JON RAFMAN, Meremõisa, Keila vald, Harju County, Estonia, 2013

Crushed Stingel by  Jon Rafman

https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/9kvddd/jon-rafman-balenciaga

Jon Rafman’s “Mainsqueeze” is a totally bizarre yet wonderful piece that translates a very palpable narrative. This piece could be seen as an exhibit of the artist’s personal online exploration of the “deep dark web” however; the work functions so that it could easily be seen as anyone’s online exploration.  This compilation of found imagery brings insight to the true magnitude of material that exists out there in both the physical and virtual world. The work reveals a rabbit-hole of perceptual links, chained together, it disgusts us yet we cannot look away (Whyte, 2015). Throughout the piece a strange voice-over is featured. The narrative seems to be aimed at no one and everyone, which only adds to the overall ambiguity of the piece. It challenges the audience to continually form new understandings of the work and the subject matter entirely. I believe that Rafman’s piece reveals more then just the scary underbelly of the world’s web. Rafman draws analogies between the romantic gestures and the debauchery that follows. And the humanistic tradition to feel free to create our own lives still hold true one the Internet (Whyte, 2015). We somehow see these subjects non-objectively – as wildly uncomfortable and strangely intimate it may be. Rafman’s work displays a deeper look at humanity; it exposes mass media in a new light. With this piece, he has created a specific atmosphere where we are now able to take in the absurd truths. There is an unbelievable mass of material that exists online. Rafman’s work captures the vast array quite flawlessly.

Stills from “Mainsqueeze” 

Mainsqueeze -  Rafman, 2014

Jon Rafman (1981-....) image tiré de la série “The Nine Eyes Of Google Street View”,