With complex installations, based on the physical features of different kinds of matter and electronic sound, he has for many years investigated the relationship between technological systems and human sensory perception. Namely, his home-made modules – a kind of temporary sound systems equipped with generators – release energy in a way as to change the properties of added fluid substances. The said process causes sound signals or, rather, creates unique soundscapes.

The exhibition Fluid Particles of Volcanic Ash is part of a multiannual project in which Marko Batista prompts the viewer to reflect on the problem of modern post-fact society in relation to technological progress. Technological systems are not perfect, predictable, self-contained and complete, but rather unstable, and it is precisely this point that serves as the premise of Batista’s exploration. The first part of the project, titled Fluid Particles of Volcanic Ash, was presented at the exhibition Beyond the Globe at the Eighth Triennial of Contemporary Art – U3 at the MG+MSUM, Ljubljana in 2016. In the modular sound sculpture, electrical impulses travelled through a series of chemical liquids and volcanic ashes, creating sound stimuli. In conceiving the installation, the artist primarily focused on the connection between the structure of matter and the molecular stability of the universe.

The Gallery 001 is displaying the second part of the project, which takes the viewer to the post-apocalyptic environment, in which techno modules pulsate only on the level of electro-chemical processes and waves. At this stage, the layers of volcanic ashes have destroyed the last forms of hybrid biological entities on Earth, where nothing else exists but the sounds of the machines. It is only the remnants of processed impulses that still continue spreading across the spilt chemical fluids and forming an “organism” that changes, depending on interactions between reagents’ electrical and chemical processes. As in the case with his previous projects, the artist conceived this work on the basis of a carefully thought-out distribution of sound sources across the space, thus enabling the viewer to experience various sensory experiences.

Marko Batista: Fluid particles of volcanic ash

Intermedia artist Marko Batista is well known for his experimental audio-visual performances and installations. His practice is based on an active use of technologies and the development of audio systems ...