Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is a forty-five year old artist originating from Mexico. He attended college in Canada and majored in Chemistry. Now, as an artist, he focuses on electronic works, often projecting onto buildings and playing off of the concept of performance art. He relies heavily on the interactive strength of works (as demonstrated in his piece “Under Scan”). He uses technology to create works inspired by phantasmagoria, carnival and animatronics. Phantasmagoria is defined as a progression of dreamlike images. Carnival is defined as a mixture of something stimulating or unusual. Animatronics is defined as constructions, particularly robots, that mimic animal characteristics. From the definition of these three terms, it could be assumed that Lozano-Hemmer focuses on making unusually mixed, dream-inspire, animal-like robotics.
Lozano-Hemmer’s work is well-known and sought after. He has been invited to several prestigues showings, mostly focused in Europe and most notably shown at the 2010 Olympics. His work, including kinetic sculpture, interaction video pieces, installations and photographs, has been shown extensively around the world. He is one of the most prominent artists from Mexico and has been featured in New York’s MOMA and the TATE in London. He has been recognized extensively for his work. Lozano-Hemmer has taught at Princeton, Harvard, and prestigious art schools as Art Institute of Chicago, one of the best art schools in the nation.
I am specifically looking at Lozano-Hemmer’s piece “Under Scan,” an interactive video installation in a public square where many passerby were able to interact with the piece. His piece uses technology to track shadows and then project video clips within the shadows. The people participating within the work were videotaped for later exhibitions. By the end of the project, Lozani-Hemmmer had compiled over 1250 clips of people interacting with the work. It was interesting to see how each person interacted with the work and to have a record of that for later use. I think that the cross-cultural interconnectivity between viewer is what intrigued me most. The projection in the shadow of the current participant would show a previous participant. The idea was that the shadow was, in some way, a reflection of the person casting the shadow. The projected person is to make eye-contact with the person in real-time and to look away when they walk away. The movements are timed to be convincing as an interactive work. According to the project description, every seven minutes the project resets.
I love the interactivity of this project (and also the fact that it includes a human). This project talks about gaze and how irony of how shadow can reveal light. Computers help the projections of people fit the shadows of the passerby and also, control how long the projection is maintained. Each figure stares at the person causing the shadow until they leave, when it looks away. The strengths of this piece are the fact that it plays with the meaning of light and dark and the very definition of a shadow. I also love the fact that the projection is assertive in how it looks directly at the viewer. I imagine that I would be slightly uncomfortable if a projection stared directly at me. It is almost as if you are being challenged by something that cannot touch you. Some of the people moved towards the camera that shot them, appearing to step toward the maker of the shadow. It is interesting to see the people jump back, as if the projection will actually touch them.
The only negatives that I could critique in this work would be the accuracy of the computer technology. I do not know how close one could the projection to fit the shadow, or how quickly. It seemed to take a while before it actually appeared. However, that being said, this work is pretty impressive in its use of technology and computers. I had no idea that we could even do something like this.
My group and I want to shoot or throw paint into the planters between the archways at the campus center so that it can drip down the center pillar. Since the campus center is usually bright at night, this is an issue that I brought up to my group (specifically Ryan). Perhaps we could have one person at the computer running the projection. When a student’s shadow covers one side of the projection (since two people of either side of the planter will throw paint) that is the part that will move. They will be able to see the projected person better and it will get two people to stand together in order for the projection to work fully. I think that this would further draw the viewer’s gaze to notice the architecture of the space.
Obscura Digitial
Obscura digital is a company that creates clever marketing strategies and projects for its customers. They are known for huge projections and for constructing their touchscreen displays. They constantly push the boundaries of marketing and promote themselves as being so innovative, they are magical. According to their own website, they strive to make data available and omnipresent. Obscura digital specializes in four main areas, video mapping, immersive environments, interactive display and augmented reality. They create software that compensates for the shape of buildings so that if their measurements are off, the program cannot correct itself and cover the entirety of the space that was originally intended to be covered. Surround sound and projection paired with a completely constructed structure allows the company to provide very specifically created advertisements for their customers. They take pride in how far they have come in touch screen technology and explain that they are able to create super sensitive and large environments that respond to users’ touch and are interactive.
I am going to specifically discuss Obscura Digital’s piece in Mint Plaza, a project for McAfee, I want to first discuss the differences in discussing a company’s work versus that of a single artist. In a way, I am very disappointed that I could not find an artist name in relation to this work. While single artists have help in arranging their installations and projections, they, that one single person, are the genesis of a mammoth project. When a company takes control, there is a team of people. No one single person can be given credit for the work because it is likely that so many people worked together that the one person becomes indistinguishable. I think that there are good and bad sides to this. While a company has more resources and so, theoretically, more opportunity to create and make art at a larger scale, there is less of an artist’s hand in the work. The commercial aspect of this does not bother me… It is more the fact that I appreciate a work being one person’s creation.
Looking at the McAfee ad, it is impressive to see how seamless the projection works with the building and how exact it is in matching the building blocks with the moving ones in the projection. The creative/design team really made the building’s flat, planar surface into something even more three dimensional. There are three main parts to this clip. The building blocks rearrange and move, paint or colored water splash around on the surface of the building and balls bounce between the windows. This projection piece is specifically relevant to the piece that my group is trying to make. We want to throw paint into the planter and have it drip down the column and the part of the projection most relevant would be the bouncing paint. In the clip, the architecture of the building and the windows are used to bounce the paint around. This was definitely one of the strongest points of the clip. It utilized the structure and architecture of the building really well. While I did not think that the projection of color against the building wall was very strong, it made me realize that we will realllllyyyyyy have to take into account that we are projecting on brick. I don’t know if we are going to be able to follow through with the colored paint idea simply because of the fact that we are projecting onto red brick. Throwing water may be more feasible.
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