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

Spanish name:

Tensión Superficial

Year of creation:

1992

Keywords:

database, performance, tracker, indoor, projection, interactive.

Technique:

plasma or rear-projection screen, computerised surveillance system, custom-made software

Dimensions:

variable

Edition:

5 copies + 1 AP copy

Exhibitions

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

"Metas - El arte de la tecnología", Mira Miraflores, México, November 13th 2015 (español). Text of 1 page. (Website)
"The ten brightest art exhibitions of 2016", Time Out London, London, United Kingdom, January 5th 2016 (english). Text of 6 pages. (Website)
"La abstracción biométrica de Lozano-Hemmer.", Más de Arte, Madrid, Spain, May 7th 2014 (español). Text of 4 pages. (Website)
"Ausstellung: Electronic Superhighway", Interview, Berlin, Germany, January 29th 2016 (deutsch). Text of 1 page. (Magazine)
"Pseudomatismos: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", L'enfer des arts, México, November 3rd 2015 (español). Text of 5 pages. (Website)
"El mexicano Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, en Espacio Fundación Telefónica", Arte Informado, Madrid, Spain, May 15th 2014 (español). Text of 1 page. (Website)
"Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966)", Digicult, Milan, Italy, January 2016 (english). Text of 5 pages. (Website)
"Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", The Prisoner's Dilemma, selections from Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, Miami, Florida, United States, 2008 (english). Text of 1 page. (Book)
"Pseudomatismos - Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", Lightroom, Mexico City, México, October 27th 2015 (español). Text of 3 pages. (Website)
"You're being watched: WITNESS set to open at New Media Gallery", New Westminster Record, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, August 29th 2016 (english). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Microwave International New Media Arts Festival exhibition catalogue, Microwave International New Media Arts Festival, Hong Kong, China, 2006 (english and chinese). Text of 11 pages. (Book)
"Nivel de confianza, de Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", Revista Código, Mexico City, México, April 9th 2015 (español). Text of 4 pages. (Magazine)
"Rafael Lozano-Hemmer PG", Prepared Guitar, Madrid, Spain, January 13th 2015 (english). Text of 43 pages. (Website)
Aldana, Luisa, "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", Estética y Conocimiento, April 26th 2016 (español). Text of 4 pages. (Website)
Alvarado, Nicolás , "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer o la muerte de la mirada", Milenio, Mexico City, México, November 3rd 2015 (español). Text of 3 pages. (Newspaper)
Bishop, Elizabeth Jane, "Experience the Internet as art at this new east London exhibition", Hunger TV, London, United Kingdom, January 29th 2016 (english). Text of 3 pages. (Website)
Blanco, Sergio R., "Vincula Lozano-Hemmer neuronas con caguamas - El artista presenta cinco instalaciones en la Galería OMR", Reforma, Mexico City, México, November 10th 2004 (español). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Bullivant, Lucy, Responsive Environments ‒ Architecture, Art and Design, V&A Contemporary, London, United Kingdom, 2006 (english and italiano). Text of 5 pages. (Book)
Case, Zoe, "Deconstructing [in]securities", The Collegian, Gambier, Ohio, United States, January 28th 2016 (english). Text of 3 pages. (Newspaper)
Celis, Laura, La Tecnología Encuentra al Arte, La Cultura y las Artes, Mexico City, México, November 2011 (español). Text of 4 pages. (Magazine)
Cuellar Ledesma, Diana, "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Abstracción biométrica", Los Apuntes de la Cazadora, Madrid, Spain, November 27th 2014 (español). Text of 2 pages. (Website)
da Silva, José, "Artists journey down the electronic superhighway", The Art Newspaper, London, United Kingdom, January 1st 2016 (english). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
de la Sierra, Carlos Antonio, Reviews - Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Art Nexus, vol. 3, no. 56, April - June, 2005 (english). Text of 2 pages. (Magazine)
Del Río, Enrique., "Si el arte no cuestiona la realidad es una mierda.", Hoy es arte, Madrid, Spain, May 20th 2014 (español). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Egea, Eduardo, "Transiciones afectivas", Crónica, Mexico City, México, 2016 (español). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Farías Carrillo, Jonathan, "El arte biométrico de Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", Arteria, México, March 8th 2016 (español). Text of 2 pages. (Magazine)
Farias Carrillo, Jonathan, "El arte biométrico de Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", Medium, México, June 26th 2016 (español). Text of 3 pages. (Website)
Ferrari, Sarah, "Review: Elecetronic Superhighway at Whitechapel Gallery", Spindle, London, United Kingdom, January 29th 2016 (english). Text of 4 pages. (Website)
Fino-Radin, Ben , "Digital preservations in the artist's studio", Medium, San Francisco, California, United States, October 29th 2015 (english). Text of 17 pages. (Website)
Flores, Tatiana, "The Historical (Self-) Conciousness", ArtNexus, Vol.7, No.71, Madrid, Spain, May 2010 (english). Text of 5 pages. (Magazine)
Frèrot, Christine, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Art Nexus, Bogotá, Colombia, 2012 (english). Text of 2 pages. (Magazine)
Fullerton, Elizabeth, "Winding back in time: 'Electronic Superhighway' at Whitechapel Gallery, London", Artnews, New York City, New York, United States, June 10th 2016 (english). Text of 7 pages. (Magazine)
Galilee, Beatrice, "In Trafalguar Square", Icon, Epping, United Kingdom, February 2009 (english). Text of 2 pages. (Magazine)
Galindo, Gabriela, "Pseudomatismos y otras paranoias posmodernas. Reflexión sobre el trabajo de Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", Réplica 21, Naucalpan, México, March 2nd 2016 (español). Text of 8 pages. (Website)
Groys, Boris, "El arte, ...es un medio de verdad?", Revista Ñ, Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 6th 2015 (español). Text of 2 pages. (Magazine)
Hegert, Natalie, "Electronic Superhighway 2016-1966: Digital art in history context", Mutual Art, London, United Kingdom, January 27th 2016 (english). Text of 7 pages. (Website)
Hegert, Natalie, "Post-Internet to Proto-Internet: How has the digital age affected art?", The Huffington Post, New York City, New York, United States, January 31st 2016 (english). Text of 8 pages. (Newspaper)
Hernández, Edgar A., "Cae en coma, curador de la bienal veneciana", Comunidad, Mexico City, México, June 6th 2007 (español). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Huerta, J.F., "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer | Pseudomatismos", ARTINDF, Mexico City, México, January 14th 2016. Text of 6 pages. (Website)
Johnson, Reed, "Mexico's López shapes collection", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, United States, June 18th 2006 (english). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Krzyzanek, M., "La photo à l'honneur", 20 Minutes, Lausanne, Switzerland, June 1st 2016 (français). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Lansroth, Bob, "Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966) at Whitechapel Gallery explores the impact of computers on art", Widewalls, Ermatingen, Switzerland, January 2016 (english). Text of 4 pages. (Website)
López Brizuela, Laura, "Pseudomatismos en el MUAC, una mirada crítica hacia la relación sociedad-tecnología", We're, March 30th 2016 (español). Text of 2 pages. (Website)
Lozada, Priamo, and Bárbara Perea, "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer - 'Some things happen more often than all the time'", Kunstforum, Vol. 188, Cologne, Germany, October 2007 (deutsch). Text of 1 page. (Book)
Lozano-Hemmer, Rafael, Surface Tension, Visual Proceedings ‒ The Art & Interdisciplinary Programs of SIGGRAPH 93, New York City, New York, United States, 1993 (english). Text of 2 pages. (Book)
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, Mexico City, México, November 2nd 2004 (español). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Madrigal, Pedro, "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Pseudomatismos en el MUAC", Ibero 90.9, Mexico City, México, March 22nd 2016 (español). Text of 6 pages. (Website)
Mcnamara, Rea, "Will electronic superhighway accurately historicize new media and internet art?", Art F City, New York City, New York, United States, November 13th 2015. Text of 2 pages. (Website)
Medina, Cuauhtémoc, "Participación y persecución", Reforma, Mexico City, México, November 3rd 2004 (español). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Mendoza, Christian , "Pseudomatismos", La Tempestad, Mexico City, México, October 29th 2015 (español). Text of 1 page. (Magazine)
Miles, Ned Carter, "Review of Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966) Whitechapel Gallery, London", Aesthetica, York, United Kingdom, February 25th 2016 (english). Text of 2 pages. (Magazine)
Minera, María, "Magia", El País, Madrid, Spain, December 18th 2015 (español). Text of 2 pages. (Newspaper)
Morris, Jane, "Getting digi with it: How the art world is grappling with new media", The Art Newspaper, London, United Kingdom, October 2016 (english). Text of 5 pages. (Newspaper)
Moulon, Dominique, "Electronic Superhighway", Media Art Design, France, March 2016 (français). Text of 4 pages. (Website)
Müggenbug, Norma, "Instala vigilancia tecnológica - Rafael Lozano-Hemmer presenta instalaciones que involucran computadoras, sensores y proyectores, en la Galería OMR", Reforma (Primera Fila Weekly Guide), Mexico City, México, November 5th 2005 (español). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Nguyen, Mary, "Electronic Superhighway. Artists and their responses to technology 1966-2016", Culture Vulture, London, United Kingdom, February 2nd 2016 (english). Text of 3 pages. (Website)
OConnell, Micheál, "review: Some Things Happen More Often Than All of the Time", a-n Reviews Unedited, United Kingdom, September 2007 (english). Text of 1 page. (Website)
Oybin, Marina, "Control convertido en poesía", Clarín Ñ, Argentina, November 10th 2012 (español). Text of 4 pages. (Newspaper)
Ozog, Maciej, "Surveilling the surveillance society: the case of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's installations", Conspiracy dwellings: Surveillance in Contemporary Art, Newcastle, United Kingdom, 2010 (english). Text of 7 pages. (Book)
Palapa Quijas, Fabiola, "Interactúa el público con "el arte experimental" de Lozano-Hemmer", La Jornada, Mexico City, México, November 2nd 2015 (español). Text of 3 pages. (Newspaper)
Palapa Quijas, Fabiola, "Interactividad lúdica llega a más de 260 mil espectadores", La Jornada, Mexico City, México, April 17th 2016 (español). Text of 4 pages. (Newspaper)
Pastor, Elena, "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Abstracción biométrica", Blackroom Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela, September 10th 2014 (español). Text of 7 pages. (Website)
Paul, Carlos, "México vuelve a la Bienal de Venecia tras una ausencia de más de 50 años", La Jornada, Mexico City, México, June 6th 2007 (español). Text of 1 page. (Newspaper)
Pomar, Aina, "'Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966)': a trip into cyberspace's art history", Artdependence, February 5th 2016 (english). Text of 4 pages. (Magazine)
Ravetto, Kriss, "Shadowed by Images: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and the Art of Surveillance", Representations 111, United States, 2010 (english). Text of 23 pages. (Magazine)
Sánchez Balmisa, Alberto, "Activando al Sujeto", Al Calor del Pensamiento, Daros Latinamerica Collection, Madrid, Spain, 2010 (english). Text of 3 pages. (Book)
Sansom, Anna, "Electronic Superhighway - The art it has brought", Damn Magazine, Ghent, Belgium, January 2016 (english). Text of 5 pages. (Magazine)
Saux, Frances, "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's show turns its gaze on the viewer", The Kenyon Collegian, Gambier, Ohio, United States, October 13th 2016 (english). Text of 2 pages. (Website)
Searle, Adrian, "Electronic Superhighway review - 50 years of internet sex and roadkill", The Guardian, London, United Kingdom, January 29th 2016 (english). Text of 3 pages. (Newspaper)
Sebastiano, Vincenzo, "Electronic Superhighway - Whitechapel Gallery", Qui Londra, London, United Kingdom, January 2016 (italiano). Text of 3 pages. (Website)
Tolic, Ines, "Rafael Lozano-Hemmer at the 52nd international art exhibition in Venice", d'Architettura, No. 36, Milan, Italy, August 2008 (english and italiano). Text of 6 pages. (Magazine)
Turner, Jonathan, Venice ‒ The New War Zone, Tableau Fine Arts, no. 4, Amsterdam, Netherlands, September 2007 (english and deutsch). Text of 1 page. (Magazine)
Uribe, Daniela, "Respiración y latidos convertidos en piezas de arte, en la obra de Rafael Lozano-Hemmer", Arte y Cultura, México, November 4th 2015 (español). Text of 4 pages. (Website)
Van D'huynslager, Oliver, "The eye of the beholder", The Grid, Belgium, January 25th 2017 (english). Text of 2 pages. (Website)
Welbel, Stanislaw, "No, no, I hardly ever miss a show", Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland, 2011 (english and polski). Text of 3 pages. (Book)
Westall, Mark, "How is the internet changing art? 100+ artworks 70+ artists: #ElectronicSuperhighway", Fad, London, United Kingdom, January 25th 2016 (english). Text of 7 pages. (Website)
Wong, Helen, "Witness", Magenta Magazine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, November 2016 (english). Text of 2 pages. (Website)