Mechanisms of Power – Arcangelo Sassolino
Afasia I, 2008

Steel, compressed nitrogen, glass bottles, computer, perspex, steel cage
Courtesy Galleria Continua and Galerie Rolando Anselmi

An empty glass bottle falls into a steel tube that resembles the barrel of a gun. For one split second, this enables the opening-mechanism of a magnetic gas-valve, which releases compressed nitrogen at the pressure of 30 bar into the combustion chamber of the machine. Controlled by computer software, bottles are being fired at random intervals with 900 kilometers per hour. They smash against the steel wall at the end of the room and dissolve into minute pulverized particles.