RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER’S RECORDERS

RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER’S RECORDERS

Christmas has come a little early at the MCA this year, with the gallery opening the doors of its first refurbed exhibition space to showcase their astounding new show, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Recorders. Recorders is an absolute delight, comprising 12 works – including two new commissions – from the Mexican-Canadian artist, famous for his large scale public and interactive works. Although all the pieces on this occasion are contained in the gallery space, the show nonetheless captures the engaging, playful and intelligent tenor of Lozano-Hemmer’s oeuvre, which makes some very creative use of the surveillance technologies that have become so ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives. Here, these technologies are re-imagined, forced into an artistic production far removed from their somewhat sinister ‘security’ functions.

Instead, Recorders offers a collection of joyful experiments, interactive in the truest sense, relying entirely on traces of the audience to construct the works. Machines record audience heartbeats and pulse them out in rows of dazzling lights, scan their fingerprints to construct a wall of whorls, capture traces of their images to populate a room with their ghosts, and measure the time they spend looking at given works. The works are fun – bound to leave a smile on your face – but they’re also thought-provoking and complex, reminding us of the inevitable entanglement of our bodies, our memories, and our actions. Treat yourself to some holiday culture for all ages, and become part of the art at the MCA this summer.

Until Feb 12, Museum of Contemporary Art, George St, The Rocks, free, mca.com.au

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