The Poiriers are highly regarded for their sculpture and installations in a variety of media, which often incorporate drawing, photography, and video. All of their artworks are concerned with memory, which for the artists represents the most constant source of information in a continuously changing world. On Extreme Fragility (Homage to Blaschka) addresses the fragility of life. It was inspired by the collection of delicate, realistic glass flowers made for Harvard University by the father-and-son lampworkers Leopold Blaschka (1822–1895) and Rudolf Blaschka (1857–1939). Some of the Blaschkas’ works in glass can be seen in the Museum’s European glass gallery. The three wilted petals and four pistils appear as if they had fallen from a giant lily, although no specific flower is represented. The large size of the petals is unusual, and it represents a significant technical achievement. Hot-sculpting in the mass (a massiccio) is one of the specialties of Pino Signoretto, who is the most skilled practitioner of this technique in the world.