Tra astrazione e presenza: l'analisi di Eugenio Battisti su automi e macchine semoventi

«The automaton is, in many ways, the means by which man projects himself beyond his existential limits, multiplies his forces, and carries out in reality, not just simulates or describes, the marvellous» (Battisti 1989:249). This paper explores Battisti's cross-disciplinary approach to automata, which, starting from art history, defines the automaton as a mythological, theatrical, technical, and historical phenomenon, while also questioning its dual essence: both mimetic and fantastical. Drawing on various examples, the discussion follows a trajectory from antiquity to the twentieth century. Battisti examines the evolving relationship between human beings and automata, highlighting the twentieth-century loss of their magical value and their transformation into passive and servile mechanisms. The paper also emphasises the parallel that Battisti draws between the contemporary automaton and modern art, which abandons traditional painting in favour of subtle allusions to a reality embodied in conceptual or interchangeable figures, “zombies”.