everything

English version below

Objekt, 2021
Modra galica, sol, cinkova plošča, pleksiglas
408 x 516 x 66 mm

Ko je Lina Rica petnajst minut pred odprtjem razstave Zmerno do pretežno spremenljivo imela pripravljene vse elemente za prvo realizacijo eksperimentalnega projekta Everything, smo prisotni od pričakovanja in napetosti zadrževali dih. Kemijska reakcija, na kateri delo temelji je preprosta, vendar učinkuje fascinantno. Vsaka postavitev je ponovitev izvedbe z enakimi sestavnimi deli, ki se vsakič na novo zažene, nikoli pa ni popolnoma enaka prejšnji(m). Gre za delo v procesu, ki vključuje počasno in vztrajno nastajanje v realnem času. Umetnica potopi cinkovo ploščo v rezervoar iz pleksi stekla, napolnjen z raztopino bakrovega sulfata, soli in vode. Mešanica reagira na ploščo in jedka nezaščitena področja na njej – črke, napis. S tem se v jasni, lahko berljivi tipografiji odkriva beseda »everything«. Reakcija steče takoj in je najbolj intenzivna na začetku; vidno, postopno jedkanje spremljajo mehurčki, spreminjanje tonov modro-zelene tekočine ter bakrenih odtenkov na plošči. Sčasoma se reakcija umiri, spremembe se dogajajo vse bolj počasi in neenakomerno, preostanek izjedkanega materiala pa se kopiči na dnu rezervoarja. Nekatere črke izginejo popolnoma, druge manj. Tudi barva raztopine bledi – sčasoma postaja vse bolj podobna vodi, kar se zdi kot povratek na začetek, nekakšen zaključek cikla. Mirovanje potencira zevajoča, vse večja praznina na plošči, preko katere beremo napis. Na videz pomenljivo, preprosto sporočilo vsebujeje dvoumnost, celo paradoksalnost. Kot pred nami dobesedno razpada (beseda) vse, to vse hkrati v variaciji oblike, drugačni snovnosti in navsezadnje pomenskosti, tudi ostaja.

Premišljena uporaba besed v umetniških delih je pogosta praksa Line Rica. Največkrat kot orodje uporablja spletne baze, arhive in programe, preko katerih raziskuje pogostost uporabe izbranih besed, odnose med njimi, ipd. Z uporabo in izolacijo besed, ki se zdijo jasne, hkrati pa so pomensko izredno odprte, gledalca pritegne k branju, ki mu po prvem vtisu razumevanja, sledita negotovost, dvom. Avtorica z učinkovitostjo, ki jo formalno lahko navežemo na tradicijo strategij oglaševanja, vsebinsko pa na konceptualno umetnost, gledalca vključi v lastno raziskovanje moči jezika ter prevpraševanje možnih branj, pomenov in vsebin.

Delo tudi povzema teme s katerimi se umetnica ukvarja – zanima jo percepcija časa, družbeni in naravni procesi ter njihovi vplivi na posameznika; procesi trajnosti, spremenljivosti in minljivosti. Tako ne preseneča, da so njena dela največkrat procesualne narave, vsebujejo pa tudi elemente performativnosti. Spomnimo se akcije From Sea to Sea (2006-), kjer avtorica 3 dl vode iz enega morja pretoči v drugega. Dejanje kaže banalnost človeške percepcije in zamejevanja nečesa, kar je dejansko ena celota (voda) ter začasnost, neoprijemljivost te navidezne zamejenosti. S poetično gesto v obstoječ sistem vnese (ne)vidno spremembo, na drugi strani pa v projektu Everything sama ustvari sistem oziroma okoliščine, pogoje za njegovo vzpostavitev. Ta zaradi svoje relativne avtonomije in predvidljivosti delovanja, predvsem pa zaradi vidne transformacije, vzbuja vtis živega sistema. Njegova ključna elementa sta prav aspekt časa in trajanja ter vidik življenja.

Ni nepomembno, da se v obravnavanem projektu avtorica ne referira eksplicitno niti na osebno zgodovino, niti na nek specifičen, odmerjen zgodovinski čas. Projekt lahko označimo kot izrazito univerzalen, brezčasen v smislu pomenskosti, s čimer se dotika dveh stvari; splošnega stanja sodobne ujetosti v trajajočo sedanjost ter vprašanja lastne časovnosti. Kadarkoli gledalec pristopi k projektu, lahko le ugiba, katero fazo (delovanja sistema) trenutno opazuje. Tudi če se k njemu vrača, bo ujel le prefinjeno dramaturgijo, trenutke življenja umetniškega dela. Ponovitve enega koncepta, ki se zgodi v več manifestacijah, vsakič kažejo točke sprememb, ki jih narekuje notranja sestava sistema, nevidni principi samoorganiziranosti – prav to je tisto, kar vzbuja občutek živosti. Zato projekt neobhodno odpira tudi vprašanja: ali sploh zaznamo, kdaj je konec reakcije in ali to pomeni tudi konec dela, vsaj ene od njegovih modifikacij? Ob možnosti neskončnih ponovitev procesa, kaj razumemo kot njegovo prekinitev in/ali gre za neprestano kroženje? Kljub neodvisnosti sistema, ki ga Lina Rica implementira v (dokaj) nevtralno okolje galerije je ona tista, ki ga upravlja, kar implicira vzporednice z razumevanjem sistemov in procesov v širšem smislu. Slednje še vedno temelji na zaupanju v njihovo gotovost in predvidljivost, kar v sodobnosti, ki je izrazito nestabilna in brezčasovna, kliče po stalnem prevpraševanju in refleksiji.

Nina Skumavc, besedilo za katalog razstave Vračanje pogleda v Cukrarni, 2021

1 Lina Rica, Zmerno do pretežno spremenljivo, 16. 9. – 5. 10. 2021, Galerija P74, Ljubljana.

2 Tokrat Everything, prej npr. animirana svetlobna instalacija NowHere, 2018

3 Za razliko od nekaterih drugih del, sploh tistih iz postavitve v Galeriji P74.

4 Brez oziranja v preteklost ali prihodnost.

EVERYTHING
2021

Object, 2021
Copper(II) sulphate, salt, water, zinc, plexiglass
408 x 516 x 66 mm

When Lina Rica had all the elements ready for the first realisation of the experimental project Everything fifteen minutes before the opening of the exhibition Partly to Mostly Changeable,1 everyone present was holding their breath with anticipation and tension. The chemical reaction on which the work is based is simple but has a fascinating effect. Each iteration is a repeat of an implementation with the same components, which is restarted each time, but is never exactly the same as the previous one(s). It is a work in process, involving slow and steady emergence in real time. The artist immerses a zinc plate in a Plexiglas chamber filled with a solution of copper sulphate, salt and water. The mixture reacts on the plate and etches unprotected areas on it – letters, inscription. This reveals the word “everything” in clear, easy-to-read typography. The reaction begins immediately and is most intense at the start; the visible, gradual etching is accompanied by bubbles, changing hues of the blue-green liquid and copper shades on the plate. Over time, the reaction subsides, changes occur more slowly and unevenly, and the rest of the ejected material accumulates at the bottom of the chamber. Some letters disappear completely, others to a lesser extent. The colour of the solution also wanes: over time it becomes more and more like water, which seems like a return to the beginning, a kind of completion of the cycle. The stillness is potentiated by a gaping, expanding void on the plate, through which we read the inscription. The seemingly meaningful, simple message contains ambiguity, even paradox. Just as everything (the word itself) literally disintegrates in front of us, everything also remains simultaneously present in a variation of its form, a different materiality and, ultimately, its semantics.
Deliberate use of words in artworks is a common practice of Lina Rica. Most often, she uses online databases, archives and software as a tool to investigate the frequency of use of selected words, their relationships, etc. By using and isolating words that seem straightforward, but are at the same time very open in meaning,2 the viewer is drawn to a reading that is immediately followed by uncertainty and doubt after the initial impression of comprehension. The artist’s effectiveness, which can be formally linked to the tradition of advertising strategies and content-wise to conceptual art, engages the viewer in her own exploration of the power of language and the questioning of possible readings, meanings and contents.
The work also summarises the topics with which the artist is concerned: she is interested in the perception of time, social and environmental processes and their effects on the individual; processes of permanence, mutability and transience. It is not surprising that her works tend to be processual in character, but they also contain elements of performativity. Consider the From Sea to Sea action (2006 – ongoing), in which the artist transfers 3 decilitres of water from one sea to another. The action shows the banality of human perception and the confusion of something that is in reality a single entity (water), and the temporary, intangible quality of this apparent confinement. With a poetic gesture, she introduces an (in)visible change into an existing system, while on the other hand, in the Everything project, she herself creates a system or the circumstances, the conditions for its emergence. With its relative autonomy and predictability of operation, and above all its visible transformation, it gives the impression of a living system. Its key elements are precisely the aspect of time and duration along with the aspect of life.
It is not insignificant that in the project under discussion, the artist does not explicitly refer to either a personal history or to a specific, measured historical time.3 The project can be described as distinctly universal, timeless in terms of semantics, thus touching on two things; the general condition of contemporary entrapment in the ongoing present,4 and the question of one’s own temporality. Whenever a viewer approaches a project, they can only guess which phase (of the system) they are currently observing. Even if they return to it, they will only catch the subtle dramaturgy, some moments in the life of the artwork. The iterations of a single concept, which happens in several manifestations, each time show points of change dictated by the internal structure of the system, the invisible principles of self- organisation; this is precisely what evokes a sense of aliveness. Therefore, the project inevitably raises the following questions: do we even know when the reaction is complete, and does this also mean the end of the work, at least of one of its modifications? Given the possibility of endless iterations of the process, what do we understand as its interruption and/ or is it a continuous cycle? Despite the independence of the system that Lina Rica implements in the (fairly) neutral environment of the gallery, it is she who manages it, which implies parallels with the understanding of systems and processes in a broader sense. The latter is still based on confidence in their certainty and predictability, which, in a highly unstable and timeless contemporary world, calls for constant questioning and reflection.

Nina Skumavc, text for the catalogue of the exhibition Returning the Gaze in Cukrarna, 2021

1 Lina Rica, Partly to Mostly Changeable, 16 September to 5 October 2021, P74 Gallery, Ljubljana.

2 This time Everything, previously for example the animated light installation NowHere, 2018

3 Unlike some of the other works, especially those in the P74 Gallery installation.