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

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

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