Subtitled Public
“Subtitled Public” consists of an empty exhibition space where visitors are detected by a computerised surveillance system. When people enter the space, the system generates a subtitle for each person and projects it onto him or her: the subtitle is chosen at random from a list of all the verbs conjugated in the third person. The only way of getting rid of a subtitle is to touch another person, which leads to the two subtitles being exchanged. The project exists in Spanish, English and French versions.
Subtitled Public invades the supposedly neutral and public space of contemplation that exists in museums, underlining the violent and asymmetrical nature of observation. The piece also attempts to highlight the arbitrariness of computerized surveillance systems now used in public and private spaces that attempt to detect suspicious individuals and classify people by ethnic group for example. Finally, the installation is an ironic statement about the era of technological personalisation, literally branding observers and turning them into "thematic individuals".
Subtitled Public invades the supposedly neutral and public space of contemplation that exists in museums, underlining the violent and asymmetrical nature of observation. The piece also attempts to highlight the arbitrariness of computerized surveillance systems now used in public and private spaces that attempt to detect suspicious individuals and classify people by ethnic group for example. Finally, the installation is an ironic statement about the era of technological personalisation, literally branding observers and turning them into "thematic individuals".
General info
Spanish name:
Público Subtitulado
Year of creation:
2005
Technique:
Projectors and computerised surveillance system
Dimensions:
Variable
Keywords:
Edition:
1 Edition, 1 AP
Collectors:
Tate Collection
Exhibitions
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Présence instable, Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 2018.
- The Fifth Floor: Ideas Taking Space, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 2008.
- E-art, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 2007.
- Dataspace, Conde Duque, Madrid, Spain, 2005.
- Subtitled Public, Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City, México, 2005.
Credits
- Programming: Conroy Badger
- Production Assistance: Will Bauer, Ana Parga, Maria Parga, Tara DeSimone, Matthew Marino
- Commissioned by: Fundación BBVA-Bancomer in Mexico.
Bibliography
- "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer PG." Prepared Guitar, 13 Jan. 2015. Madrid, Spain, 2015. (english) (Websites)
- "Technology a 'work of art' at the'Haunted Mansion'." Hurriyet Daily News, 19 Sep. 2013. Istanbul, Turkey, 2013. (english) (Newspapers)
- "Disembodied Presence: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer interview.." Neural Issue 26, 2006. Bari, Italy. (english) (Magazines)
- Andersson, Cecilia. "Entrevista: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer." Exit Express, Nov. 2007. Madrid, Spain, 2011. (español) (Magazines)
- Apisdorf Soto, Ximena. "La confluencia del testimonio de un testigo independiente: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer en el MUAC." Centro Público, 22 Feb. 2016. México, 2016. (español) (Websites)
- Baillargeon, Stéphane. "Le globe-trotter des arts." Le Devoir, 14 May 2007. Montréal, Québec, Canada. (français) (Newspapers)
- Bullivant, Lucy. "Responsive Environments ‒ Architecture, Art and Design." V&A Contemporary, 2006. London, United Kingdom. (english and italiano) (Books)
- edited by Ulrik Ekman. "Throughout: Art and culture Emerging with Ubiquitous Computing." The MIT Press, 2013. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. (english) (Books)
- Fernández, María. "Transnational culture at the End of the Millennium.." Cosmopolitanism in Mexican Visual Culture, University of Texas Press, 2014. Austin, Texas, United States. (english) (Books)
- Flores, Tatiana. "The Historical (Self-) Conciousness." ArtNexus, Vol.7, No.71, May 2010. Madrid, Spain. (english) (Magazines)
- Gladman, Randy. "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer." Contemporary 21, 2008. Miami, Florida, United States, 2011. (english) (Magazines)
- Laurenson, Pip. "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Interview by Pip Laurenson." The fifth floor: Ideas taking space, 2009. Liverpool, United Kingdom. (english) (Books)
- Lozada, Príamo. "Dataspace Arte Electrónico." MÉXICO EN ARCO '05, 2005. Madrid, Spain. (español) (Books)
- MacMasters, Merry. "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer mostrará cinco instalaciones en la Galería OMR - Cámaras de videovigilancia orwelliana, tema central de una exposición." La Jornada de enmedio, 2 Nov. 2004. Mexico City, México. (español) (Newspapers)
- Ozog, Maciej. "Surveilling the surveillance society: the case of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's installations." Conspiracy dwellings: Surveillance in Contemporary Art, 2010. Newcastle, United Kingdom. (english) (Books)
- Ravetto, Kriss. "Shadowed by Images: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and the Art of Surveillance." Representations 111, 2010. United States. (english) (Magazines)
- Redfern, Christine. "Noise Makers 2007 - Follow the searchlight." Mirror, 4 Jan. 2007. Montréal, Québec, Canada. (english) (Magazines)
- Redfern, Christine. "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer." Contemporary 21 ‒ special issue on digital art, no. 91, 2007. (english) (Magazines)
- Sánchez Balmisa, Alberto. "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer." 100 Artistas Latinoamericanos ‒ Latin American Artists, 2006. Madrid, Spain. (english and español) (Books)
- Walder, Paul. "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: fragmentos de un código fuente. Rafael Lozano Hemmer: fragments of a source code." Art.es, 2012. Spain. (english and español) (Magazines)
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