BORDER TUNER

BorderTuner | Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

An interactive public art installation across the US-Mexico border by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Border Tuner will launch on November 13, and be open every night from November 14 to 24, between 6:30pm to 11:00pm.

Three interactive stations on each side of the border will control powerful searchlight beams using a small dial wheel. When lights from any two stations are directed at each other, microphones and speakers automatically switch-on to allow participants to talk with one another, creating cross-border conversations.

At the beginning of each evening, prior to opening the microphones to the general public, special guests will be invited to take control of the system for 30 minutes of curated programming. These including poets, musicians, beat boxers, seniors, first nations speakers, maker/hackers, historians, and so on. During these “opening remarks” the piece will be set to a special mode where all the lights intersect and all six stations can hear each other.

Border Tuner is not only designed to create new connections between the communities on both sides of the border, but to make visible the relationships that are already in place: magnifying existing relationships, conversations and culture. The piece is intended as a visible “switchboard” of communication where people can self-represent. The project seeks to provide a platform for a wide-range of local voices and an opportunity to draw international attention to the co-existence and interdependence between the sister cities that create the largest bi-national metropolitan area in the western hemisphere.

< Arte Abierto > joins the group of collaborators who support the realization of Border Tuner that believe that art can bring people closer together, particularly in open public settings.

Border Tuner welcomes everyone to speak and listen from the stations located in El Parque del Chamizal, Ciudad Juarez and Bowie High School, El Paso.

For more information on Border Tuner visit: www.bordertuner.net