plate was full

now it’s empty

back to work

can’t sleep

tried everything

still can’t sleep

very hot

very humid

very summer

no meaning

no message

no answer

beautiful

average

ugly

i’ve tried

to spend less time

on my computer

new software

new hardware

same me

i love you

you love me

we love each other

fuck the syllables

this

is a haiku

dark room

bright screen

time for bed

everything’s fucked

might as well

be happy

downloading file

less than a minute

remaining

soft bed

heavy eyes

almost asleep

should i run

should i tea

should i nap

spring sun

summer breeze

winter mood

buy buy

sell sell

happy happy

will it ever happen

am i good enough

do they understand

hot in here

hot out there

no escape

might go well

might go bad

might not happen

sharp light of spring

sound of

honking cars

don’t overthink

don’t think

don’t

as long as

you’re not dead

you’re alive

thank you toilet

for swallowing

my poop

a strong urge to write

even if

there is nothing to say

what it was

what it is

what it will be

chill out

take it easy

it’s cool

something

never seen

heard or felt

writing down

whatever

comes to mind

Soft Focus, an exhibition by Rafaël Rozendaal at MU, 2015

Photos by Boudewijn Bollmann

thinking about

doing sit-ups

never mind

Google Drive, 260 x 144 cm.

Daily Beast, 260 x 144 cm.

LA Times, 260 x 144 cm.

Pinterest, 260 x 144 cm.

Technorati, 260 x 144 cm.

Yahoo, 160 x 90 cm.

I was interviewed by Marvin Jordan for DIS magazine. We talk about the social, economic, and aesthetic conditions that characterize the landscape of internet-based art.

Very happy about this text, read it here.

Press release:

all i want to do
is sit on a beach
and write haiku

once again
staring
at a screen

sun rises
sun sets
repeat

Postmasters is very pleased to present a show of haiku wall paintings by Rafaël Rozendaal, Haiku2014 Rozendaal. Catching a daily moment, freezing a thought, a shortcut from one brain to another, easily transferable raw data, truly mobile, universal and indestructible, haikus are an essence in text. Artifacts deteriorate, but words are forever.

Rozendaal’s art, be it his websites, his lenticular paintings, his installations, or his animations, are always about focus, locating an essence of a thought or an image. For this show all it takes is a color and a font.

Like www.muchbetterthanthis.com, his current installation in Times Square, where a simple, minimal animation of a kiss transcends its frenetic surroundings for the fleeting three minutes before midnight, Rozendaal’s haiku rise above the noise and chaos of contemporary art. It’s a joy to write them, so little trouble, just an idea, he says, I find comfort in simplicity… it’s an escape.

The exhibition is accompanied by a $10 book of almost one hundred haiku.

would you create
something amazing for us
we have no budget

February 2015, Much Better Than This at Times Square New York

Photography by Michael Wells

Organized by Times Square Arts, Times Square Advertising Coalition and Dutch Culture USA

when there is nothing

i think of something

and dream of quiet