the finely polished top.