Scrollbar

Scrollbars by Jan Robert Leegte

Jan Robert Leegte's 'Scrollbars' is a sculptural installation which references the architecture of software.

http://www.druh.co.uk/medialounge/pi...scrollbars.jpg
Scrollbars by Jan Robert Leegte

Jan Robert's work investigates the point where the mind starts to confuse what is reality and what is illusion, with particular focus on the physical experience of the audience. His installation work isolates elements of the Windows interface, which are in turn projected onto various structures; previously internet-based, he moved to physical installations through a desire to develop a more meditative relationship between the audience and the work.

http://www.druh.co.uk/medialounge/pi.../scrollbar.jpg
Scrollbar by Jan Robert Leegte

The exhibition will show a selection of Scrollbar pieces for the first time: a minimal ground piece, Scrollbar, a horizontal scrollbar isolated from its original context and given a presence in a physical space, along with the double Scrollbars and a new installation, a complex composition of many scrollbars forming a rectangular screen.
Themes explored through the series range from a minimal sculptural statement in Scrollbar, through the adaptation of architectural space and references to issues around virtual space in Scrollbars, to the continuation and consideration of modernist compositional aesthetics and simplicity in Scrollbar Composition.

http://www.druh.co.uk/medialounge/pi...omposition.jpg
Scrollbar Composition by Jan robert Leegte

Jan Robert started exploring the sculptural properties of internet browsers and software in general in 1997, using buttons, scrollbars, and table borders in online installations; in earlier sculptural works he used unusual materials, for instance creating walls from sheets of Xerox copy paper or large slabs of brown packing paper. The various elements of the browser window appear to have a striking physical reality, gained through user familiarity, interactivity and animation. Most people consider the scrollbar to be a virtual object, not weighted with any real-world significance, but in use it triggers reactions such as frustration, anger, and boredom-induced clicking. Reactions like these suggest a subconscious acceptance of the inherent 'reality' of these objects.
Jan Robert studied Architecture at the Technical University in Delft and Fine Arts at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. He lives and works in Amsterdam.