Surface Tension
"Surface Tension" is an interactive installation where an image of a giant human eye follows the observer with orwellian precision.This work was inspired by a reading of Georges Bataille's text The Solar Anus during the first Gulf War: first wide-spread deployment of camera-guided "intelligent bombs". Present-day computerised surveillance techniques employed by the Department of Homeland Security in the United States through the Patriot Act, provide a new and distressing backdrop for this piece.
The installation was originally developed in 1992 at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid as a stage module for a theatre work by the Transition State Theory troupe. Since then, Surface Tension has been presented as an art installation, typically on a plasma screen.
General info
Exhibitions
- The Body Electric, Museum of Art and Design - Miami Dade College, Miami, Florida, United States, 2020 - 2021.
- Art in the Age of Anxiety, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2020.
- Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today, UMMA - University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 2018 - 2019.
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Decision Forest, Amorepacific Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2018.
- Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today, The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2018.
- Electronic Superhighway (1966-2016), Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal, 2017 - 2018.
- Citizens, Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Petah Tikva, Israel, 2017 - 2018.
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Transition States, Gund Gallery, Gambier, Ohio, United States, 2016 - 2017.
- Witness, New Media Gallery, New Westminister, British Columbia, Canada, 2016.
- De Ferron à BGL, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec, Québec, Canada, 2016.
- 50JPG - 50 Jours pour la Photographie (5th Triennial), Centre de la Photographie, Genève, Switzerland, 2016.
- Fairholme Unlimited Foundation, Inc., The Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida, United States, 2016.
- Electronic Superhighway, Whitechapel Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 2016.
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Pseudomatismos, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, México, 2015 - 2016.
- 1+2: Coleccion Jumex in Dialogue with the Lowe Art Museum, Lowe Art Museum, Miami, Florida, United States, 2014 - 2015.
- Digital Latin America, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, 2014.
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Vicious Circular Breathing, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey, 2013 - 2014.
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Trackers, Fundación Telefónica, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012.
- Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, The Cisneros Fontanals Foundation, Havana, Cuba, 2012.
- No, No, I Hardly Ever Miss a Show, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland, 2011 - 2012.
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Trackers, La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris, France, 2011.
- Art Basel 42, Galería OMR, Basel, Switzerland, 2011.
- Inpoliticos, Palazzo Art Napoli, Naples, Italy, 2009.
- The Prisoner's Dilemma, The Cisneros Fontanals Foundation, Miami, Florida, United States, 2008 - 2009.
- Some Things Happen More Often Than All Of The Time, Mexican Pavilion, 52 Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, 2007.
- ARCO '05, Galería OMR, Madrid, Spain, 2005.
- Art Basel 36, Galería OMR, Basel, Switzerland, 2005.
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Galería OMR, Mexico City, México, 2004.
- 2!M VR Exhibition, Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 1993.
- Tomorrow's Realities, SIGGRAPH'93, Anaheim, California, United States, 1993.
- Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, Nuremberg, Germany, 1993.
Credits
- Conroy Badger - programming
- Susie Ramsay, Will Bauer and Tara DeSimone - production
- Bruce Ramsay - model
Bibliography
- "Pseudomatismos: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", L'enfer des arts, México, November 3rd 2015 (español). Text of 5 pages. (Website)
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- "Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966)", Digicult, Milan, Italy, January 2016 (english). Text of 5 pages. (Website)
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