New York-based artist Rafaël Rozendaal is one of the world's pioneers of digital art. In the early 2000s, he was one of the first to begin creating works in the form of websites, marketing them as individual works while making them accessible to a wide audience. They are based on digital contracts that define ownership, maintenance and use of the websites. With this framework, he anticipates many technical and legal constructs that are only now receiving greater attention in the context of NFTs and their proliferation in the arts. 

During the time period in which he was creating his works, Rozendaal used the browser as his medium. The design of his works is based on Javascript codes, featuring high-contrast primary colors that were characteristic of the early internet. They are freely scalable and can potentially be accessed worldwide without restrictions. Rozendaal's websites and NFTs find their form in Color, Code, Communication threefold: in 16:9 mode on the mega screen in the entrance area of the Museum Folkwang, horizontally on the FUNKE MediaWall visible from afar and vertically adapted to the media staircase in the foyer of the main building of the FUNKE Mediengruppe.

The artist finds that digital artworks gain a new flexibility through their immateriality, opening up new avenues of exploration and understanding. He is constantly inspired to create new works, free from the constraints of value and hierarchy. He believes that the internet offers a creative free space that is not controlled by gatekeepers. Rozendaal notes that musicians have long shared their demos, rough versions, and finished tracks online for audiences to enjoy anywhere and share on social media. He follows the principle of reaching a wide audience, sharing his artistic works openly and without restriction. His websites (until 2018) and NFTs (from 2019) instead generate maximum reach with several million clicks per year.

Websites, 2009–2018
NFTs, 2021–2022
size variable, duration infinite
Code by Reinier Feijen


MEGASCREEN:

Hybrid Moment .com, 2009 
Collection Aernoud Bourdrez

Slick Quick .com, 2014
Collection Carola & Günther Ketterer-Ertle

Everything Always Everywhere .com, 2013
Collection Annette Doms

Manual Sequence .com, 2017 
Collection MW

Fear Of Choice .com, 2021
Collection 3FMusic

Future Is Uncertain .com, 2013
Courtesy of Upstream Gallery

Many Moment .com, 2018
Collection Harrie Kolen

Shape Squeeze .com, 2018
Courtesy of Upstream Gallery

Not Never No .com, 2018
Collection Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Non Either, 2022
Various Collections

Double Room, 2021
Collection Bharat Krymo

Pages, 2023
Various Collection


FUNKE MEDIASTAIRS:

Return Reverse .com, 2019
The Orlow Art Collection

Slick Quick .com, 2014
Collection Carola & Günther Ketterer-Ertle

Something Open .com, 2016
Courtesy of Upstream Gallery

Diagram, 2022
Collection @M8H8W

Momentum, 2021
Collection @what


FUNKE NEWSWALL:

Fear of Choice .com, 2019
Collection 3FMusic

Hybrid Moment .com, 2009
Collection Aernoud Bourdrez

Much Better Than This .com, 2006
Collection Almar & Margot van der Krogt

Remotely Distant .com, 2014
Borusan Contemporary Art Collection

Vai Avanti .com, 2006
Family Collection Dijkstra