Installation Laboratory consists of three different parts: Experiment No. 1, Experiment No. 2 and Experiment No. 3 – Wave Generator.
Art in the modern art world has always involved apparatus and machines – from Laszlo Moholy-Nagy to Tinguely, through to Otto Piene. The aim of the mechanics was always clear: movement, changes of forms, the rhythmisation of light. However, Siniša Lordan has built a “test system” composed of various parts the aim of which is apparently not to reveal its function. If one were to understand what the apparatus were made for, it would no longer be so interesting: an explanation would provide leave to depart.
In Experiment No. 1, a mineral powder is stirred up – using a pneumatic mechanism – in a glass with water. The material consists of ground up crystals, mostly white-grey but including some that are coloured or semi-transparent. They swirl up and then sink slowly to the bottom of the glass. An automatic timer regulates the length of the mechanical activities and the pauses between them. The observer can watch the swirling up and then the gradual sinking of the coloured material. This occurrence alone makes one curious: what is gradually happening here? It is a test that Siniša Lordan tried out constantly as a child, mineral dust in a glass of water. The fascination remains to this day. Experiment No. 2 is similar. The only difference here is that the visitor can press a button to start the mixing apparatus. During the Experiment No. 3 procedure, the wave generator is mostly hidden during the action, which makes the spectator even more curious. Something is happening in an enclosed aluminium box. From above, one can only see a pendulum operated by an electronically controlled, but noisy, mechanism. On the screen, one can see what is happening inside – a mechanism that causes a shovel inside the box to set off tiny movements in the water. The movements cause waves that are irregular and unexpected. Sometimes the waves are very calm and sometimes rougher. One cannot stop "watching" them.
From the text written by prof. dr. Erich Franz
