nothing

never

nowhere

(accidental duplicate of RR haiku 106)

salt in wound

salt in eye

salt on steak

flight delayed

boarding starts

in 45 minutes

excuse me

if you don’t mind

just a second

the best thing

about being with you

is being with you

i don’t like

a lot of things

i love you

waiting for my tea

waiting for my eggs

might be a while

i think

i think

too much

did i brush

my teeth

today

i’m happy

you’re happy

we’re happy

arranging elements

in time

and space

beautiful

spreadsheets

full of information

making a backup

of my backup’s

backup

i miss rio

i miss tokyo

i do not miss berlin

fridge full

kitchen clean

laundry done

when what

who how

why now

COMPLEX COMPUTATIONAL COMPOSITIONS
RAFAËL ROZENDAAL
UPSTREAM GALLERY AMSTERDAM
3 SEP – 8 OCT 2016
Photos by Gert Jan van Rooij

Complex Computational Compositions is the second solo exhibition by Rafaël Rozendaal (1980) at Upstream Gallery. In this last decade Rozendaal has made name with his artworks in the shape of websites through which he reaches an audience of over 60 million unique visitors a year. Since a couple of years he also produces physical works – in which the internet is however never far away. During Complex Computational Compositions, Rozendaal shows new works including tapestries and sculptures. A recurring theme within his body of work is to limit the influence he has as an artist on the final composition of his work.

Abstract Browsing tapestries
In 2014, Rozendaal developed the plug-in Abstract Browsing. Its code alters information from websites: images, advertisements and text fields are transformed into brightly colored geometric elements. This way, the narrative of the Internet makes room for an abstract composition that reveals the underlying structure of websites.

Rozendaal collects thousands of screenshots of Abstract Browsing generated compositions. A number of these are then selected by him to be produced as tapestry. Rozendaal: ‘I look for compositions that are the least picturesque. Painting is about a concentrated view, about beauty rather than utility. Websites are built exactly the opposite: developers are constantly looking for new structures that entice users to click somewhere, generating the highest advertisement revenue. Websites are created from necessity and efficiency, not beauty. I select compositions that are a bit awkward, unlike classic abstract painting that is about tranquility and contemplation.’

Artforum wrote about these works: Rafaël Rozendaal’s tapestries materially fix the Internet’s fleeting forms into pulsing, vibrant abstractions. […] Rozendaal’s pieces suggest a conflicted modernist hybrid of painting and tapestry—its historically intertwined relative—echoing works by Anni Albers.

Internet art and the loom are less far apart than one might think. Rozendaal: ‘It feels natural to work with this technique. The loom stood at the beginning of the industrial revolution; the punch card for mechanical looms was the first form of digital image storage. Not all output of computer art finds its manifestation on screens.’

The websites that served as the basis for the tapestries are still recognizable. The Google homepage, the Twitter feed. The floor sculpture that is also on show is constructed in the same way: the composition consists of mirrors, based on the layout of Pinterest.

Haiku
Another ongoing project of Rozendaal is his series of Haiku, short poems inspired by the Japanese tradition. “In Japanese art, the idea applies that the physical entity of a work of art is not essential. I find it interesting to distribute my work in different ways. When you scroll past a Haiku on Instagram, your concentration is very different from when you read them bundled in a book, or view them in a gallery as an isolated wall painting.’

Shadow Objects
The Shadow Objects series consists of aluminum plates with laser cut geometric shapes. For this, an industrial algorithm is used to calculate the composition that delivers the most efficient use of materials. Just like Rozendaal’s earlier series of lenticular prints, the composition is further influenced by its illumination and the point of view. With an emphasis on the dynamic potential of shading the series can be seen in the tradition of artists like Lucio Fontana and Jan Schoonhoven, translated into the twenty-first century.

The Internet versus the gallery
‘When people asked what I did in the past ten years, I had a simple answer: I create art in the form of websites. ‘ Nowadays, Rozendaal does much more: his physical and digital works emerge simultaneously and influence each other. Within that fluid practice, exhibitions constitute important moments: ‘Because I do not have a studio, I almost never see my physical works; in that sense they are more virtual to me than the websites that I can watch at any time. I see gallery exhibitions as an opportunity to examine the materiality of my work and to experience it with a different concentration. Where the Internet is about distraction, art in a gallery is about introspection, calmness and tranquility.’ Moreover, Rozendaal sees no hierarchy between his websites and physical works. ‘The experience that you have when you are at home using Abstract Browsing on your computer is as authentic as viewing one of the tapestries in a gallery. From my point of view: the Internet is like a waterfall, an exhibition more like an aquarium’.

staring gazing

looking watching

viewing seeing

i feel at home

when i’m

not at home

crispy salty

crunchy

creamy

time passes

until

time ends

i should be

i’m not

why not

that looks

so good

i love it

hot day

blue pool

dog barks

nothing

really

makes sense

what’s better

views

or likes

Abstract Browsing is a project that consists of both software and physical objects.

The browser plugin is a free software that anyone can install.

When you turn it on, you can surf the web but all web content is reduced to colored rectangles. It shows you the skeleton of the web. It’s like seeing an X-ray of a building, showing the structural elements.
Web pages are built of many smaller elements, information is organized and categorized. Text, images, tables, things we use every day but are not aware of.

I’m interested how our eyes move across the screen, how websites adapt, learn from your behavior, and change over time. Optimized to grab your attention, to never get boring, to tempt you to click and click and never leave.
Websites are constantly maximizing their efficiency, separate from aesthetic concerns. Websites learn from users by trial and error.

Technology asks new questions about composition. I’m looking for unusual compositions. Anti-compositions, unhuman compositions, compositions that humans would not have created on their own.

I surf the web every day using the plugin. Whenever I find a composition that strikes me, I take a screenshot. Just like digital photography, I take way too many images, thousands and thousands. The real challenge is editing. Making tapestries out of these compositions forces me to choose. Out of all the files I have, I have to choose which ones become objects.
The physicalization (weaving) brings focus. The software is fast and fluid, textile is expensive and slow. It slows me down, it helps me to pause and reflect.

I’ve tried to spend less time on the computer
turning procrastination into productivity
finding beauty in utility
abstraction => removal of information
from natural perception to material reduction
distraction based compositions
infinite information – infinite compositions
the aesthetics of distraction
abstraction is an escape
appropriated abstraction
weaving => mechanical painting

From Wikipedia
“The Jacquard head used replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations. It is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware. The ability to change the pattern of the loom’s weave by simply changing cards was an important conceptual precursor to the development of computer programming and data entry.
Charles Babbage knew of Jacquard looms and planned to use cards to store programs in his Analytical engine. In the late 19th century, Herman Hollerith took the idea of using punched cards to store information a step further when he created a punched card tabulating machine which he used to input data for the 1890 U.S. Census.”

ap·pro·pri·a·tion
əˌprōprēˈāSH(ə)n/
noun
the action of taking something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission.

Is appropriation a form of bullying?

Instead of making something, taking something.

The appropriated one is usually not happy.

The villain is more interesting than the hero.

What does contextualize really mean?
– to bring focus
– to isolate
– to show something that is not art to an art audience
– to present something you did not make in an empty room

Appropriation deals with intellectual hierarchy.

Creation looks naïve next to appropriation.

paint drying

grass growing

sun shining

dear computer

show me something

something cool

sometimes i miss

little holland

except when i’m there

eggs are great

trees are great

trains are great

why are sunsets

more beautiful

than traffic jams

today

i’m older

than yesterday

perhaps

everything

is perfect

don’t do too much

don’t do too much

don’t do too much

lots of time

too much time

all the time

Abstract Browsing publication now available, 72 pages full color, $20, published by The Printed Web.

Abstract Browsing 15 05 01 (Google Drive), 266 x 144 cm.

Abstract Browsing 15 05 02 (Gmail), 266 x 144 cm.

Abstract Browsing 15 05 05 (Twitter), 266 x 144 cm.

Abstract Browsing 15 05 06 (Tumblr), 266 x 144 cm.

Abstract Browsing 15 05 07 (Buzzfeed), 266 x 144 cm.

Abstract Browsing 15 05 08 (Instagram), 266 x 144 cm.

Abstract Browsing 15 05 10 (IMDb), 266 x 144 cm.

Abstract Browsing 15 05 11 (Pinterest), 266 x 144 cm.

explaining art

is like

explaining jokes

when it rains

water falls

from the sky

grey sky

cold rain

wet socks

the future

already

happened

roses are red

violets are blue

fuck you

i love email

i answer when i want

or i don’t

sun shining

snow melting

cars honking

i lied when

i was telling

the truth

the sooner you pay me

the sooner

i’m happy

January 9 – February 6, 2016

Steve Turner is pleased to present Abstract Browsing, Rafaël Rozendaal’s third solo exhibition at the gallery.

As an avid explorer of the Internet, Rozendaal finds inspiration within its inner workings. Using a plugin that he created which enables him to view the bare structure of any website, he looks at hundreds of websites every day hoping to select a single one that will become the basis for a tapestry. He looks for unusual compositions—those that an artist would not have made—and aims to discover “weird hybrids of human design and machine optimizing.” He likens pixels on a computer screen to stitches on a weaving and uses bright colors to achieve maximum impact.

wake up

fall asleep

repeat

make money

spend money

repeat

eat

poop

repeat

ambition

realization

frustration

whoever

invented cheese

is a genius

everyone dies

whether you like it

or not

i love it when

i have no idea

what anyone is saying

i’m half dutch

half brazilian

not that it matters

a list

of things

to remember

i really want to

i know i shouldn’t

i think i will

summer night

a small roach

crawling on my bed

as long as i’m

with you

i’m ok

is it me?

or is that

really stupid

not sure

let me think about it

i’ll get back to you

it is very important

that i don’t do

anything

i am here

you are

there

protip

make more money

than you spend

whatever i might say

i have absolutely no idea

what i’m doing

i always hated it

but actually

it’s quite nice

buy it

and you

own it

when old people

like what i do

i make money

everything is wrong

nothing

is right

i hate new york

but i have to live here

i’m an artist

a cup of tea

too hot to drink

almost ready

the idea

of perfection

is imperfect

might have

might have happened

might have not

the best way

to organize stuff

get rid of it

if you are rich

and want to feel poor

move to new york

flight to japan

six hours passed

eight more to go

i will die

some

day

butter bacon

chili chocolate

double dip

oh no

forgot to buy

avocados

i said it before

i won’t

say it again

woke up

from a deep nap

sweaty and confused

sun coming up

first one at the pool

few drops of rain

trying not to

end up

having to

i really love

how trees move

in the wind

excuse me

do you mind

just a second

what to do

what to say

where to go

big room

big window

big view

if you’re not

early

you’re late

thank you

for making life

wonderful

make stuff

sell stuff

buy stuff

dear fried egg

you could have been

a chicken

don’t want

this

want that

if you don’t

drink water

you will die

doing something

doing something else

doing something

i dont need

a studio

i need a pool

low battery

five percent

remaining

gradually

then suddenly

the urge to poop

the only thing

better than money

is more money