ABSTRACT
The capture of the subject within the operation of the signifying chain, as it supports a function of repetition automatism, radically excludes the element of chance. The significance of chance is also often referenced against Bacon's passion for gambling. It should be argued, however, that this reference fails to take account of a vital distinction to be made between the gambler's passion and that of the function of chance which Bacon works with in his art. Deleuze notes, concerning Bacon's technique, that: Free marks will have to be made rather quickly on the image being painted so as to destroy the nascent figuration in it and to give the Figure a chance, which is the improbable itself. These marks are accidental, “by chance”, but clearly the same word, “chance”, no longer designates probabilities, but designates a type of choice or action without probability.
