Curator/ Pascal van der Graaf 

“You take the red pill... you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes" – Morpheus (The Matrix)

 In the movie The Matrix, the protagonist, Neo, will wake up from the illusion of life by taking the red pill. The illusion was created by a machine to keep humanity asleep. With zeros and ones -- the basis of computer-language, people are fooled.

 That life is an illusion is believed in many places in the world. But is it a belief or a fact? It is obvious that we do not see the 'true reality'. A typical human eye responds to wavelengths of about 380 to 750 nanometers. In other words, what we see is limited. This idea can also be found in physics. When we look at nature, the patterns of sacred geometry are everywhere. Nature can be translated into a binary system, a world of zeros and ones.

 What does the given illusion and systematic nature have to do with Rob Bouwman's paintings? To get an understanding it is important to know how he paints.

 When we look at Rob Bouwman's paintings, the first impression may be like a digital image made with the computer. But that is not the case. The complex shapes and color transitions are so sophisticated that it is hard to believe they are real paint. Yet it is so. However, this paint is not applied with a brush. How does Rob Bouwman paint? The answer gives fingerpainting another dimension. He sometimes uses his fingers, sometimes other instruments to touch the paint. And the touch is crucial.

 Rob Bouwman makes his paintings in one go. It is not possible to leave the painting overnight to think about the next steps. With precision and ultimate control, Rob Bouwman touches the paint and moves it across the surface. He caresses the paint, sometimes a little harder, sometimes a little softer, always with an interval. This physical act creates a mixing process, which is so sophisticated that it is reminiscent of digital images.

 Rob Bouwman visualizes a matrix whosecode is already in nature. Fortunately, we can see and experience this matrix without taking any pill.

 策展人/ 帕斯卡・凡德葛瑞夫

「吞下這顆紅色藥丸......你會留在仙境，我會告訴你兔子洞有多深」——墨菲斯《駭客任務》

 

 在電影《駭客任務》中，主角尼奧透過服用紅色藥丸從生命的幻像中醒來。這種幻覺是由一台機器創造的，目的是讓人類保持睡眠。人們被零和一——電腦語言的基礎——愚弄了。

 世界上許多地方都相信生命是一種幻象。但這是信念還是事實？顯然，我們沒有看到「真實的現實」。典型的人眼對大約 380 至 750 奈米的波長有反應。換句話說，我們看到的東西是有限的。這個想法也可以在物理學中找到。當我們觀察大自然時，神聖幾何的圖案無所不在；自然可以轉換為二進制系統，一個由零和一組成的世界。 

 生命的幻像和自然的系統性與羅伯·包曼的畫作有什麼關係？要明白這點，了解他的繪畫方式很重要。

 當我們看到羅伯·包曼的畫作時，第一印象可能就像是用電腦製作的數位影像；但事實並非如此。形狀和顏色的過渡是如此複雜，以至於很難相信它們是真正的顏料。但事實確是如此。然而，這種塗料不是用刷子塗上的。羅伯·包曼是如何繪畫的？這個答案給了手指畫另一個維度。他有時會用手指，有時會用其他工具來觸摸顏料。觸感至關重要。

 羅伯·包曼總是 一口氣完成他的畫作，不可能讓顏料過夜去思考接下來的步驟。憑藉精準和終極的控制，包曼觸摸油漆並將其移過表面，有時用力一點，有時輕一點，總是有停頓。這種物理行為創建了一個混合過程，複雜得令人聯想到數位影像。

 羅伯·包曼視覺化了一個矩陣，其程式碼已經存在於自然界中。幸運的是，我們不需要服用任何藥丸就可以看到並體驗它。