Artist:
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
Title:
Open Air
Year:
2012
Adress:
Benjamin Franklin Parkway (temporary)
Website:
www.associationforpublicart.org:
A world-premiere temporary interactive light installation created specifically for Philadelphia and for participation by the general public.
24 powerful robotic searchlights directed by participants’ recorded messages and GPS locations created unique, dynamic light formations in the night sky.
Inspired by the city’s rich tradition of democracy and respect for free speech.
www.codaworx.com:
Open Air was created specifically for the City’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway as a platform for public participation. Lozano-Hemmer was inspired by Philadelphia’s rich tradition of democracy and respect for free speech.
Open Air represented an intersection of visual art, architecture, and performance art – between controlled, programmed artwork and uncontrolled spontaneous audience interaction. It was a visible voicemail system, a rant line, a public stage, and an archive of recordings from Philadelphia’s past and present.
Even with its monumental siide visibility (up to 10 miles away), the project was designed to attract personal participation that created a sense of global connection, complicity, and public agency. The fanning searchlights responded to a community of voices and were activated by the participants’ messages and GPS locations. The roving lights celebrated individuality and community as people from all walks of life gathered to participate, watch, listen, and socialize. Open Air attracted constant, personal participation and promoted the Parkway as a safe and engaging nighttime destination for arts and culture.
www.lozano-hemmer.com:
Inspired by the city’s rich tradition of democracy and respect for free speech, Open Air was at once a visible voicemail system, a rant line, a public stage and an archive of recordings from Philadelphia’s past and present. The piece was the largest and brightest to date of Lozano-Hemmer’s searchlight installations. Despite its monumental size and its wide visibility, the project was not ias a cathartic pre-programmed spectacle like a fireworks display or a son-et-lumière show. On the contrary, the piece was designed to attract personal participation that created a sense of global connection, complicity and public agency.
www.codaworx.com:
Throughout the project, the artist and the Association for Public Art collaborated with many public and private groups and communities. The artist’s Antimodular studio and the digital production agency, Turbulent, programmed and developed Open Air, and Matane Productions and Syncrolite managed staging and logistics, coordinating with the City of Philadelphia during planning.
To give participants an optimal viewing experience, the City’s Streets Department turned off the Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s main streetlights and closed its lanes to car traffic. Open Air was also presented in conjunction with the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival (now FringeArts) and the DesignPhiladelphia Festival, both citywide festivals dedicated to delivering design and performance experiences.
Importantly, to kick-off each evening, diverse community groups and their messages were featured when the lights were turned on. Community groups included nonprofits Project H.O.M.E (dedicated to fighting homelessness) and William Way Community Center (advocates for the LGBTQ community); arts organizations Art Sanctuary, UbuWeb, and Grizzly Grizzly gallery; and many more.
The project also had a curated archive - the 'Voices of Philly' - compiled in collaboration with public radio station WHYY, which featured messages of 127 famous Philadelphians, including Louis Kahn, M. Night Shyamalan, Will Smith, Tina Fey, and ?uestlove.
www.associationforpublicart.org:
Using a free mobile app developed by Lozano-Hemmer’s studio, participants were invited to record and submit messages of up to 30 seconds in length – shout-outs, poems, songs, rants, dedications, proposals. In response, 24 searchlights stationed strategically along a half-mile section of the Preated unique, dynamic light formations in the sky. The lights reacted in brightness and position to the GPS locations of participants and the frequency and amplitude of their voice recording, which could be heard through the app, the project website, and public speakers located at the Project Information Center and Information Outpost along the Parkway.
Priority was given to those submitting messages from the Parkway, but for those not onsite, the project website, www.openairphilly.net, allowed users to record messages that were archived and played back by the lights if other web visitors rated them highly. All participants had a personalized webpage created automatically with their message, comments, and images of the light sculptures that their voice created. Each evening, invited community groups were the first voices and opened the night with their featured messages. The archive (accessible on the project website) also features selected 'Voices of Philly,' recorded messages from distinct individupast and present who have inspired and influenced the flavor of Philadelphia.
www.wikipedia.org:
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (born 1967 in Mexico City) is a Mexican-Canadian electronic artist who works with ideas from architecture, technological theater and performance. He holds a Bachelor of Science in physical chemistry from Concordia University in Montreal. Currently, Lozano-Hemmer lives and works in Montreal and Madrid.
A world-premiere temporary interactive light installation created specifically for Philadelphia and for participation by the general public.
24 powerful robotic searchlights directed by participants’ recorded messages and GPS locations created unique, dynamic light formations in the night sky.
Inspired by the city’s rich tradition of democracy and respect for free speech.
www.codaworx.com:
Open Air was created specifically for the City’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway as a platform for public participation. Lozano-Hemmer was inspired by Philadelphia’s rich tradition of democracy and respect for free speech.
Open Air represented an intersection of visual art, architecture, and performance art – between controlled, programmed artwork and uncontrolled spontaneous audience interaction. It was a visible voicemail system, a rant line, a public stage, and an archive of recordings from Philadelphia’s past and present.
Even with its monumental siide visibility (up to 10 miles away), the project was designed to attract personal participation that created a sense of global connection, complicity, and public agency. The fanning searchlights responded to a community of voices and were activated by the participants’ messages and GPS locations. The roving lights celebrated individuality and community as people from all walks of life gathered to participate, watch, listen, and socialize. Open Air attracted constant, personal participation and promoted the Parkway as a safe and engaging nighttime destination for arts and culture.
www.lozano-hemmer.com:
Inspired by the city’s rich tradition of democracy and respect for free speech, Open Air was at once a visible voicemail system, a rant line, a public stage and an archive of recordings from Philadelphia’s past and present. The piece was the largest and brightest to date of Lozano-Hemmer’s searchlight installations. Despite its monumental size and its wide visibility, the project was not ias a cathartic pre-programmed spectacle like a fireworks display or a son-et-lumière show. On the contrary, the piece was designed to attract personal participation that created a sense of global connection, complicity and public agency.
www.codaworx.com:
Throughout the project, the artist and the Association for Public Art collaborated with many public and private groups and communities. The artist’s Antimodular studio and the digital production agency, Turbulent, programmed and developed Open Air, and Matane Productions and Syncrolite managed staging and logistics, coordinating with the City of Philadelphia during planning.
To give participants an optimal viewing experience, the City’s Streets Department turned off the Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s main streetlights and closed its lanes to car traffic. Open Air was also presented in conjunction with the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival (now FringeArts) and the DesignPhiladelphia Festival, both citywide festivals dedicated to delivering design and performance experiences.
Importantly, to kick-off each evening, diverse community groups and their messages were featured when the lights were turned on. Community groups included nonprofits Project H.O.M.E (dedicated to fighting homelessness) and William Way Community Center (advocates for the LGBTQ community); arts organizations Art Sanctuary, UbuWeb, and Grizzly Grizzly gallery; and many more.
The project also had a curated archive - the 'Voices of Philly' - compiled in collaboration with public radio station WHYY, which featured messages of 127 famous Philadelphians, including Louis Kahn, M. Night Shyamalan, Will Smith, Tina Fey, and ?uestlove.
www.associationforpublicart.org:
Using a free mobile app developed by Lozano-Hemmer’s studio, participants were invited to record and submit messages of up to 30 seconds in length – shout-outs, poems, songs, rants, dedications, proposals. In response, 24 searchlights stationed strategically along a half-mile section of the Preated unique, dynamic light formations in the sky. The lights reacted in brightness and position to the GPS locations of participants and the frequency and amplitude of their voice recording, which could be heard through the app, the project website, and public speakers located at the Project Information Center and Information Outpost along the Parkway.
Priority was given to those submitting messages from the Parkway, but for those not onsite, the project website, www.openairphilly.net, allowed users to record messages that were archived and played back by the lights if other web visitors rated them highly. All participants had a personalized webpage created automatically with their message, comments, and images of the light sculptures that their voice created. Each evening, invited community groups were the first voices and opened the night with their featured messages. The archive (accessible on the project website) also features selected 'Voices of Philly,' recorded messages from distinct individupast and present who have inspired and influenced the flavor of Philadelphia.
www.wikipedia.org:
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (born 1967 in Mexico City) is a Mexican-Canadian electronic artist who works with ideas from architecture, technological theater and performance. He holds a Bachelor of Science in physical chemistry from Concordia University in Montreal. Currently, Lozano-Hemmer lives and works in Montreal and Madrid.