Cultural Matter: Rafaël Rozendaal

The materiality of the Internet.

6 March 2020 - 27 June 2020

LI-MA

This online edition of Cultural Matter featured a selection of ten websites by Rafaël Rozendaal, a Dutch-Brazilian artist who explores the materiality of the Internet.

Since 2000, Rozendaal has created numerous generative websites with an abstract and colorful visual style. These artworks find their place on the web and engage with the unique context of this environment. For the online edition of Cultural Matter, the exhibition website provided an overview of Rozendaal's online practice, showcasing his interest in art history, geometric abstraction, and animation. Each website displayed four iterations of the same work in separate frames, highlighting the concept of generative websites where they evolve in different directions over time. Visitors, both local and international, were encouraged to freely browse and click through the ten websites.

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Christiane Paul in conversation with Rafaël Rozendaal

During the live-streamed opening on YouTube, Rozendaal engaged in a discussion about his works with Christiane Paul, a renowned expert in digital art. They explored how his works connect to various media and materials, always tracing back to the internet and internet culture. The conversation focused on the production, presentation, and conservation of these diverse media forms, aligning seamlessly with LIMA's research areas. Rozendaal also shared new works and sketches from his living room during the conversation.

On the second evening, Michael Connor from Rhizome, a prominent platform for internet art based in New York, delivered a lecture on online curating. He emphasized that an online exhibition is not simply a replication of a physical exhibition, but operates under its own rules and laws. Connor provided diverse examples spanning several decades, stimulating thoughtful questions and comments from the online audience.

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Michael Connor in conversation with Rafaël Rozendaal

About Rafaël Rozendaal

Rafaël Rozendaal is a Dutch-Brazilian artist who currently lives in New York. His artistic practice comprises websites, installations, prints and writing and is as innovative as it is rooted in art history. His work takes shape through a range of transformations – from movement into abstraction, from virtual into physical space, and from website to print – with all of them informing each other. Open access to his websites is of great importance to him. Collectors and collections must, once purchased, keep the work online and publicly accessible. The way in which Rozendaal uses the internet in its work goes beyond the browser. The internet is his canvas, but he also brings the aesthetics of the internet to the physical and poetic space in the form of carpets, haikus and installations.(updated as of May 2020)