Rafaël Rozendaal – Websites

Site Gallery is delighted to be collaborating with Rafaël Rozendaal on his first UK solo exhibition, Websites, due to open September 23, 2021.

In Rafaël’s words:

I make websites-as-artworks. They are concise moving images, generative, random, colorful, moody.. I hope.
I started making websites in 1999. The internet was a great place then, the early days before the web became corporate.
It was an optimistic time full of promise. It was very exciting.
My idea was simple: I did not want to make a website that showed “IRL” documentation, I wanted to make websites that take advantage of the possibilities of the browser. These works are generative moving images. They are not videos or animations. They are code based algorithms. They behave like a fountain or waterfall, always doing the same thing but never repeating itself.
Since 1999, I’ve made about 120 websites, each in their own domain name (.com)
The domain name is the title of the work, and at the same time it’s the location of the work. Domain names are easy to remember, so whenever you want to see one of my works, all you have to do is remember a domain name.
I have exhibited my websites in physical space. Sometimes in galleries or museums, and sometimes on digital billboards in public space. I think websites should behave like gas: they can fill up any potential space. Whether you are seeing my work on a smartwatch or on a 200 meter billboard, each instance of the work is an authentic viewing experience. The work exists in infinite multitudes, any place, any time, as long as you have an internet connection.
For the exhibition “websites” which will launch at Site Gallery in September 2021, I am making a new group of concise moving images. The exhibition was supposed to launch in 2020, but Covid…
Ironically, my work has always suited a locked down life. Now that we spend much more time at home, it seemed like a good idea to launch the works on the web first, and show them later in installation form at Site Gallery.
These works are dead ends. There are no links, there is no information, there is only movement. You are presented with these works and once you are there, all you can do is stare.

In the lead-up to Websites, Rozendaal and Site Gallery collaborated on a commission where he is creating six new websites over the year. Those works can be seen here.

Image credit: Georiver, Rafaël Rozendaal. 2020.