Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer coined the term 'Relational Architecture' to refer to large-scale interactive events that transform emblematic buildings through new technological interfaces.


Lozano-Hemmer's work involves the deployment of data-networks, monumental projections, robotic lights, custom-made sensors, samplers and other devices to create connective participatory experiences where several realities are co-present. In 1998 he was commissioned to develop a piece for the millennium celebrations in Mexico City's Zocalo Plaza. Vectorial Elevation, Relational Architecture No. 4 invited participants on the Internet to create light sculptures in the sky using a 3D interface on the Web. Participants from all over the world were able to direct searchlight beams installed on the roofs of buildings around the square, and their designs were automatically documented in the project site at http://www.alzado.net.


Body Movies, Relational Architecture No. 6 is an adaptation of an existing interactive projection artwork that will be re-presented in Liverpool city centre. 1200 portraits of people taken on the streets of Liverpool, Rotterdam, Madrid, Mexico and Montreal are projected onto a large screen in Williamson Square. The portraits will only appear inside the projected shadows of local passers-by, whose silhouettes will measure up to 20 metres high, depending on how far people are from the powerful light sources placed on the ground. The piece is managed by a custom-made computer vision system that tracks the shadows in real time. The shadow interface was inspired by Samuel van Hoogstraten's engraving The Shadow Dance (Rotterdam, 1675). Body Movies aims to explore the intersection between new technologies, urban space and public activation.


Eddie Berg and Jo McGonigal

[LESS]
Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer coined the term 'Relational Architecture' to refer to large-scale interactive events that transform emblematic buildings through new technological interfaces.


Lozano-Hemmer's work involves the deployment of data-networks, monumental projections, robotic lights, custom-made sensors, samplers and other devices to create connective participatory experiences where several realities are co-present. In 1998 he was commissioned to develop a piece for the millennium celebrations in Mexico City's Zocalo Plaza. Vectorial Elevation, Relational Architecture No. 4 invited participants on the Internet to create light sculptures in the sky using a 3D interface on the Web. Participants from all over the world were able to direct searchlight beams installed on the roofs of buildings around the square, and their designs were automatically documented in the project site at http://www.alzado.net.


Body Movies, Relational Architecture No. 6 is an adaptation of an existing interactive projection artwork that will be re-presented in Liverpool city centre. 1200 portraits of people taken on the streets of Liverpool, Rotterdam, Madrid, Mexico and Montreal are projected onto a large screen in Williamson Square. The portraits will only appear inside the projected shadows of local passers-by, whose silhouettes will measure up to 20 metres high, depending on how far people are from the powerful light sources placed on the ground. The piece is managed by a custom-made computer vision system that tracks the shadows in real time. The shadow interface was inspired by Samuel van Hoogstraten's engraving The Shadow Dance (Rotterdam, 1675). Body Movies aims to explore the intersection between new technologies, urban space and public activation.


Eddie Berg and Jo McGonigal

PROJECT CREDITS:

Courtesy the artist


Liverpool version commissioned by Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art International Exhibtion 2002 in association with FACT [Foundation for Art & Creative Technology] and developed with the support of V2 and the Canada Council for the Arts Supported by the Canadian High Commission, The Henry Moore Foundation, the Liverpool Culture Company Ltd, the Northwest Development Agency and the Quebec Government Office in London.


With thanks to: Liverpool City Council.


Body Moves; Concept and Direction: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer; Programming: Conroy Badger, Crystal Jorundson; Portraits: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Julia Garcia, Ana Parge, Donato Lemmo, Elizabeth Anka; Production: V2_Organisatie, in collaboration with the City Theatre in Rotterdam and the Canada Council for the Arts.

[LESS]
PROJECT CREDITS:

Courtesy the artist


Liverpool version commissioned by Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art International Exhibtion 2002 in association with FACT [Foundation for Art & Creative Technology] and developed with the support of V2 and the Canada Council for the Arts Supported by the Canadian High Commission, The Henry Moore Foundation, the Liverpool Culture Company Ltd, the Northwest Development Agency and the Quebec Government Office in London.


With thanks to: Liverpool City Council.


Body Moves; Concept and Direction: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer; Programming: Conroy Badger, Crystal Jorundson; Portraits: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Julia Garcia, Ana Parge, Donato Lemmo, Elizabeth Anka; Production: V2_Organisatie, in collaboration with the City Theatre in Rotterdam and the Canada Council for the Arts.