Niko Abramidis &NE, Cryptic Machine Prototype C2 (Bergkristall Update), 2021

2021

Medium

Steel, pinpad, LED tubes, LCD screen and video loop (1:33 min)

Dimensions

110 × 86 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-156303

As if destined for strategic corporate management, large, machine-like works from Niko Abramidis &NE's series Cryptic Machine Prototypes, which began in 2018, hang on the walls. Colorful light emerges out of cuts in the raw steel surface forming symbols, screens and pin-pads, all indicating possible functions as vending machines or control elements, long forgotten and undecipherable. The integrated videos play with the aesthetics of corporate image-films, now long perished. Sporadic nature shots are interrupted by fade-in program sequences, reminding the viewer of greenwashing campaigns of large corporations. In the Cryptic Machine Prototypes, symbols and technologies from various ages collide, forming an archeology of the future that cannot be clearly deciphered. With an eye for the ironic, Abramidis &NE designs machine prototypes with an archaeological patina from an unknown, futuristic era. With these works, the artist distorts comprehensible time horizons, thus referring to the economic processes of our time that have become impenetrable and inexplicable in their complexity. The letter code V€Q is lasered onto the steel surface over the screen of Cryptic Machine Prototype C2 (2021). This logo, from a fictitious bank, follows the logic of economic systems that utilizes abbreviations for efficiency purposes and creates company names that mirror the respective thought structures. The abbreviation V€Q stands for Vision Equity, a recurring term in Abramidis &NE's cosmos, which expresses his vision of equality within the financial world and at the same time referring to the artist's stock system of the same name. Additional to the letter code, a black trackball with buttons gives the appearance of a functional machine. This impression is reinforced by a blue color accent, reminding the viewer of the reflective glass of corporate architecture and skyscrapers, mirroring the sky. On the screen, a sequence reminiscent of classic image films is repeatedly superimposed by flashing codes, as if bitcoins were being "mined" in the background. Cryptic Machine Prototype C2 remains an enigmatic machine, uniting various ages and eluding current functionality and legibility while predicting an undetermined future.