Jon Rafman: Annual Commission, exhibition review – Manic, magical and disturbing collection of art right at the cutting edge

Rafman doesn’t explicitly moralise but a critical underlying voice is undoubtedly present in this exhibition, says Ben Luke
Very modern art: much of Jon Rafman's is presented on screens
Ben Luke12 October 2015

Jon Rafman’s art couldn’t have existed in an earlier era. It’s populated by internet memes, the HD landscapes of video games, online chats, iPhones and iPads; one installation even features an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset — they’re not on the market until next year.

Rafman’s works are not entirely celebratory. He doesn’t explicitly moralise but a critical underlying voice is undoubtedly present.

As you’d expect given his source material, much of Rafman’s art takes place on screens. They’re presented in novel and often playful ways. You watch Still Life (Betamale) on overhead screens while immersed in a ball pit. It splices together online images of sex and violence in Japanese anime films with real people dressing up as characters, adopting provocative poses. The setting and film together are weirdly disturbing.

Likewise Mainsqueeze (Hug Sofa), in which, as the title suggests, a blue couch “hugs” you as you watch an unholy procession of still and moving images: comatose revellers pranked by friends, anime masturbation and a scrolling bank of images of ghouls, stigmata and violence from historical paintings, among much else. A stoned-sounding voiceover, composed from Tumblr comments and message boards, only serves to heighten the unease.

Weirdly disturbing: installation view of Jon Rafman’s Still Life (Betamale)

It all feels manically self-cannibalising, a notion symbolised in Erysichthon (Temple Ruins), a video named after the Greek king cursed to be endlessly hungry who eventually ate himself — gargoyles, animations and a snake swallowing its tail provide the assault of imagery here.

But Rafman can work in different registers. A video installation of children involved in Live Action Role Playing (Larp) feels indulgent and rather ill-fitting, but the show’s centrepiece, a maze created from artificial hedging, occupied by odd sculptural busts, somewhere between classical statuary and 3D-printed cyborgs, is much better. A tall, gold lacquer sculpted figure stands at the maze’s heart, and it’s him we see when we first wear the Oculus Rift headset. We’re then transported into a virtual forest-cum-sculpture park, with towering figures amid darkened vegetation. At one point, you rise into the tree canopy, feeling weightless.

It’s a magical moment, in a show that is never less than interesting.

Until December 20, Zabludowicz Collection (020 7428 8940, zabludowiczcollection.com)

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT