Next month, if you happen to be in Times Square at 11:57 PM, you’re in for a shot of l’amour. Fourteen of the hotspot’s electronic billboards will project synchronized, supersized animations of lovebirds smooching for three minutes straight. A true midnight kiss. Part of the Times Square Arts’ Midnight Moment series (past participants include Ryan McGinley, JR, Björk, Tracey Emin, and Yoko Ono), the imagery is compelling: think Jumbotrons all around, featuring pairs of profiles kissing, separating, then blushing into new hues before locking lips once more.
Much Better Than This is the handiwork of New York-based, Dutch-Brazilian artist Rafaël Rozendaal, who originally created it for his website muchbetterthanthis.com, part of a special commission by Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum in 2006.
Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE Sculpture was a driving influence. And to get the gestures right, Rozendaal asked random couples on the street if they’d let him record their kisses. No one obliged, but Rozendaal eventually convinced his sister and her then-boyfriend to give some PDA. “They just giggled for the first hour-and-a-half,” the artist told Opening Ceremony. “Then they got down to business.”
Then, the 34-year-old used the footage to make moving illustrations, translating them for the web with the help of his long-time collaborator Reinier Feijen. "I’m never sure what people are going to think of my work," he says, describing it as "somewhere between cartoons and painting." For whatever reason, this particular piece really stuck with viewers. "In these crazy times, it’s important to have an image that celebrates love."
Fun fact: Rozendaal likes the Internet so much, he has the word tattooed on the inside of his lower lip. And since 2001, he’s created more than 100 single-page websites, where the screen’s contents interact with the user based on her navigation. He buys the domain name for each one, which doubles as the piece's title. Some sites don’t require any interaction at all, and magically unfurl with hypnotic, endless repetition. Notable creations include "jello time," where a cherry gelatin mold jiggles (and "boings"), "open that window," (move your mouse up and down, in increments, it's incredible) and "burning cigarette."
“I always intended for my websites to be flexible: viewable on a tiny screen, or on a Times Square Jumbotron,” Rozendaal says. “And also to create very simple, very distilled imagery. So even if you are in a car driving by, you’d still see it.”
Much Better Than This is the handiwork of New York-based, Dutch-Brazilian artist Rafaël Rozendaal, who originally created it for his website muchbetterthanthis.com, part of a special commission by Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum in 2006.
Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE Sculpture was a driving influence. And to get the gestures right, Rozendaal asked random couples on the street if they’d let him record their kisses. No one obliged, but Rozendaal eventually convinced his sister and her then-boyfriend to give some PDA. “They just giggled for the first hour-and-a-half,” the artist told Opening Ceremony. “Then they got down to business.”
Then, the 34-year-old used the footage to make moving illustrations, translating them for the web with the help of his long-time collaborator Reinier Feijen. "I’m never sure what people are going to think of my work," he says, describing it as "somewhere between cartoons and painting." For whatever reason, this particular piece really stuck with viewers. "In these crazy times, it’s important to have an image that celebrates love."
Fun fact: Rozendaal likes the Internet so much, he has the word tattooed on the inside of his lower lip. And since 2001, he’s created more than 100 single-page websites, where the screen’s contents interact with the user based on her navigation. He buys the domain name for each one, which doubles as the piece's title. Some sites don’t require any interaction at all, and magically unfurl with hypnotic, endless repetition. Notable creations include "jello time," where a cherry gelatin mold jiggles (and "boings"), "open that window," (move your mouse up and down, in increments, it's incredible) and "burning cigarette."
“I always intended for my websites to be flexible: viewable on a tiny screen, or on a Times Square Jumbotron,” Rozendaal says. “And also to create very simple, very distilled imagery. So even if you are in a car driving by, you’d still see it.”