Arsenal Contemporary Art is proud to present a series of major works by Jon Rafman, selected from the Majudia Collection (Montreal). The exhibition comprises a range of media drawn from the artist’s preoccupation with contemporary digital culture, and centres around a sprawling maze populated with sculptures and video.
At the heart of this winding installation an Oculus Rift virtual reality piece further disorients the viewer, transporting them from gallery to imagined landscape. At the same time, Rafman’s films immerse the viewer in internet subcultures. Multiple videos are presented in confined sculptural environments–pod-like spaces that enclose the viewer, echoing the ‘troll caves’ of internet obsessives. Large-scale photographs depict grubby computer keyboards, personal effects, and detritus, acting as portraits of their users. The exhibition investigates how changes in technology and society’s resulting adaptations affect our relationship to enduring themes of memory and loss.
