During Šimon Chovan’s residency at the MuseumsQuartier Vienna, he conducted research into lithium, one of the key elements in the manufacture of both computer chips and, in particular, the batteries for electric vehicles. Chovan renders the links between raw materials and technology visible in his installation Leeching States at the MQ Pop-Up Schauraum.

The visual artist draws on two raw materials standing at the beginning and at the end of the chain of lithium commodification: The first of these raw materials consists of sand and the mica minerals containing lithium, extracted from mines situated in the eastern Ore Mountains on the border between the Czech Republic and Germany. Here, the lightweight silvery-white metal is connected with the shimmering mica minerals and sand; while the other raw material is the residue of recycled lithium-ion batteries sourced from a research group at Jan-Evangelista-Purkyně-University in Ústí nad Labem, located not far from the proposed mining site in Cínovec. This residue consists of paper, zinc, copper and very small traces of lithium.

In this remix of two raw materials, Leeching States engages with the problematic impact and ethical issues that arise with the extraction and use of lithium, itself a scarce natural resource.

The two-dimensional orange works displayed along the diagonal glass frontage are printed on fragments of a thin, flexible polyimide foil that is used, for example, in the electronics, aeronautics and medical equipment sectors for its exceptional electrical, thermal and mechanical propertiesLike the two sides of a coin, each transparent surface is coated with one of these mixes of rawmaterials. The three suspended sculptures are from Chovan’s series Metabolic Intuition, made of sheet metal adorned with drawings from the residue of recycled car batteries. They have been specially adapted for the space and engage with the processing, combination and layers of raw materials — talking about ways that nature and new technogies are interwoven.

As an indepensible raw material in the production of digital devices, lithium forms the basis of the technology behind global networks and modern communications. It is the power driving ambivalent tendencies in online behaviours and the use of social media: allowing the spontaneous sharing of emotions, likes and leanings. Albeit along with a heightening of social polarisation through an over-emphasis on debating controversial issues.

The works on display are manifestations of these areas of friction and polarisation. In schematic diagrams, the language of circuitry and computer chips is mixed with a subjective moment. They engage with the physical, visual and formal levels related to environmental destruction. The shapes are evocative of satellite images of mines, or dried-up lakes, the floor plans of factories, or of oil slicks. With his penchant for pareidolia (the perception of apparently significant patterns or recognisable images in effectively random arrangements), Chovan sees patterns and meanings where there are none, so playing with our own perception, with associations and with interpretation.

— Elisabeth Hajek