Jon Rafman Explained

Jon Rafman (born 1981) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, and essayist. His work centers around the emotional, social and existential impact of technology on contemporary life. His artwork has gained international attention and was exhibited in 2015 at Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (Montreal)[1] and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.[2] He is widely known for exhibiting found images from Google Street View in his online artwork 9-Eyes (2009-ongoing).[3] [4]

Biography

Rafman was born in Montreal, Canada. He holds an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature from McGill University. He lives in Montreal.

Work

Rafman's work focuses on technology and digital media, often using narrative to emphasize the ways in which they connect users back to society and history. Much of his work focuses on melancholy in modern social interactions, communities and virtual realities (primarily Google Earth, Google Street View and Second Life), while still bringing light to the beauty of them in a manner sometimes inspired by Romanticism. His videos and art utilize personal moments intended to reveal how pop culture ephemera and subcultures shape individual desires, and will often define those individuals in return.

Kool-Aid Man in Second Life

Rafman's Kool-Aid Man in Second Life project consists of films and participatory tours around the virtual universe of Second Life, which is hosted by his avatar, a 3D render of the Kool-Aid Man. Rafman conducted these tours live, inviting audience members to take part in the exploration of the virtual world as he guided and contextualized the experience [5] Kool-Aid Man in Second life is a quasi-ethnographic tour of the wildly varied fantasies invented and pursued by denizens of the web's murkier corners.[6] Rafman describes this project as an exploration of new communities that formed as the internet became a ubiquitous aspect of modern life.[7]

Collaboration with Oneohtrix Point Never

In September 2013, Rafman collaborated with Brooklyn-based experimental musician Daniel Lopatin, better known by his stage name Oneohtrix Point Never, on a music video for "Still Life" to accompany the release of R Plus Seven on Warp Records.[8] The two later collaborated to create a two-part music video for "Sticky Drama", from Lopatin's 2015 album Garden of Delete.[9]

Nine Eyes of Google Street View

In 2008, Rafman started Nine Eyes of Google Street View, a long-term archival photo project which uses screenshots of Google Street View images as its source.[10] These images from across the world are arranged in a massive database and published in books, on blogs and as prints for his various exhibitions.[11] Rafman later began to keep an ongoing Tumblr blog where he would post his Google Street View images.[12]

Dream Journal

In 2016, Rafman's animated feature-length film Dream Journal premiered at the Sprüth Magers gallery in Berlin.[13] Inspired by Rafman's habit of recording and animating his dreams, the film through a series of dream episodes explores the effects that technology and the internet have on the human psyche. Rafman has called the process of working on the film a form of "worldbuilding" with the desire to create a Boschian-like vision of our current hellscape.[14] [15] [16] [17] Its musical score was created by Oneohtrix Point Never and James Ferraro.[13] [17]

Career

Jon Rafman's oeuvre has been situated within the Post-Internet art movement.[18] He has risen to acclaim with his project Nine Eyes of Google Street View,[19] [10] [20] which developed a distinctly post-internet approach to photography.[18] His work has been included in numerous prestigious international biennials, including the 58th Venice Biennale,[21] 13th Lyon Biennale,[22] 9th Berlin Biennale,[23] and Manifesta 11.[24] In 2015, the City of Montreal and the Contemporary Art Galleries Association awarded Rafman the Prix-Pierre-Ayot prize for emerging artists.[25] Rafman represented Quebec twice as a finalist in the competition for the 2015 and 2018 Sobey Art Award.[26] [27] In 2018, Parisian fashion house Balenciaga commissioned Rafman to create an immersive LED tunnel for their Spring-Summer 2019 show.[28] [29] Rafman is represented by art galleries Sprüth Magers (Berlin, Los Angeles, London) and Seventeen (London).[30]

Among public collections holding examples of his work are The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the MAXXI in Rome, National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and others.

In July 2020, accusations of sexual misconduct were leveled against Rafman on the instagram account @surviving_the_artworld and reported by the Montreal Gazette.[31] [32] Jon Rafman successfully sued the Gazette for defamation. The stories were removed from the site, with the newspaper apologizing to the artist for not giving "equal time or space to Mr. Rafman to refute the claims against which he had evidence".[33] At the time, the Hirshhorn Museum suspended a planned Rafman exhibit and his Montreal gallery broke off its relationship with him.[34] [35] [36]

In February 2022, Jon Rafman's film Punctured Sky (2021) won the KNF (Circle of Dutch Film Journalists) prize at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).[37]

In January 2023, rapper Lil Yachty released his critically acclaimed album Let's Start Here with Rafman's artwork on the cover.[38] In July 2023, Rafman contributed artwork to rapper Travis Scott's highly anticipated album, Utopia.[39] In January 2024, Kanye West posted a trailer to Instagram with the caption "VULTURES TRAILER BY JON RAFMAN" for his collaborative album with Ty Dolla Sign, Vultures.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Publications with contributions by Rafman

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jon Rafman Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. www.macm.org. 2016-05-08. 2016-06-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160604004948/http://www.macm.org/en/expositions/jon-rafman-2/.
  2. Web site: Grrr.nl. Jon Rafman: I have ten thousand compound eyes and each is named suffering. 2020-09-22. www.stedelijk.nl. en.
  3. Web site: The Nine Eyes of Google Street View: a photo project by Jon Rafman. February 21, 2012. www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. Book: Guardiola, Ingrid. L'ull i la navalla. Ingrid Guardiola. Arcadia. 2018. 978-84-947174-7-5. ca.
  5. Web site: Revealing Jon Rafman by Lindsay Howard - BOMB Magazine . 8 July 2010 .
  6. Web site: This is Where It Ends: The Denouement of Post-Internet Art in Jon Rafman's Deep Web. 9 July 2015.
  7. Web site: Jon Rafman discusses his show at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. 3 July 2014 .
  8. News: Ben. Valentine. June 11, 2014. Jon Rafman's Not-So-Still Life of a Digital Betamale. Hyperallergic. December 21, 2020.
  9. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Sticky Drama - Music Video . YouTube.
  10. News: The street views Google wasn't expecting you to see – in pictures . The Guardian . 20 February 2012 .
  11. Web site: Jon Rafman Finds a Slice of Humanity in the Digital Terrain. 28 July 2019.
  12. Web site: 29 weird and beautiful images found on Google Street View . .
  13. News: Rafferty. Penny. October 6, 2017. Play // Dream Journal: An Interview with Jon Rafman. Berlin Art Link. December 11, 2020.
  14. Web site: Portrait: Jon Rafman . 3 March 2020 .
  15. News: Freeman. Nate. Alexander Forbes. June 12, 2018. 10 Must-See Works at Art Basel Unlimited. Artsy. December 11, 2020.
  16. News: Bockowski. Piotr. November 1, 2019. Venice Biennale 2019: Jon Rafman: Dream Journal. This Is Tomorrow. December 11, 2020.
  17. News: September 17, 2018. Fondazione Modena Arti Visive. e-flux journal. December 11, 2020.
  18. Web site: Towards a Postinternet Sublime . 4 January 2018 .
  19. News: Global Entertainment . The New York Times . 30 December 2010 . Walker . Rob .
  20. Search and destroy, by Jon Rafman. Harper's Magazine. November 2009. November 2009. Rafman. Jon.
  21. Web site: Biennale Arte 2019 | Jon Rafman . 15 May 2019 .
  22. Web site: 13th Biennale de Lyon: La vie moderne .
  23. Web site: Berlin Biennale | Jon Rafman .
  24. Web site: Rafman, Jon . June 2016 .
  25. https://canadianart.ca/news/news-in-brief-jon-rafman-wins-at-montreal-awards-eastern-edges-new-director-bc-first-nations-art-awards/ News in Brief: Jon Rafman Wins at Montreal Awards, Eastern Edge’s New Director, BC First Nations’ Art Awards
  26. Web site: 2018 Sobey Art Award: Quebec - Jon Rafman CBC Radio.
  27. Web site: Jon Rafman: Sobey Finalist Slideshow .
  28. Web site: Who is Jon Rafman, the Artist Behind Balenciaga's Video Installation? . October 2018 .
  29. Web site: Balenciaga Taps Artist Jon Rafman to Reimagine Paris Fashion Show . 9 October 2018 .
  30. Web site: Jon Rafman .
  31. News: Bahr . Sarah . 2020-07-28 . Hirshhorn Suspends Jon Rafman Show After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-01-11 . 0362-4331.
  32. News: Cascone . Sarah . 2020-07-28 . Three Museums Have Pushed Back Planned Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of Sexual Misconduct . 2023-01-11 . Artnet News . en-US.
  33. News: Kanye West Has Tapped Jon Rafman for a Dystopian Trailer Teasing His Forthcoming Album . Artnet News .
  34. Web site: 2020-07-28. Three Museums Have Cancelled Planned Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of Sexual Misconduct. 2020-08-26. artnet News. en-US.
  35. News: Sarah. Bahr. 2020-09-05. Hirshhorn Suspends Jon Rafman Show After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct. The New York Times. 28 July 2020. 0362-4331.
  36. News: Valentina Di. Liscia. 2020-09-05. Three Museums Suspend Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of "Predatory Behavior". 29 July 2020. Hyperallergic.
  37. Web site: 'Eami' Wins Tiger Award at Rotterdam, 'Excess Will Save Us,' 'To Love Again' Take Prizes . 2 February 2022 .
  38. Web site: Fact . 2023-02-02 . Fact Focus: Jon Rafman . 2024-02-09 . Fact Magazine . en-US.
  39. Web site: The Creatives Behind Travis Scott's 'Utopia' Visuals. Mike. DeStefano. Complex. 3 February 2024.
  40. Web site: Jon Rafman: Minor Daemon Vol 1 — 180 Studios .
  41. Web site: Schinkel Pavillon. schinkelpavillon.de. 3 February 2024.
  42. Web site: Ordet — ₳Ɽ฿ł₮ɆⱤ Ø₣ ₩ØⱤⱠĐ₴ .
  43. Web site: You, the World and I, by Jon Rafman . 2021-12-16 . 2021-12-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211216033945/https://www.lacasaencendida.es/en/exhibitions/you-world-and-i-jon-rafman-12961 . dead .
  44. Web site: Dream Journal 2016-2019 – Schedule – Schauspielhaus Bochum .
  45. Web site: JON RAFMAN. THE MENTAL TRAVELLER. 2019-01-06. www.fondazionefotografia.org. en. 2019-01-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20190107072658/http://www.fondazionefotografia.org/en/mostra/jon-rafman-il-viaggiatore-mentale/.
  46. Web site: Jon Rafman – Carl Kostyál. 2022-01-19. en-GB.
  47. Web site: Grrr.nl. Jon Rafman: I have ten thousand compound eyes and each is named suffering. 2018-01-30. www.stedelijk.nl. en.
  48. Web site: Jon Rafman. 2020-09-22. MAC Montréal. en-US.
  49. Web site: FUTURE GALLERY. 2018-01-30. futuregallery.org.
  50. News: Jon Rafman, A Man Digging - Seventeen. en-GB. Seventeen. 2018-01-30.
  51. Web site: Jon Rafman: You Are Standing In An Open Field Zach Feuer. 2018-01-30. www.zachfeuer.com.
  52. Web site: What a Wonderful World | MAXXI . 3 March 2022 .
  53. Web site: Ticket to the Future .
  54. Web site: Malmö Sessions – Carl Kostyál. 2022-01-19. en-GB.
  55. Web site: Stockholm Dinner Sessions – En Tillställning at Blique – Carl Kostyál. 2022-01-19. en-GB.
  56. Web site: Call me – Carl Kostyál. 2022-01-19. en-GB.
  57. News: Speculations on Anonymous Materials. en. 2018-01-30. 2018-01-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20180126075012/http://www.fridericianum.org/exhibitions/speculations-on-anonymous-materials.
  58. News: Jon Rafman – MAC Montréal. en-US. MAC Montréal. 2018-01-30.
  59. News: 2016-05-26. Jon Rafman. Palais de Tokyo EN. 2018-01-30.
  60. Web site: JOHAN BERGGREN GALLERY. 2018-01-30. www.johanberggren.com.
  61. News: 'Free,' at New Museum, Explores Internet as Public Art Scene. Rosenberg. Karen. 2010-10-21. The New York Times. 2018-01-30. en-US. 0362-4331.
  62. Karl-Magnus Johansson (2013), Communicating the Archive : Physical Migration, The Regional State Archives in Gothenburg.

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