Here 2013 Speaker Profile: Rafaël Rozendaal conquers the internet with his visual artwork

This year our dear old friend the internet turned 30, and shows no sign of slowing down. Now more than ever, it seems apt that Rafaël Rozendaal uses it as his canvas to create visual and interactive art work. For Rafaël, the internet gives him freedom to create art work that couldn’t otherwise be conceived in the physical world.

Rafaël holds a large portfolio of visual, non-narrative websites, such as Looking At Something and contributing to The Useless Web. His work should not be taken at face value. Take openthiswindow.com, a part of a project exploring contemporary lifestyles; it gives you the option to open the window or keep it shut – a stark reminder of being cooped up inside our offices.

Aside from his digital works, BYOB (bring your own beamer) is an ongoing project created by Rafaël encouraging people to organise exhibitions where artists can set up their projectors, and beam their work onto surfaces to create a visual array. Over 130 BYOBs have taken place in the last few years, spread worldwide rapidly with its “DIY curatorial format”.

An important voice of our generation, we’re extremely excited to have Rafaël at Here 2013, our creative symposium. The title of his talk is I’m 200 years old in internet years, and will see Rafaël talk about how the internet empowers artists; the possibilities and challenges that comes with this new medium, as well as how you can use an “internet attitude” and create things in the “real world”.