Rosa Menkman

Rosa Portrait

"What works for me is late nights and a glass of wine. And learning not to be afraid to break something." RM

Short Bio

Rosa Menkman is an Amsterdam-based artist, theorist, and Glitch trailblazer. Her work focuses on visual accidents caused by glitches, compressions, feedback and other forms of noise. Although these accidents may be perceived negatively, Menkman emphasizes their positive consequences: they facilitate important insight into the otherwise obscure world of media technology.

Originally a commercial photographer, Menkmen attended the exhibition “World Wide Wrong” by the art collective Jodi (Amsterdam, NIMK, 2005). It was a “paradigm-shifting” encounter that became a central focus of her studies and a major influence on her work.

Bio

Rosa Menkman is a Dutch artist, theorist, and curator. She studied at the University of Amsterdam, and focuses on visual artifacts created by accidents in both analogue and digital media. A trailblazer in the Glitch video scene, her work results from glitches, compressions, feedback and other forms of noise. Although many people perceive these accidents as negative, Menkman emphasizes their positive consequences: these artifacts facilitate an important insight into the otherwise obscure world of media resolutions.

One important moment in her personal 'glitch-history' was visiting the exhibition “World Wide Wrong” by the art collective Jodi (Amsterdam, NIMK, 2005). Originally a commercial photographer, it was a “paradigm-shifting” encounter that would later become the focus of her studies and work. Since 2007 Menkman performs worldwide with her (audio)visual work. In 2011 Menkman released the ‘The Glitch Moment/um’ with the Institute of Network Cultures.

Quotes

"Glitches are a wonderful interruption that shifts an object away from its ordinary form and discourse, towards the ruins of destroyed meaning." RM

"In my first explorations of the broken image I just saw ruins of lost meaning. After a while I found more than just damage, ravage and chaos; I saw a not yet existing aesthetics and beauty." RM

"While I used to be a commercial photographer, focussing on how to make the best framing and technically perfect photo, now I didn’t need to be perfect anymore. A catharsis of broken, creative energy challenged me to map and explore new possibilities. In my first explorations of the broken image I just saw ruins of lost meaning. After a while I found more than just damage, ravage and chaos; I saw a not yet existing aesthetics and beauty. Lately I am moving away from just formal experimenting and am trying to tell stories about beauty through collapse, tipping points and the tragedy of lost, ‘just not good enough’ signals of obsolete technologies." excerpt from interview with DINCA

Talks & Writings

Benchmarking the deranged: Rosa Menkman at TEDxUtrecht
A Vernacular of File Formats site or pdf - visual exploration on how different types of file manipulation creates varied results