Niko Abramidis &NE, Cryptic Machine Prototype N5, 2020

2020

Medium

Steel and LED tubes

Dimensions

133 × 50 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-156248

As if from some kind of strategic corporate management plan, large, machine-like works from Niko Abramidis &NE's series of Cryptic Machine Prototypes, initiated in 2018, hang on the walls. The raw steel surfaces, from the openings of which colored light emerges, as well as symbols, screens and pinpads, indicate possible functions as machines or control elements, the functionality of which has disappeared or at least is no longer understandable. The integrated videos play with the aesthetics of image films from banks and companies that have long gone insolvent. The images of nature, broken by fading in a code, are reminiscent of greenwashing campaigns by large companies. In the Cryptic Machine Prototypes, symbols and technologies from different times seem to collide, creating an archeology of the future that can no longer be deciphered. With an ironic eye, Niko Abramidis &NE designs prototypes of machines from other times and places them in the present with an archaeological patina. With these works, the artist distorts comprehensible time horizons and thus refers to the economic processes of our time that have become impenetrable due to their complexity. At first look, Cryptic Machine Prototype N5 (2020) draws attention to itself with its bright blue shining light on the walls in the gallery space. If the visitor steps behind the wall, they find themselves in a small cell in which the machine is now visible. The portrait-format work hangs on the wall and creates an undisturbed private sphere through the tight space. The blue light of the machine signals readiness to inconspicuously set things in motion. Secret transactions, such as the exchange of private keys – which allow access to encrypted data or to one's own crypto currency – could be carried out here. But the Cryptic Machine Prototype N5 seems to be only supposedly active, because the controls for entering information are no longer available. Only an N appears on the surface, indicating a company logo and previous activity.