Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, a Mexican digital artist born in 1967. Rafael graduated and received a bachelor’s degree in not in art but in Physical Chemistry from the Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He has showed his work all over the world and gives scholarly lectures to Universities around world as well. [1]
Rafael is an electronic artist for the most part. He does large-scale pieces that usually involve the public. He likes to work mostly in public places. He comes up the coding that goes behind the robotics of a piece. He also creates custom-made physical interface. He uses various types of materials beyond the computer; he has used robots, projectors, sound, the Internet, cell phones, and AIM. [2] He wants the public to expand and interact with what some people would not consider art. Rafael invites the public to open their minds into the future and the evolution of digital art.
Rafael Lozano is a very well know artist, and according to his website his most recent commissioned are the following:[3]
Millennium Celebrations in Mexico City -1999
Cultural Capital of Europe in the Rotterdam- 2001
United Nations World summit of cities in Lyon- 2003
Vamagueni Centre of Art and Media in Japan- 2003
Expansion of the European Union in Dublin- 2004
The 40th Anniversary of Tletelolco Student Massacre in Mexico City -2008
The one that I was mostly curious about was the 40th anniversary of Tletelolco Student Massacre in Mexico City. According to my research, the night of Tleteloco was a massive massacre that took place ten days before the 1968 Olympics. As the students and civilians were agitated because their government was not rethinking the amount they were willing to invest in this special event. The population of Mexico completely disagree with they higher authority, of their government and protested. [4]It was reported that the Mexican Government invested about 150 Million dollars. More than half of the Mexican population lives in extreme poverty. When you have your own people trying to buy beans that they produced and sold to the United States. Then later try to buy back for twice the price to feed their people that country was not having it. Three hundred deaths of students and civilians were reported death and thousand arrests.[5]
Rafael named the anniversary piece “Voz Alta”, (Loud Voice). The piece was in the middle of Tres Culturas Plaza in Tletelolco Mexico. A megaphone was placed on the site of the massacre converted peoples voices into flashes of light. Voices becoming light and as they speak their minds it records the pattern of the light. That way the lights still be blinking in the same patterns with out the voices. When there was no one participating archival recording from the 1968 were played back so that the live participation was mixed with the memory of the tragic event. The light bean hit the top of the old Ministry of Foreign Affair and then was relayed to the city by three other searchlights. Participation was uncensored and unedited. Thousands of people spoke on the Megaphone, there were survivors of the horrible massacre, and there were students from the pass and the present. There were a couple of policemen as well. There were six marriage proposals. [6]
Now he travels between Mexico, Spain and Canada. Rafael has some workshops were he teaches people who are interested how to engage technology to two or three dimensions piece or even computer art. He also has studios in the three countries as well. Some of his writing has been published in Kunstforum (Germany), Leonardo (USA), Performance Research (UK), Telepolis (Germany), Movimiento Actual (Mexico), Archis (Netherlands), Aztlán (USA) and other art and media publications.[7]
[1] Unknown Author. Web. http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/english/biography.htm. Viewed October 29th 2009.
[2] Unknown Author. Web. http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/english/biography.htm. Viewed October 29th 2009.
[3] Unknown Author. Web. http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/english/biography.htm. Viewed October 29th 2009.
[5] Unknown Author. Web. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlatelolco_massacre.> . Taltelolco Massacre. Viewed November 2nd 2009.
[6] Unknown Author. Web Video. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0zjfvB74Vs> posted May 13th 2009. “Voz Alta , part 1 and 2. Viewed November 1st 2009.
[7] Unknown Author. Web. http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/english/biography.htm. Viewed October 29th 2009.
