Laura Kurgan. You Are Here

Laura Kurgan’s installation at MACBA was based on research around the presence of contemporary location and positioning information technologies applied to architecture. A GPS (Global Positioning System) of the type commonly used in the fields of mapping and engineering allowed the artist to produce graphics and drawings that were specific to the MACBA building and at the same time entailed a reflection on the fundamental activities of architecture: to draw, represent and interpret a place.

GPS is a system based on twenty-four satellites and four ground stations that transmit highly accurate location data which can be accessed by any portable receiver. Kurgan’s installation displayed graphics resulting from different routes through the ground floor of the museum and included a terminal that relayed the connection with the satellite system in real time.

Laura Kurgan, a South African architect based in New York, has carried out several projects including Sonata (1991-1992), Browsing (1995), Around Ground Zero (2001) and Million Dollar Blocks (2005). You Are Here had previously been shown at the Storefront for Art and Architecture gallery, New York, in 1994.