JPEGS (SIGNED by Thomas Ruff)

RUFF, Thomas / Bennett Simpson

ISBN 10: 1597110930 / ISBN 13: 9781597110938

Published by Aperture 2009, 2009

About this Item

and printing; This copy is hand SIGNED by Thomas Ruff; blue cloth hardboards with dustjacket; photographs by Thomas Ruff, essay by Bennett Simpson, includes a biography with exhibition history, awards and selected public collections; designed by Fabio Cutró; unpaginated 132 pp; with 65 four-color plates; book size: 15-1/2 x 11-1/2 in.; Description from Publisher: "In 2007, Thomas Ruff completed his monumental Jpegs series, which explores the distribution and reception of images in the digital age; oversized 2008 trade edition, Starting with images he culls primarily from the Web, Ruff enlarges them to a gigantic scale, which exaggerates the pixel patterns until they become sublime geometric displays of color. Many of Ruff s works in the series focus on idyllic, seemingly untouched landscapes, and conversely, scenes of war, and nature disturbed by human manipulation. Taken together, these masterworks create an encyclopedic compendium of contemporary visual culture that also actively engages the history of landscape painting. Jpegs is the first monograph dedicated exclusively to the publication of Ruff s remarkable series."; PROVENANCE: purchased directly from Aperture Book Store in N.Y. City; book is tight and clean; a little rubbing and a lot of invisible scratches to the dustjacket, otherwise boards and interior plates in EXCELLENT COND.

Seller Inventory # 6650

Bibliographic Details

• Title: JPEGS (SIGNED by Thomas Ruff)
• Publisher: Aperture 2009
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1597110930
• ISBN 13: 9781597110938
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: As New
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Photography Books

About this title

Synopsis

How much visual information is needed for image recognition? A pretty small quantity of data will go a long way for the brain and the computer, both of which take shortcuts for the sake of speedy comprehension. In the "Jpegs" series, German photographer Thomas Ruff exploits this imprecision in digital technology, locating online jpegs and enlarging them until the pixels emerge in a chessboard pattern of near abstraction. A closer look at these images reveals that, in addition to the degeneration of the image into a digital grid, the color and brightness generated by the algorithms of the compression also become visible. Many of Ruff's works in this series focus on idyllic, seemingly untouched landscapes, or conversely, on scenes of war and nature disturbed by human manipulation--subjects ill suited to disruptive pixelation, and therefore perfect for Ruff's purposes. Taken together, these images constitute an encyclopedic compendium of contemporary visual culture that also engages the history of landscape painting. A fittingly deluxe and oversize volume, "Jpegs" is the first monograph dedicated exclusively to this monumental series.

About the Authors

Thomas Ruff has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and Kunst-Werke, Berlin. He is the 2006 recipient of the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award.

Bennett Simpson is associate curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and a widely published critic. He recently curated exhibitions of the work of Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Roe Ethridge, Dan Graham, and Lisa Lipinski.