1000 Platitudes

"1000 Platitudes" is a large-scale photographic intervention project. It is comprised of a video and photomontages with 1,000 words or expressions commonly used to promote globalised cities to potential investors, such as "open", "modern", "clean", "multicultural" and "cosmopolitan". To make these images, a powerful projector (110,000 ANSI lumens of intensity for images of up to 70 x 70 metres) was placed on a 12-ton truck with a generator. This mobile platform toured the Austrian city of Linz projecting onto all types of buildings: shopping malls, apartment blocks, banks, castles, churches, industrial tanks and others. At each site a letter of the alphabet was projected and then photographed before the authorities were notified. Sources of reference for this project include Etiénne-Gaspar Robertson's Phantascope (1797), a phantasmagoria projector on wheels; Krzysztof Wodiczko's deconstructivist projections, and the ShotgunTV project by Contained//Timesup (1995).

General info

Spanish name:
1000 Usos Tópicos
Year of creation:
2003

English triptych

Technique:
three Lambda C-Prints mounted on aluminum frames and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
3 panels of 300 x 120 centimeters each
Edition:
5 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Speyer Family Collection and private collectors

Spanish triptych

Technique:
three Lambda C-Prints mounted on aluminum frames and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
3 panels of 300 x 120 centimeters each
Edition:
5 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo and private collectors

Bien Hecha

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Confianza

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Different

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Espacio Público

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Established

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Exclusividad

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Exótica

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Exquisite

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Happening

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Hoy y Mañana

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Kind

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
Speyer Family Collection and private collectors

Limpia

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
FRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA and private collector

Mano de Obra

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Positive

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Quiet

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Safe

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Superior

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Top-Ranked

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Tranquilidad

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Valedora

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
1 Edition, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Vigilancia

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Welcoming

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Zonas Verdes

Technique:
Lambda C-Print mounted on aluminum frame and documentary video, 25 minutes long
Dimensions:
300 x 120 centimeters
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
private collectors

Exhibitions


Credits

  • Concept, Photography and Direction: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
  • Programming: Conroy Badger
  • Production Assistance: Natalie Bouchard, Matthew Marino, Julia Garcia, Ana Parga
  • This project was developed during the HUMO (Huge and Mobile) Workshop organized by Lozano-Hemmer and Brian Massumi at the Ars Electronica Center in Linz, with the support of V2_Organisatie in Rotterdam, and funded by the European Union.

Bibliography