Rogier Arents

wetenschap & techniek , printen (2D) , Grafiek , Educatie , Digitale technologie , Design , cross-over , Abstract

Arents is fascinated by the transfer of knowledge and the meaning of the image within scientific disciplines. Working across a wide range of media including graphic art, design and interactive installation, Arents aims to bridge the gap between science and the public. He has developed a variety of projects where scientific knowledge is translated into a visual language that is more accessible to the public. For example, the project Secret Signals: a short movie that uses machine-made drawings to illustrate the discovery of a plant defense system by the Botany department at UvA.
Currently Arents is developing innovative methods of visualization by applying graphic and interactive research methods to analogue and digital techniques. He enriches his research by collaborating with nature- and computer scientists. These collaborations result in projects like Heart Calligraphy, in which new biometric technologies are merged with traditional Chinese calligraphy to create abstract portraits depicting subconscious processes of the human body.

**Charlois en de Sterren** - Sinds mensenheugenis kijken we naar de hemel. Daar zien we meer dan sterren alleen. Van Zeus en Odin tot de dierenriem: in de sterren lezen we de verhalen die ons leven richting geven. Het internet is een netwerk van computers dat miljoenen mensen met elkaar verbindt. Wie uit zijn of haar bubbel stapt en er van een afstandje naar kijkt, kan ook in deze chaos patronen ontwaren. Welke symbolen, figuren en verhalen gaan erin schuil? Wat zegt dat over ons en over de manier waarop we dagelijks over het internet bewegen? Voor dit project staarden we vanuit Charlois naar de digitale sterrenhemel. We keken naar YouTube, waar algoritmen gebruikers door een netwerk van videos leiden; en Twitter, waar bewoners en buitenstaanders het reilen en zeilen in de wijk bespreken. De verhalen die wij tegenkwamen hebben we uitgewerkt in twee sterrenkaarten. Het project biedt een verassend inzicht in de wijk. Zo zien we Zuidplein als food-walhalla en als veelbekeken verkeershub, maar ook als plek waar idealisten plannen maken voor morgen terwijl cynici naar vervlogen tijden verlangen. We zien Charlois als plek waar bewoners melding maken van afval in de straten, waar kunstenaars en projectontwikkelaars om de toekomst van de wijk strijden, en waar de politie zich opstelt als je beste vriend. We zien vooral een kosmos waar je altijd binnen een paar klikken schakelt tussen je wijk en je wereld. Charlois en de Sterren is een samenwerking met Roel Lutkenhaus voor kunstfestival Charlois Speciaal.

**A special Euro coin dedicated to the Dutch Red Cross** - This special Red Cross coin, is issued in June 2017. The coin is minted on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Dutch Red Cross. On the 'day of the coin' on June 10 the symbolic 1st hit was conducted by the vice president of the Dutch Red Cross: Princess Margriet of the Netherlands. The design focusses on the global and impartial character of the Red Cross. Very special is that this commemorative coin- just like the Red Cross - doesn't choose a side. Literally: there is no front- or backside, no heads or tails.

**Chalk Line** - During theoretical and experimental research into the expression of the line, Arents came across an ancient method of drawing straight lines by help of a simple cotton string and chalk. This technique is still used by carpenters and construction workers for purely practical purposes. Arents used the chalk line method and aesthetics to create a powerful image on a monumental scale. In addition to being a work of art, Chalk Line is also a performative act. First the band is mounted between two points on the exhibition wall and coated with chalk. Then the taut band is pulled, causing it to snap back and hit the surface. The bang of the impact and a white explosion follows. While a cloud of chalk rolls along the surface, the result of the impact slowly appears. At the point of impact, the band leaves a copy of itself on the surface, and the explosion leaves its mark as white flames blazing along the line.

**Heart Bloom** - Heart Bloom is a participatory live-art installation, which offers the audience a biofeedback experience through mechanical movement, sound, and artistic visualisation. Only when you experience excitement or fear you actually feel your heart beat fast inside our chest. However, without you being aware of it, the heart is continually changing its frequency. Biofeedback is a technique that measures physiological processes, and rapidly gives back the data to the users, helping them to be aware of their physiological conditions. Each heartbeat triggers one movement, creating a line or a dot. The variation of the heart rate is demonstrated by the pen’s behaviour in real time. The overall heart rate variability is reflected by the visual characteristics of the generated drawing on paper. Let the heart lead the brush!

**Secret Signals** - Secret Signals is a short movie about a tomato plant that is being attacked by a plague of mites. The plant tries to rid itself of invasive species by sending out odors to hungry predators. The signals are picked up by spider mites who, hungry for a meal, are attracted to the plant and eat the mites that are endangering the tomato. In 2011, this secret weapon of plants was revealed by scientists from a botany group at the University of Amsterdam. The story is narrated by a pen plotter. This drawing machine takes you on a journey into the world of plants and insects through illustration and text on a paper roll. The drawings on paper function in the same way as images on the movie ‘film’ roll.

**Vector Projector** - Vector Projector is an installation developed for the exhibition On the Edge, which took place at the gallery Garage in Rotterdam in 2013. Arents is interested in the moment of transition: when an abstract line drawing becomes three-dimensional. In a literal sense, this graphic film is produced by a spatial installation. It resembles an old-fashioned cinema: the drawing on paper loops as a 6-meter long film roll through a projector, creating a moving image on the wall. In a figurative sense, viewers are triggered by optical illusion. They forget the paper and ink, and create their own three-dimensional imaginative world.

Deze kunstenaar heeft nog geen toekenningen.