Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Under Scan comes to London for 10 days
On the Northern Terrace of Trafalgar Square 15-23 November 2008
Free everyday from dusk until midnight

Artwise Curators and Art Lights London are pleased to announce the opening of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Under Scan, currently on view on the Northern Terrace of Trafalgar Square, in front of the National Gallery in London. Under Scan is the world’s largest interactive art work, covering over 2,000 square meters of public space.  The temporary installation is great fun and transforms a public space into an area in which people of all ages and backgrounds can have “a strange, magical and elusive experience that will be remembered for many years to come”  - Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

Under Scan involves two monumental projectors powered by 110,000 lumens of light and employs a very sophisticated computer tracking-system.  Basically, the public area is flooded with light by the powerful projectors and when spectators walk into the space, their body casts a shadow and ultimately triggers an image of a person (referred to as a “video portrait”) to appear in their personal shadow.  The “video portrait” is not a static one, but in fact responds to your movements and even predicts where you will be located within the light-filled outdoor space.  Under Scan includes over 1,000  “video portraits”, making the possible encounters appear endless -  250 of which were newly filmed at Tate Modern, London this past September in preparation for Under Scan’s launch in Trafalgar Square. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is a leading artist in the field of digital electronic art.

Working with ArtReach, the Canadian High Commission, the Québec Government Office in London, the Mexican Embassy and a collaboration of highly prestigious partners, Art Lights London is delighted to see the realisation of this installation. Originally commissioned by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and produced by ArtReach. Under Scan in Trafalgar Square has brought together an unprecedented partnership between some of the most important art and cultural institutions in the country including: Arts Council England, Art Lights London, the Canadian High Commission, Haunch of Venison, Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Jumex Foundation, the Mexican Embassy to the UK, the National Gallery, Québec Government Office the Science Museum and Tate Media and Tate Modern.

Art Lights London is a not-for-profit cultural legacy programme of temporary and permanent public art installations using light as its key element.  This will take the form of an annual outdoor museum of light projects across London. Art Lights London has been set up by Artwise Curators, with the British Council and Transport for London as its strategic partners.

For more information on Art Lights London please click here
For more information on Under Scan please visit www.underscan.co.uk