Marlene Bart's artistic research and work are characterized by a profound engagement with historical systems of order that have shaped our culture since the Early Modern period.

 

In her research and artistic endeavors, she draws upon the fascinating phenomenon of cabinets of curiosities, which serve as a mirror of our culture of collection and organization. For the exhibition "Berlain” Marlene Bart has created a contemporary work that translates the concept of a cabinet of curiosities into the present day.

 

This artwork brings together various elements and stands at the center of contemplation. A prominent element is a scan of the goddess Diana, who serves as something of an "alter ego" in Bart's works. Bart interprets Diana as a huntress, not of game, but of visual information. In her work "Diana Reloaded," she combines Diana with a Medusa, from whose head corals and skulls emerge. These elements, the coral and the coconut, serve as reference points to the aesthetics of the cabinets of curiosities. Marlene Bart's work skillfully plays with the relationship between the natural and the artificial, dislodging the traditional categories of "Artificialia" and "Naturalia."

 

This play with categories hints at the shifts and changes in our understanding of order and nature. The creation of this sculpture was made possible through a variety of computer-assisted design strategies. The process began with the 3D scanning of an original coconut used for scaling and component adjustment. Public domain scans of the Diana sculpture were combined with modeled elements.

 

The coral, on the other hand, was parametrically generated, utilizing Python scripts developed with ChatGPT 4 and employed in software such as Blender and Grasshopper for Rhino. In the early conceptual phase, Dall-E 3 was also utilized to explore various possibilities for the appearance of the sculpture. These diverse technical approaches underscore Marlene Bart's multidisciplinary approach to artistic research and design, imbuing her work with a contemporary and innovative dimension.