Jan Robert LeegteButtons
Verse is proud to introduce Jan Robert Leegte's latest series of works, Buttons. Building upon his previous series of generative works such as Ornament, JPEG and Window, Jan continues his exploration of net art by examining the evolution of interface culture, with a particular focus on the simple yet indispensable button.
Despite its seemingly ordinary nature, the button has undergone numerous transformations in style, expression, subculture, interaction, effect, and design. Its material presence within interface culture, combined with its binary nature as a touchable and clickable element, makes it an intricate subject of investigation.
NO CONTENT: CONTEMPLATIONS ON SOFTWARE, Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, 6 May - 17 Jun 2023, Photos by Gert Jan van Rooij, Courtesy of Upstream Gallery Amsterdam.
In Buttons, Jan explores the history and concept of the button by creating a generative work that brings together a collection of buttons found within interface culture. The result presents various interface 'gems'—human-computer interaction trinkets that are visually striking and conceptually nuanced. Each piece features 256 CSS-styled HTML buttons, arranged based on text flow and page wrapping, creating a responsive composition that dynamically reorganises itself as the browser window is resized.
Buttons, Output, 2023
Buttons, Output, 2023
Buttons, Output, 2023
The colours of the buttons range from monochromatic tones to a rich variety of dynamic colours, traversing the RGB spectrum. As a nod to programming tradition, the boolean value of each button is stored in a single byte of memory, resulting in 256 works, each containing 256 buttons.
To further enhance the uniqueness of each collection, Jan has included an 'easter egg' feature to one single random button that allows users to upload their own background images. The edit is temporary, if you refresh or revisit the work it will be gone.
NO CONTENT: CONTEMPLATIONS ON SOFTWARE, Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, 6 May - 17 Jun 2023, Photos by Gert Jan van Rooij, Courtesy of Upstream Gallery Amsterdam.
Jan's distinguished career spans various mediums, including websites, apps, installations, videos, prints, sculptures, audio works, and drawings. His work has been showcased in numerous esteemed institutions and private collections, such as The Whitechapel Gallery, Centre Pompidou, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, and the Ludwig Museum.
Buttons, Output, 2023
Buttons, Output, 2023
Buttons, Output, 2023
The auction closes Tuesday 30th May at 6pm BST | 7pm CEST.
Auction
The top 256 bids will secure a piece. There is no limit to how many bids each collector can place, and no limit to how many works each collector can win.
Rebate
If a winning bidder pays an amount exceeding the lowest winning bid, the difference will be refunded to them.
Time extensions
The timer will be extended by 5 minutes every time a bid is placed within the last 5 minutes. There will be no further extensions beyond 7pm BST I 8 pm CEST on the day of the auction close.
Jan Robert Leegte
Jan Robert Leegte was one of the first Dutch artists to work on and for the Internet in the 1990s. In 2002, he shifted his main focus to implementing digital materials in the context of the physical gallery space, aiming to bridge the online art world with the gallery art world, making prints, sculpture, installations, drawings, and projections, connecting to historical movements like land...
