Body Movies
"Body Movies - Relational Architecture #6" (2001) by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is a large-scale, interactive public projection.
Body Movies; Schouwburgplein
Body Movies used over one thousand portraits - which were taken on the streets of Rotterdam, Madrid, Mexico and Montreal - and screened those through robotically controlled projectors located around the square. The portraits only appeared inside the projected shadows of local passers-by. As soon as someone walked on the square, his or her shadow was projected and the portraits were revealed within it. When no one was walking past the Schouwburgplein the portraits could not be seen, since the light sources on the floor completely washed them off.
The people on the square were invited to embody different representational narratives. Up to 80 people could take part at any given time, controlling 1,200 square metres of projections and creating a collective experience that nonetheless allowed discreet individual participation.
The shadow interface was in reference to Samuel van Hoogstraten's engraving The Shadow Dance which appears in his Inleiding tot de Hogeschool der Schilderkunst. This engraving, made in Rotterdam in 1675, shows a minute source of light placed at ground level and the shadows of actors taking on demonic or angelic characteristics depending on their size.
