A. Hribernik
The fluid space of inscription of artwork, postproduction and assemblages
the artist enhances the complexity of the system also by introducing the unknown into the work, be it a concentrated solution of blue vitriol, which is not entirely under control, or the very physical properties of the tube through which radiation travels while being intercepted by the receptors that produce sound.12 In some works, however, the unknown enters the system from the environment when the system intercepts the electromagnetic radiation emitted by specific objects as well as the human body, if the latter is present in the ambient.13 Because of the introduction of the unknown into the system, the result, that is, the performance of the system, is no longer entirely predictable. Hence, the artist does not determine the equilibrium of the system; rather, the system finds it itself. But the systems as such and their functioning can also be understood as metaphors. When dealing with a system that alternates between control and chaos, its properties and dynamics can be applied to the society marked by a similar dynamics. Batista’s works are characterised by the fact that technological reproduction of the work of art is no longer separated temporally from the existence of the work, which means that the artwork is reproduced by means of technology in real time, hence, the very concept of reproducibility of artworks changes as well. Marko Batista’s works cannot be reproduced and they are close to performative practices, which are bound to specific spaces and temporal intervals. While, indeed, the artist can assemble anew the same technical elements time and again, the work can never be the same, because of the space in which the installation takes place and because of its acoustic properties. In the text above, I described some specific reference points on the basis of which we can interpret Marko Batista’s work; now, however, it is important to highlight the relations among these points. 12 Chem:Sys:Reactor, see pp. 19, 44, 45, 46, 47, and Siphon:Sys:Apparatus, see pp. 60-61. 13 H220, see pp. 13, 14, 15, 62, 63.
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