Artist Jon Rafman kicks off his Purple TV Takeover

Purple TV presents the second in a series of monthly takeovers, which sees photographers, artists, and musicians curate a selection of their favourite videos for 7-days. We debuted the series with photographer Ari Marcopoulos, and proceed with Canadian visual artist and filmmaker Jon Rafman. One of the most exciting young artists working today, Rafman constantly searches for artistic tools and methods that best represent or reveal modern experience. Created with humor and irony, this work is mainly developed through the use of digital media and the rich potential provided by contemporary technologies.

Featured in our current issue of Purple Fashion magazine issue 21, Rafman takes on his Second Life character Kool-Aid Man, created as an avatar based on the sweet pink drink’s brand icon who melancholically travels the virtual landscape, a contemporary representation of the 19th century explorer. Although this gained a strong following in the 3D virtual world, he was notably discovered through his investigative work entitled 9-eyes.com. In this immense undertaking he showcased bizarre and beautiful scenes around the world via the virtual universe of the Google Street View program. Rafman’s newest ongoing project New Age Demanded wraps 3D sculptural busts in canonised modernist paintings, re-contextualizing cultural ephemera to explore the relationship between technology, memory, and physical manifestations of digital desire. Through photographing the busts Rafman returns them to two dimensions, adds digital paint and overlays materials culled from the Internet. These works can not only be seen in his upcoming show at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis but also in the soon to be released blockbuster Robocop, where Rafman’s 2D triptych appears in the office of the villian CEO played by Michael Keaton. Watch Rafman’s captivating curation of videos everyday on Purple TV. Photo Jon Rafman

Click here to see Ratboy Genius, the first video in Jon Rafman’s Purple TV Takeover

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