Under the guise of technological progress,
a large mass of digital-based artwork has turned into simple explorations
into the novelty of new media. Faster, bigger, and more realistic, a
considerable portion of technologically-endowed artmaking use the special
effects of the technology as a guide for creation. The novelty and
capabilities of the media -- along with a general hope in progress and
globalism -- have become the "technologically politically
correct" virtues cherished by many creators. Addressing this issue, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer presents in LEONARDO [1] an article and exhibition titled "Perverting Technological Correctness". While defining "Technological Correctness"[2], Lozano-Hemmer presents documentation of nine artworks which challenge this concept. The nine works presented "are a testament to the inevitability rather than the novelty of the technology" (p.5). Not proposed as illustrations of the potentials of the technology they use, these works intentionally pose creative limitations. Presented within the framework of challenging Technological Correctness (TC), Rafael Lozano-Hemmer outlines the artwork within nine possible strategies in which TC can be perverted. His strategies -- in symbolic format -- are as follows:
The theory and artwork presented by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is enormously refreshing. His divergent strategies of perverting technological correctness are a welcome sight in a forum which is lacking coherent focus and language. Beyond elementary anti-technology dialogue, Lozano-Hemmer presents constructive and invigorating examples of artists utilizing inverted applications of technology -- perverting the concepts of progress, comfort, and ease which often pervade the technologically-saturated society which is occurring around us.
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
NOTES [1] LEONARDO. M.I.T. Press. Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 5-15, 1996.[2] The term "Technological Correctness" is referenced to originate from art critic Lorne Falk. |