Frustrations

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A CATALOGUE OF WORKS & ACTIVITIES SINCE 2008
H.HOOGERBRUGGE
CLUMSINESS
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FRUSTRATIONS
AWKWARDNESS
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A CATALOGUE OF WORKS & ACTIVITIES SINCE 2008
H.HOOGERBRUGGE
CLUMSINESS
FRUSTRATIONS
AWKWARDNESS
AND
Where Have All the Neurotics Gone? / illustration for The New York Times / 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CLUMSINESS, FRUSTRATIONS AND AWKWARDNESS p.7
CATALOGUE
1. THE PROSTRESS SERIES, 2008ongoing p.21
2. LA GRANDE FTE DES VOYEURS, 2012 p.29
3. KUT, KANKER, TIEFES, TERING, PLEURIS, 2012 p.39
4. DOW JONES, 2012 p.45
5. REAL DOLLS, 2011/2012 p.49
6. FLX, 2011 p.59
7. QUATROSOPUS, 2011 p.65
8. OVERLAST/NUISANCE, 2011 p.71
9. BOX, 2010 p.73
10. A THUNDERSTORM IN A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER SKY, 2009 p.77
11. KARAOKE, 2008 p.79
12. WHAT YOU SAY IS WHAT YOU GET, 2008 p.81
13. ANIMATIONS FOR OOG, 20072009 p.83
APPENDICES
A. Exhibitions since 2008 p.85
B. DAMn article p.97

Note: Clicking page numbers and links in this PDF will take you where they say they will.
clumsiness, frustrations and awkwardness / a catalogue of works & activities since 2008 6

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CLUMSINESS, FRUSTRATIONS AND AWKWARDNESS
input
Han Hoogerbrugge (Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 1963) studied traditional painting
at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam; while studying he also played
in a punk band and made collages for a punk magazine. He was attracted to the
movement by its underlying attitude that People can make things for themselves.
Hoogerbrugge graduated in Fine Arts in 1988, but now his computer mouse is his
primary brush, and the screen his canvas.
He started drawing comic strips that developed into short animation loops,
a technique that characterises much of his work to this day. This early work was
created with relatively simple software on a prehistoric Mac. Hoogerbrugges style is
reminiscent of old-fashioned cartoons, while the themes are usually very up-to-date
and occasionally slightly pornographic or violent. Infuences include Robert Longos
charcoal drawings Men in the Cities (1980s),
1
Wim T. Schippers and Theo van den
Boogaards Sjef van Oekel,
2
and Max Cannons Red Meat cartoon series (launched in
1989).
3

Regarding the Internet as a limitless virtual exhibition space, Hoogerbrugge
started experimenting with the medium in the 1990s. He began his online artistic
career with a series of mostly interactive web animations titled Modern Living/
Neurotica (100 episodes between 1998 and 2001), an autobiographical series of line
drawings in the realistic style he still uses today.
Much as most people today no longer recall the initial excitement of seeing
something actually move on the Web, even more of us have forgotten that the early
Internet was uncharted territory, still under construction. Yet despite its apparent
limitations, it was irresistible to those with the gumption to work around its teething
problems and the wherewithal to regularly reboot their modems. The frst animations
had to be small, use as little computing power and bandwidth as possible and could
1 Link: robertlongo.com
2 Published in the Dutch magazine Nieuwe Revu from 1976, and as seven books.
3 Link: redmeat.com
only last about 20 seconds. To address these unavoidable shortcomings inherent to
the dawn of the Internet, earlier online works responded to a simple mouse-over,
an important step in Hoogerbrugges desire to make the interactive component of
his works as uncomplicated as possible. These limitations infuenced Hoogerbrugges
technique to such a degree that it almost defnes what he does today: his works
generally make brief, succinct statements without any introductions.
output
The Modern Living/Neurotica online series refects on dreams, expectations, daily
experiences and human fears. It proved hugely successful, attracting between 3000
and 4000 unique visitors to his site each day; it is still extremely popular, despite
Hoogerbrugge declaring it done. This animated project was published as a book and
interactive DVD in 2008.
4
This project also saw the introduction of the iconic character
who unifes many of his works regardless of medium or format: Hoogerbrugges alter
ego, a loner in a black suit,
5
who views the world with gallows humour.
Submarine Channel,
6
a public online distribution platform for artists and
flmmakers, commissioned the interactive animation Hotel and assisted with technical
issues at the backend. The challenge for Han Short Story Hoogerbrugge was to make
a long story that worked online, and he found a way to make his ideas about short
Web experiences work within the framework of a larger narrative structure. The basic
rule of thumb for this project was that something visually interesting should happen
4 Modern Living, The Graphic Universe of Han Hoogerbrugge, Amsterdam: BIS Publishers,
2008. ISBN 978-90-6369-187-5. This 200-page monograph (and DVD) has chapters about
the early GIF experiments, the Neurotica series, NAILS, SPIN, FLOW, Hotel, Prostress,
comics, digital prints, short flms, installations, commissioned works and more. The DVD is
also available as a separate item: Submarine ISBN 978-94-90637-01-9.
5 I put this phrase in quotation marks because I encountered it so many times while
researching this introduction. Somebody coined it somewhere, once upon a time, and
it has become inextricably linked to this Rotterdam artist. I actually searched online for
the phrase alter ego, a loner in a black suit and all 42 dedicated results were about Han
Hoogerbrugge; a search without the quotation marks resulted in 182,000 hits, most of
which were about that capitalist, crime-fghting, Christ-surrogate popularly known as
Batman.
6 Submarine Channel: www.submarinechannel.nl
clumsiness, frustrations and awkwardness 9
every ten seconds, with text being kept to a minimum and only sparse dialogue
(usually grunts, with the characters lines appearing on the walls behind them). The
frst episode of Hotel was launched in April 2004; the tenth and fnal episode was
published in May 2006.
7
Besides the Modern Living/Neurotica and the Hotel series, works that have
garnered him international fame include one of the most watched videos on YouTube
for the Pet Shop Boys,
8
and a video clip for a Fatboy Slim remix of a track by The
Young Punx (a group Hoogerbrugge works with regularly).
9
His illustrations have
appeared in Dutch, American and British newspapers and magazines,
10
he works on
corporate commissions, and creates animations for television. Among these are about
100 short flms for the Dutch TV series Tros Triviant (Trivial Pursuits), a selection of
which are included on the DVD accompanying the Modern Living publication. His work
is also regularly screened at pop festivals and animation festivals.
11

His online projects continued with the English-language Prostress comic
strip (2008ongoing). Like his earlier Web projects, Prostress appeals to the short
attention span of the average Web user. The content of the original online series has
been reproduced in two books.
Amused, confused and agitated by the idiosyncrasies of Dutch celebrity
culture (including politicians, obviously), Hoogerbrugge felt compelled to start a
Dutch-language version of Prostress on Facebook in September 2012.
7 Hotel is also discussed in the Modern Living publication (op. cit.). It has a dedicated page
on the Submarine Channel website: hotel.submarinechannel.com/
8 Pet Shop Boys, Love etc., from the album Yes (2009). Video clip: bit.ly/SoH5J
9 The Young Punx, Youve got to, 2007: bit.ly/3lzI81, an interview with The Young Punx about
Fatboy Slim: bit.ly/17qxQ5l, and The Young Punx website: theyoungpunx.com
10 The Dutch newspapers de Volkskrant, Vrij Nederland, and the magazines HP De Tijd,
Mens Health and De Groene Amsterdammer.
11 Holland Animation Festival, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria; Ciberart Festival, Bilbao, Spain;
Pinkpop, the Netherlands; Pictoplasma, Berlin, Germany.
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As usual with his works, it features an eclectic selection of Dutch eccentrics
and people who take themselves far too seriously, framed in what is known in
Hoogerbrugges universe as a Prostress situation.
12
More about this ongoing project
can be read on p.21
Although Hoogerbrugge has made offine objects before, of course, the past
four years have seen him increasingly producing output not intended specifcally for
the Internet. This includes watercolours, the Prostress portraits (part of the greater
Prostress project), books, wallpaper, lambda prints, felt-tip drawings, the Real Dolls
performances, holographic cubes, large projections (seeing his work this large is
a completely different experience from a computer monitor), the Fuck Death Toy,
and most recently a 3D fipbook book titled Run Motherfucker Dance in Anaglyph for
the second issue of SO---AND---SO The magazine as an art form.
13
Many of these
projects fall under the overarching La Grande Fte concept, and most of them are
included in this catalogue.
style
Despite this growing range of activities, his work remains instantly recognisable from
his graphic style and his restrained use of colour, while the repetition and rhythmic
arrangement of visual components and fgures betrays signs of possible obsessions
and neuroses. New works continue with the same themes occupying centre stage.
Although Hoogerbrugges black-clad alter ego is a constant in his work, not
everything he creates is autobiographical. He also depicts personalities from the
worlds of politics, religion (the Pope is a regular), and television and entertainment
who he associates with power, hypocrisy, decadence and humour.
12 Find this Dutch Prostress series at: www.volkskrant.nl
13 SO-AND-SO is Nello Russo and Anna Follo. It is an artistic/editorial project that produces
limited edition monographs and artists publications. Each issue is produced by hand in
a numbered and signed edition of 100 copies, with a selected artist as editor. See their
website for more: www.so-and-so.it
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But he is not only concerned with making a joke or parody for Hoogerbrugge
these personalities represent the clumsiness, frustrations and awkwardness that we
all experience ourselves.
In addition to music, flms and video clips, the media barrage that surrounds
us is a rich source of material for someone like Hoogerbrugge, who regards media
platforms such as YouTube as an archive of the bizarre, of everything that defnes us
as humans:
Instant communication means that so much more can be seen now
that was not seen before, or was not considered worthy of being
seen. There is so much more on the Web compared to ffteen years
ago when Modern Living began. Computer techniques become
increasingly refned and can be used to create irresistible and even
addictive interfaces and experiences.
Hoogerbrugge has become one of the worlds most prominent cross-media
artists, obscuring the boundaries between the virtual and real worlds, and dreams
and nightmares. He believes that although stress can be irritating and wearisome, it
can also be a source of new energy that can produce good work (see, for example,
Overlast/Nuisance, p.71). He has no fear of revealing his weaknesses or less
positive sides of his character. He does what he enjoys and refuses to be pigeonholed.
That his output will never run the risk of becoming an ego trip is clear to anyone
interacting with one of his works, such as the smartphone app BOX (see p.73). He
cannot, he insists, be accused of creating works of any great depth.
substance
Exhibitions during the past four years have once again drawn international attention.
For our purposes we start with an interactive animated projection from 2008, What
You Say Is What You Get (WYSIWYG), which premiered on the Zuidplein in Rotterdam
(see p.81). This was followed by a solo exhibition at Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerp,
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Belgium, in the last quarter of 2008 (see p.95). In November that same year, the
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds recognised Hoogerbrugges achievements and awarded
him the Hendrik Chabot Prize for Visual Arts.
14
He also contributed to an online group
exhibition platform titled OOG that was initiated by Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant
in 2007 and ended in 2009. Each week, an artist shared his views on the current
news. Six of Hoogerbrugges animations appeared there in its three years of virtual
existence (see p.83).
15
In 2009 he also created an animation, titled If You Want
A Happy Ending That Depends, Of Course, On Where You Stop The Story, for a
similar platform hosting a group exhibition called Visual Foreign Correspondents in
Germany. In 2010 some of Hoogerbrugges works were exhibited in a solo show,
La Grande Fte #1 these were commissioned by and designed exclusively for the
exhibition space in the Sala Parpall art museum in Valencia, Spain. The launch of
the overarching La Grande Fte project included nine interactive installations. This
hugely successful exhibition was extended for two months.
16
The project continued
with the presentation that same year of two new animations (and much more) at an
exhibition titled La Grande Fte #2 at the Galerie Le Cabinet, Paris, France.
17
A solo
retrospective at lUnique gallery in Caen, France, in 2011, also saw the launch of
Hoogerbrugges frst app, BOX (see p.73).
18
People in the real world who visited the
Danish Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 could view one of Hoogerbrugges
works as part of the exhibition Speech Matters.
19
His contribution, Quatrosopus, was
14 The Hendrik Chabot Award is the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds bi-annual prize that
is awarded for an artists entire oeuvre; nominees have to be connected to the city of
Rotterdam.
15 Unfortunately the blog stopped in 2009.
16 The exhibition at Sala Parpall ran from 19 June to 30 October 2010.
17 The exhibition in Paris ran from 4 September to 10 November 2010. This gallery has since
changed its name to Galerie Bertrand Baradou.
18 Titled Han Hoogerbrugge rtrospective et iPhone application lUnique, this exhibition
ran from 11 March to 30 June 2011.
19 The 54th Venice Biennale ran from 4 June to 27 November 2011. Katerina Gregos (GR)
curated the international group show Speech Matters in the Danish Pavilion. Dealing with
the highly contested issue of freedom of speech, it included works by 18 other artists such
as Robert Crumb (US), Thomas Kilper (DE) and Jan vankmajer (CZ).
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created especially for this show, and is an animation of a four-faced fgure that voices
various perspectives on the topic of free speech, noting the dilemmas of assuming a
fxed position on censorship (see p.65). A long and unique collaboration between
the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the production company
Submarine Channel resulted in an evening called Do it! Load it!.
20
The museum
presented three new games, one of which was FLX by Han Hoogebrugge and Sander
van der Vegte (see p.59). Hoogerbrugges frst large solo exhibition was held in
TENT Gallery in Rotterdam from 26 January to 18 March 2012. Titled La Grande Fte
des Voyeurs, it spanned the frst ffteen years of his career, with a special focus on
the last four years.
21

the vanishing of the virtual
As the Internet has matured, opening doors to apparently limitless realms of creative
possibilities, Hoogerbrugge has become increasingly preoccupied with the dynamics
of other new media technologies. A pioneer in the area of animation and moving
images, his prevailing focus is on interactivity, visceral communication through virtual
means, and seeking new ways of creating, which means that he avails himself of all
platforms for expression. This is perhaps an obvious trajectory for an artist who has
become highly adept at using the virtual world as a mirror to confront us with the
absurdity of our real world. High and low art are outdated concepts in our digital era
artists such as Hoogerbrugge who are immersed in manipulating ones and zeroes to
create works of art focus less on hierarchies and rising to the top of the heap; instead,
they are obsessed with the act of creation itself, and on ensuring that they share their
output with as many people as possible in a non-hierarchical, easily accessible format
(currently the Internet).
For curators, of course, cross-media artists compound the diffculties involved
in creating exhibitions, but this should be seen as a challenge rather than a reason
to sideline those artists who work across multiple platforms. Digital artists who
20 The Stedelijk Museum held this event on 6 October 2011.
21 For an overview of the works shown at this important exhibition,
see: Exhibition tour: bit.ly/16Zie7S
Where Have All the Neurotics Gone? / illustration for The New York Times / 2012
have worked in certain formats in the past also have their work cut out for them:
besides having to keep abreast of the unending upgrades and/or redundancies of the
technology they use, they should ensure that all their works can be viewed in the
future. Recently, Apple decided to abandon Flash and use HTML 5 instead,
22
which
means that all works created for the former will have to be emulated or upgraded if
they are to be enjoyed in years to come.
23
Unfortunately, HTML 5 will never have all
the solutions to deal with Flash architecture.
Furthermore, we can be sure that something else will come along in
a few years to replace HTML 5, resulting in similar problems. Like many of his
contemporaries, Hoogerbrugge does not tweak or upgrade older works to run on new
technologies, underscoring what is actually becoming an urgent global issue: if digital
works are to be preserved for the future, they should no longer be viewed askance
by the traditional art community, which should instead be focusing on methods of
preservation. Too many works of international importance have already disappeared
and will continue to do so, creating inconsistencies and voids in the history of digital
creativity that will result in pitfalls for future artists and have disastrous consequences
for our understanding of digital art.
Mark Poysden, 2013
24
22 FLASH and HTML 5 are multimedia platforms used to add animation, video and
interactivity to Web pages.
23 At the time of writing (2013), Apple still hosts it on their OS systems, but not on their iOS
systems (iPad, iPhone, Touch and Apple TV, etc.). Adobe has also announced that it would
not offer support for Flash on future releases of Android beyond 4.1, RIM QNX and Google
TV. The only browser for which Adobe will continue development is Chrome (PPAPI).
24 Well, kind of written by me. Its more of a mash-up of about 100 press releases,
reviews, newspaper articles and interviews both printed and online but the uncredited
authors of those texts should not be held responsible for conclusions drawn, opinions
opined, or any tagnuts and winnets of my own.

Prostress albums #1 & #2 / BIS Publishers / 2010-11
21 the prostress series
1. THE PROSTRESS SERIES, 2008ongoing
An online comic strip, a series of hardback publications
Originally, this online series and series of publications featured Hoogerbrugge as
the central character. More recently, however, he has stopped hogging the limelight,
and shares it with current or former political leaders such as Libyas Gaddaf, Italys
Berlusconi and North Koreas Kim Jong Un, as well as famous fgures from the world
of entertainment, such as the Pope, Iggy Pop, Lemmy from Motorhead, Jamie Oliver,
Karl Lagerfeld, Batman and Barbie. David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino always make
an appearance on Mondays and discuss their weekends with oblique humour (Lynchs
weekends are generally Just dandy). Hoogerbrugge is an avid fan of their flms and
he particularly enjoys David Lynchs weekly weather forecasts on his own site.
25
Is
Hoogerbrugge hoping to provoke a response from one his idols?
Regular visitors are accustomed to Hoogerbrugges skewed look on the
world, but it sometimes takes a few days or weeks for newcomers to get used to
it. Hoogerbrugge obviously has a preference for fawed characters, such as Nicolas
Sarkozy, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and the Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders.
Says Hoogerbrugge: The more I sympathise or identify with someone, the harder it
is. Flawed people invite ridicule, especially if they are world leaders or luminaries who
everyone expects to set an example everyone has something wrong with them, but
power amplifes it.
As with many of his works, Prostress exudes a Lynchian atmosphere by
operating according to an internal logic that doesnt necessarily apply to reality. In
line with his style, characters are portrayed with exaggerated postures and there
are minimal changes to the fgures in each of the three panels, allowing the text
or their attitudes to convey whatever nugget of wisdom drifted into or through
Hoogerbrugges mind.
Links: prostress.com, Michael Minneboo article (Dutch): bit.ly/diPHPd
25 An example of Lynchs weather forecasts on YouTube: bit.ly/wrZvg
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Prostress ad /2011
27 the prostress series
Prostress is created using a process similar to its predecessor Modern Living,
26

whereby frames from flmed live action are further processed using digital techniques.
Unlike Modern Living, however, which overcame language barriers by incorporating as
little text as possible, Prostress frequently relies on language to convey the message,
whatever it may or may not be.
The website: Three-panel, non-interactive comic strips are posted on the
Prostress website fve days a week; weekends feature special items (currently the
Prostress portraits, see below). Hoogerbrugge starts each day by creating an episode
that is frequently inspired by the very latest world news. Some storylines continue
over a few days, keeping abreast of a particular event. Daily episodes are posted
around 10 in the morning. The beauty of the site is that visitors have very little to
do to be gratifed. Enjoyed by thousands of regular visitors, the Prostress site also
entertains hundreds of unique visitors each day.
In the last quarter of 2012, Hoogerbrugge somewhat frustrated by not
being able to share local absurdities in Dutch political or social events with the rest of
the world began a Dutch-language Prostress series, which is published on
the newspaper, de Volkskrants website from Mondays to Fridays.
27

After trying a variety of different approaches for the weekends (because
thats when Hoogerbrugge rests in peace), he came up with idea of a portrait gallery
of diehard Prostress fans with the call: Send me a photo of yourself in a Prostress
situation. Suitably inspiring images that are ft to print are interpreted as a drawing.
There are more than 100 portraits in this series so far.
The books: Two books documenting the frst two years of the online Prostress
series have been published to date. Volume 1 (2010) reproduces the frst year of
comic strips on the Prostress website (20089), volume 2 (2011) the second year
(200910).
28
26 Modern Living: ml.hoogerbrugge.com. The frst Prostress cartoon appeared on page 58 of
Modern Living, The Graphic Universe of Han Hoogerbrugge (BIS Publishers, 2008).
27 Link: www.volkskrant.nl
28 Published by BIS Publishers, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (bispublishers.nl). ProStress,
vol. 1: ISBN 978-90-6369-234-6; ProStress, vol. 2: ISBN 978-90-6369-273-5.
La Grande Fte des Voyeurs / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Aad Hoogendoorn)
29 la grande fte des voyeurs
2. LA GRANDE FTE DES VOYEURS, 2012
Video installation
Besides being the umbrella name for a body of work as well as a series of
Hoogerbrugges solo exhibitions, La Grande Fte des Voyeurs is also the title of
an installation comprising fve large screens that are arranged like a surveillance
camera control centre in a bank or supermarket. Each screen displays six or seven
short animated flms that are projected in sequence, similar to the way surveillance
cameras jump-cut from location to location. These animations are Hoogerbrugges
treatments of clips he sourced from the Internet, e.g., girls jiggle their breasts, a
woman orally pleasures a man, a clown walks on a ball, a girl assumes impossible
gymnastic positions, etc. Grotesque animal heads replace human heads on some of
the characters.
This installation reduces the Internet to a parade of curiosities in which we
all revel a modern variant of the freak shows of old (and what websites such as
YouTube have always been), where observing freakdom without shame is what its all
about. Without moralising or making any observations or comments at all, La Grand
Fte des Voyeurs effortlessly shows us how the Internet truly mirrors us as a species.
Edition: Multiple animations on 5 screens and 1 AP
Materials (for exhibition): 5 screens 3m x 2m (indication), media player
Exhibited: La Grande Fte des Voyeurs, TENT, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2012
Links: Exhibition tour: bit.ly/16Zie7S
Collection: Museum Boymans van Beuningen (1/5)

La Grande Fte des Voyeurs / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Job Janssen & Jan Adriaans)
31 la grande fte des voyeurs
La Grande Fte des Voyeurs / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Job Janssen & Jan Adriaans)




Kut, Kanker, Tiefus, Tering, Pleuris / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Job Janssen & Jan Adriaans)
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39 Kut, Kanker, Tiefes, Tering, Pleuris
3. KUT, KANKER, TIEFES, TERING, PLEURIS, 2012
Series of fve Holocubes
29
Hoogerbrugges Holocubes showcase the wealth of the Dutch language. Each hologram
consists of one Dutch swear word represented by thick gold letters that orbit endlessly
around Hoogerbrugges animated head. The Dutch words translate as: Kut (Cunt),
Pleuris (literally: Pleurisy; Get Stuffed), Tiefus (Typhus), Kanker (Cancer), Tering
(literally: Tuberculosis; Drop Dead/Fuck Off),
30
so its no wonder that Hoogerbrugge
looks as if he is chewing off his own tongue in the projections.
Edition: 5 of each and 1 AP of each
Materials: 5 Holocubes, stands, software
Exhibited: La Grande Fte des Voyeurs, TENT, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2012;
Dow Jones/Quatrosopus, Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium, March 2012
29 Holocube is a fully integrated 3D projection platform that combines the most advanced
modern projection techniques in a sleek housing. It is equipped with a hard disk drive and
is capable of storing many hours of compressed video. For more, see: holocube.eu
30 Dutch profanity can be divided into several categories, one of which centres on various
names for diseases.
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To Have and Have Not / Halle 14 / Leipzig, DE / 2013 (Photograph: Claus Bach)
45 dow jones II
4. DOW JONES II, 2012
Video installation
In this monumental video installation split across two screens, various familiar classic
animation characters all run frantically in the same direction at different speeds,
some apparently trying to run away from something we cannot see while others
hurtle towards another unknown. None of them get anywhere despite their desperate
efforts.
This is an ever-expanding piece. Midway through 2013, Dow Jones III was
exhibited at Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam this time consisting of
three screens. More characters have joined the pell mell, and doubtless more will in
what is an interesting counterpoint to reality. As people re-submerge themselves into
the media froth that surrounds them, twerked into believing that they have survived
the latest economic crisis (er which one was it again?), this burgeoning posse of
virtual characters remind us that we in the real world still have plenty of reasons to
panic.
Edition: 5 + I AP
Materials (for exhibition): Projection size (indication): 3 metres x 2 metres, media
player
Exhibited: La Grande Fte des Voyeurs, TENT, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2012; Dow
Jones/Quatrosopus, Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium, March 2012; 25 years
City Collection, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands,
2013, To Have and Have Not, Halle 14, Leipzig, 2013
Links: Amateur exhibition footage: bit.ly/12Yk9J7

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Real Dolls: Karl & Black Bunnies / Museumnacht / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Aad Hoogendoorn)
49 real dolls
5. REAL DOLLS, 2011ongoing
Performance
Six characters (one of them a multiple) from a planned assemblage of between ffteen
and 20 have already been realised: four Black Bunnies, Big Baby and Karl Lagerfeld,
followed by Ozzy Ozbourne, Iggy Pop and Lemmy Kilmister, the singer and bass
guitarist from Motorhead. This project was developed in 2011.
31

These characters are directly linked to Prostress series where they pop up
as recurring characters with wisdom to share (see p.21). They also appear in the
FLX multiplayer game (see p.59).
These composite characters draw on cultural icons and aspirations, and
consist of assemblages of various body parts sourced from online footage. They were
originally conceived as characters for animation, but after seeing them projected life-
size, Hoogerbrugge decided to create 3D fgures of them, and they stepped out of the
screen and into our world.
This performance involves the participation of as many performers as there
are characters in the piece. Ideally all of them should be present in the same space
at the same time La Grande Fte Real Doll Show.
They premiered at the Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst (CBK), Rotterdam,
the Netherlands, in 2011; this has been followed to date by two appearances in
the Netherlands. One was at CBK, Rotterdam, as part of Museumnacht 2011; the
second, a performance as part of Museumnacht 2012, titled La Grande Fte Real Doll
Show Keep Reading Between the Lies, took place at TENT gallery in Rotterdam. Karl
Lagerfeld, Big Baby and the four Bunnies toured Hoogerbrugges 2012 exhibition La
Grande Fte des Voyeurs and interacted with the installations. Real Dolls Iggy Pop,
Ozzy Osboune and Lemmy Kilmister also strutted their stuff to songs by the original
three musicians, which were performed live by Florian Magnus Maier.
31 Henny de Man made the Black Bunny masks; the other masks and bodies were made
by Rotterdam-based Remie Bakker (manimalworks.com); Sjoerd Didden Studios created
the hair (sjoerddidden.nl). Babette van den Berg designed some of the costumes
(babettevandenberg.nl) and Silvia B. painted Karls costume (silvia-b.com).
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57 real dolls
This project was realised with support from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts,
Design and Architecture (Fonds BKVB) and the Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst (CBK),
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Edition: 1 of each, 4 Black Bunnies
Exhibited: Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst (CBK), Museumnacht 2011, Rotterdam,
the Netherlands, 5 March 2011: Karl Lagerfeld, Big Baby and 4 Black Bunnies
(choreography Sanja Hasagi); TENT, Museumnacht 2012, Rotterdam, the
Netherlands, 10 March 2012: Iggy, Ozzy and Lemmy (choreography Sanja Hasagi,
music Florian Magnus Maier)
Links: Video impression CBK: bit.ly/1a9wQq6, Video impression TENT: bit.ly/1497mqe,
Video impression TENT: bit.ly/17aLPbg

FLX / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Job Janssen & Jan Adriaans)
59 fx
6. FLX, 2011
Multiplayer racing game for Xbox

FLX is a multiplayer racing game for Microsofts Xbox made by Han
Hoogerbrugge and Sander van der Vegte and produced by Submarine Channel.
32

Using the Xbox Kinect system the motion sensing input device for the Xbox 360
each player controls one of the four on-screen characters who is physically connected
to the other three characters with an elastic band. The goal of the game is to make
it to the end of a track while overcoming the oddest of obstacles. The trick is that, in
order to move forward, players have to work together. FLX is especially fun to play
(and to watch other people play) at parties.
Four players have to join forces to navigate an obstacle course littered with
Euro signs, houses built from playing cards, Smiley balls, the ubiquitous McDonalds
golden arches, pill boxes, nippled depth charges, and so much more. All the characters
Big Baby, two Black Bunnies, and Karl Lagerfeld appear in other works (the Prostress
series,p.21, and the Real Dolls performance, p.49). Players stand in front of the
screen on stickers that are affxed to the foor and control their characters by swaying
from left to right or leaning backwards and forwards. The challenge is for all four
players to work together to awkwardly weave their way through the tricky on-screen
terrain at a vexingly slow pace. A player is disqualifed if he/she makes a wrong
move. The as-yet unanswered question is if any group of players will ever see what
lies at the end of this obstacle course?
FLX is one of three short video games developed as part of the game research
project A Split Second a collaboration between Submarine Channel and Stedelijk
Museum Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
33
The aim of A Split Second was to foster
cross-disciplinary collaborations between visual artists and game designers, and
explore the concept of artistic authorship within the context of video games.
32 Link: The making of: bit.ly/vwVhTY
33 Submarine Channel has an area of their site dedicated to Hoogerbrugges works:
bit.ly/15geZ9d. The company is currently exploring distribution options for FLX.
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FLX / Stedelijk Museum / Amsterdam, NL / 2011 (Photograph: Ernst van Deursen)
63 fx
The world premiere of FLX took place at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
on 6 October 2011. FLX was also presented at Hoogebrugges comprehensive 2012
solo exhibition La Grande Fte des Voyeurs at TENT in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
This project was realised with support from Dutch Game Fund and the Dutch Ministry
of Education, Culture and Science, SNS REAAL, VSB Fund, Stedelijk Museum and
Submarine Channel.
Materials (for exhibition): Xbox 360 plus Kinect system, video projector, screen/wall,
software
Exhibited: Load It, Stedelijk Museum, 2011; La Grande Fte des Voyeurs, TENT,
Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2012, Its Art in the Game, Gemeentelijkemuseum
Hilversum, the Netherlands, 2012; Le parcours joue le jeu, ceci nest pas une
exposition, la Gat Lyrique, Paris, France, 2012
Links: The making of: bit.ly/vwVhTY, Exhibition tour: bit.ly/16Zie7S, Perfomance Stedelijk
Museum Amsterdam: bit.ly/19WllPc
Collection: Stedelijk Museum

Quatrosopus / flm still / 2011
65 quatrosopus
7. QUATROSOPUS, 2011
Non-interactive installation
One face of the four-faced Hoogerbrugge, inspired by the Hindu deity Lord Brahma,
spouts a series of acerbic yet humorous aphorisms by the likes of poet Ezra Pound
and author Charles Dickens that relate to freedom of expression, inviting responses
(verbal or physical) from one or more of the other faces: A free lunch is only found
in mousetraps, or Shoot for the moon; even if you miss youll land among the stars.
Hovering between the poetic and the existential, the violent and
the masochistic, the work intimates the problems that underscore
the defnition, and reality, of freedom of speech. Quatrosopus
multi-faceted, quadruply-split persona symbolises the quandaries of
assuming a fxed position, and hints at the dilemmas underlying the
silencing of both provocative speech and unfettered free speech.
34
The voice is run through a Vocoder and the aphorisms are subtitled. Obviously a
conficted character, Hoogerbrugge slaps himself in the face repeatedly, rotating
his head so that another face can present a different point of view. Hammers are
involved in this process too. The on-screen Hoogerbrugge occasionally holds a mask
of billionaire businessman and occasional Italian president Silvio Berlusconi in front
of one of his four faces, or plays Neil Youngs Keep on Rockin in the Free World on
an electric guitar, interrupting the pieces ambient soundtrack. Intent on appearing
to be in full control until the end, Hoogerbrugges character remembers to turn out
the light.
34 Quote sourced from the Danish Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale
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Quatrosopus / flm still / 2011
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69 quatrosopus
Edition: 5 and 2 AP
Materials (for exhibition): 3 screens 1.5m x 1m (minimum), media player
Exhibited: Speech Matters, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice-Danish Pavilion, Italy, 2011,
curated by Katerina Gregos; La Grande Fte des Voyeurs, TENT, Rotterdam, the
Netherlands, 2012; Video in the City, the Queen Gallery Brussels, during Art
Brussels, Belgium, 2012; Treat on Laughter, London, United Kingdom, 2012;
Graphic A.N.D. Protest, Electron, Breda, the Netherlands, 2012; To Have and Have
Not, Halle 14, Leipzig, Germany, 2013
Links: Exhibition: bit.ly/jEeqys,

Private collections: 1/5, 2/5, 3/5

Overlast / Nuisance / flm stills / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012
71 overlast/nuisance
8. OVERLAST/NUISANCE, 2011
Projection
These projections are a superb example of how Hoogerbrugges commissioned works
are inextricably linked to his overall artistic output. They reveal some of the things
that irritate a man in his daily life, things that he (Hoogerbrugge) and most of us
would like to crush whenever they occur. Irritants include a man talking too loudly
on a train, a boy slurping his soup, a postman shoving unwanted advertising through
a mailbox (ignoring the large sticker asking him not to) and, of course, someone
using a mobile phone in a restricted area. The man deals with most of these pests by
shouting at them or striking them very roughly.
Hoogerbrugges storyboard was selected from submissions responding to
Path Cinemas call for the Ultrakort (Ultra Short) programme for the Netherlands.
The project was produced by Submarine Channel, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
35
Commissioned by: Path Cinemas, produced by Submarine Channel, Amsterdam,
the Netherlands
Materials (for exhibition): screen 3m x 2m (minimum), media player
Exhibited: La Grande Fte des Voyeurs, TENT, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2012
Links: vimeo.com/33342957

35 Link: www.submarine.nl/#!/project/nuisance/

BOX / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Job Janssen & Jan Adriaans)
73 box
9. BOX, 2010
iPhone/iPod app, free download, plus a website
Hoogerbrugges frst app for smartphones and hand-held devices is a two-stage
app,
36
which can be operated as self-contained on a phone or in interaction with
a website.
37
It premiered at his solo exhibition Han Hoogerbrugge rtrospective et
iPhone application at lUnique, Caen, France, in 2010.
38
An iPhone or iPod on a low stand in a dark space invites interaction. The
device displays an animation of Hoogerbrugge with a box on his head performing a
sequence of ridiculous gestures and movements in response to fnger controls. This
animation is sourced from his online animation series NAILS (20027).
39
The device
also connects to the website, opening up another level of interaction. Once the viewer
has worked out which way to shake the handheld device he or she is rewarded with
a projection at the other end of the space of a spotlit, gyrating, lecherous, bikini-clad
female fgure with Hoogerbrugges head. Keep shaking to keep the spotlight on.
The combined app/website installation a blend of obscene satire, a cartoon-
esque style (reminiscent of Windor McKay) and Hoogerbrugges personality is
accompanied by instructions for the users. However, in-depth research has shown
that ignoring the instructions and asking a curator or lurking guard to demonstrate
how it works is far more rewarding.
36 Amsterdam-based mobile software development company Guppies in the Dark made the
app. Link: guppiesinthedark.com
37 Link: www.box.hoogerbrugge.com
38 Han Hoogerbrugge rtrospective et iPhone application, lUnique, Caen, France, 11 March
30 June 2010. Link: bit.ly/15ipGrU
39 Link: nails.hoogerbrugge.com

BOX / Web / iTunes / 2012
75 box
Edition: Unlimited, free download: bit.ly/14aFIcl
Materials (for exhibition): iPad or iPhone, broadband/high-speed Internet link, screen
2m x 3m video projector,
Exhibited: Han Hoogerbrugge rtrospective et iPhone application, lUnique, Caen, France,
2010; La Grande Fte des Voyeurs, TENT, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2012
Links: BOX instruction video: bit.ly/14aGupE

A thunderstorm in a beautiful summer sky
A Thunderstorm in a Beautiful Summer Sky / flm still / 2009
77
10. A THUNDERSTORM IN A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER SKY, 2009
Video installation
In this beautiful video lasting just over a minute, Karl Lagerfeld, surrounded by shoes
and trophies, shares fashion advice and deep insights against a scrolling backdrop
of bouncing clowns, hordes of bikini-clad Hoogerbrugges struggling to speak (as he
often does in his projected works), and an occasional odd object. It premiered on
Hoogerbrugges website and on YouTube (2010), and saw its gallery premiere in
France in 2011.
40

Materials (for exhibition): Projection size (indication): 3m x 2m, media player, speakers
Exhibited: Han Hoogerbrugge Rtrospective Et iPhone Application, lUnique, Caen;
Shunck@Pink Pop 2012
Links: A Thunderstorm in a Beautiful Summer Sky: bit.ly/bW5Aas

40 This exhibition in Caen, France, ran from 11 March to 30 June 2011.
a thunderstorm in a beautiful summer sky

Karaoke / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Job Janssen & Jan Adriaans)
79 karaoke
11. KARAOKE, 2008
Interactive installation
In this interactive work, an animation of Hoogerbrugge is projected on a wall; a
microphone approximately ffteen metres away faces the projection. When a visitor
starts singing, the projection starts to twitch and gyrate with wooden gestures and
movements that dont quite mesh with the tidiness of this avatar. He recites the
names of medicines used to treat psychiatric disorders. The louder the visitors input,
the more exaggerated his movements become.
Jeroen Beltman wrote the computer script.
41
Karaoke premiered at the
exhibition PROFOOL at Base Alpha Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium, in 2008.
42

Edition: 5 and 1 AP
Materials (for exhibition): computer, microphone and stand
Exhibited: La Grande Fte #1, Sala Parpall, Valencia, Spain, 2010; La Grande Fte des
Voyeurs, TENT, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2012; PROFOOL, Base-Alpha Gallery,
Antwerp, Belgium, 2008

41 Jeroen Beltmans website: www.thebelt.nl
42 This exhibition ran from 25 October to 29 November 2008, showcasing a selection of
works.

WISYWIG / Zuidplein / Rotterdam, NL / 2008
81 wysiwyg, what you say is what you get
12. WISYWIG, WHAT YOU SAY IS WHAT YOU GET, 2008
Interactive installation
Hoogerbrugge created this interactive installation to express his concern that the
freedom to say anything about anything or anybody might not always be a good
thing. A huge animation of a fdgety Hoogerbrugge projected on an urban screen
seemingly struggles to spit out well-chewed words that visitors can send as text
messages to the installation from their mobile phones. Proclamations are made, but
the messenger clearly isnt convinced.
What You Say Is What You Get premiered on Zuidplein in Rotterdam, the
Netherlands, toured the rest of the country as part of a travelling exhibition, and was
featured at the DROPSTUFF Pavilion, as part of the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) in
Italy, where it was exhibited as a 14 x 4 metre projection on an outdoor LED wall.
The computer script was written by Jeroen Beltman.
43

Commissioned by: DROPSTUFF and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Exhibited: Zuidplein, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2008 (followed by a tour of the
Netherlands); DROPSTUFF screen as part of the 53rd Venice Biennale, Italy, 2009
Links: Dropstuff info: bit.ly/16ZevqS

43 Jeroen Beltmans website: www.thebelt.nl

Penis Envy / flm still / de Volkskrant website / 2008
83 animations for oog
13. ANIMATIONS FOR OOG, 20072009
Interactive online animations
This online exhibition platform created by Dutch newspaper de Volksrant in 2007
commissioned works from a group of artists who were asked to share their views
on current news. Each work featured on the website for one week. Hoogerbrugge
submitted eight works during the projects lifetime, titled No News, World Peace,
Public Opinion, Crime and Punishment, Year of the Pig, Penis Envy, Crisis, What
Crisis?, and World Health Day. All these witty and irreverent animations incorporated
soundtracks composed by Hoogerbrugge himself that are strongly reminiscent of
some of The Residents output.
44
Unfortunately the project ended in 2009.
Two examples: Crime and Punishment is a curious one: two kneeling
Hoogerbrugges clasp their hands in prayer; a mouse click gets them genufecting,
and a second click has them bashing their heads on the foor. In Penis Envy, penises
leap up and down as they are brushed by the mouse, each of them trying to be more
upstanding than the others while being stroked by miniature hands. These responses
are, of course, accompanied by all the appropriate noises.
Commissioned by: de Volkskrant
Exhibited: Online (but sadly no longer)
44 Shame on you if you dont know who The Residents are, but Im equally concerned if
you do. Go here to explore the strange worlds conjured by this American group of artists:
www.residents.com

85 appendix a: exhibitions since 2008
APPENDIX A: EXHIBITIONS SINCE 2008
This section lists the exhibitions Hoogerbrugge has participated in since 2008 in
reverse chronological order. His solo exhibitions since 2008 are discussed briefy frst.
previous page: Profool / Base-Alpha Gallery / Antwerp, BE / 2008

LA GRANDE FTE DES VOYEURS
TENT, ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
28 January 18 March 2012
tentrotterdam.nl
La Grande Fte des Voyeurs at TENT gallery in Rotterdam was the frst retrospective
of Hoogerbrugges work. A selection of his interactive animations, video projections,
and series of slides and drawings from the past ffteen years were exhibited, spanning
the pioneering phase in which Hoogerbrugge made animations using simple computer
software to the modern sophisticated computer technology with which he entices
the public to play his games. Mariette Dlle, artistic director of TENT, curated the
exhibition.
Works included: Karaoke, BOX, Overlast, La Grand Fte des Voyeurs, Holocubes, Slides of
illustrations and watercolours, Quatrosopus, FLX, Dow Jones
Links: Opening: bit.ly/xHgrVH , Exhibition tour: bit.ly/16Zie7S
Articles: Mister Motley: bit.ly/15vrT2b, TENT: bit.ly/u0ISwb,
Michael Minneboo: bit.ly/yF0FlD, Kunstof TV: bit.ly/15sXloN, REL TV: bit.ly/wpjliI

previous page: La Grand Fte des Voyeurs / TENT / Rotterdam, NL / 2012 (Photograph: Job Janssen & Jan Adriaans)

La Grande Fte #2 / Le Cabinet / Paris, FR / 2010
HAN HOOGERBRUGGE RTROSPECTIVE ET IPHONE APPLICATION
LUNIQUE, CAEN, FRANCE
11 March 30 June 2011
lunique.info
This 2011 solo retrospective in the French city of Caen showcased a selection of
existing works. It included an installation made especially for the gallerys display
window that screened a changing selection of Hoogerbrugges video works for the
duration of the exhibition. An animation featuring Karl Lagerfeld sharing incredibly
profound insights titled A Thunderstorm in a Beautiful Summer Sky was screened in
a public space for the frst time (see p.77),
45
and the two-stage iPhone app, BOX,
was also launched during this exhibition (see p.73).
Works included: BOX, Modern Living/Neurotica series, Nails, Hotel, Zoo, A Thunderstorm
in a Beautiful Summer Sky, Anthrophobia, Hylephobia
Link: lunique.info
LA GRANDE FTE #2
GALERIE LE CABINET*, PARIS, FRANCE
4 September 10 November 2010
galeriebaraudou.com
The La Grande Fte project continued with the presentation of two new animations,
the premiere of DOOM wallpaper, the Fuck Death Toys (and much more) at an
exhibition titled La Grande Fte #2 at the Galerie Le Cabinet, Paris.
Works included: Mass Bikini, Solo Bikini, General Fly (animations); DOOM wallpaper; La
Grande Fte studies (watercolours); Fuck Death Toys
Links: Baraudou info page: bit.ly/199LGbu, Exhibition tour: bit.ly/19Y1f7c
* This gallerys name has since been changed to Galerie Bertrand Baraudou.
45 This work was already viewable on Hoogerbrugges website and on YouTube.
A Thunderstorm in a Beautiful Summer Sky: bit.ly/bW5Aas
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La Grande Fte #1 / Sala Parpall / Valencia, SP / 2010
LA GRANDE FTE #1
SALA PARPALL, VALENCIA, SPAIN
19 June 30 October 2010
salaparpallo.com
The 2010 solo exhibition at Sala Parpall a converted cloister in Valencia was the
actual launch of the overarching La Grande Fte #1 concept. The exhibition included
nine new interactive installations, new video works that were each installed in a
separate alcove and made especially for this venue, and a series of studies produced
under the title La Grande Fte. This was Hoogerbrugges frst solo exhibition in Spain
and was extended by two months due to its resounding success. Angela Molina F
curated the exhibition.
Works included: Modern Living/Neurotica series, Hotel, Flow, The Inability to Solve a War
at a Cocktail Party, music videos for The Young Punx and Dead ManRay, La Grande
Fte studies (watercolours)
Links: Exhibition tour: bit.ly/17wsG5M, Spanish TV: bit.ly/17wsG5M,
Press Release: bit.ly/cXuvkY

PROFOOL
BASE-ALPHA GALLERY, ANTWERP, BELGIUM
25 October 29 November 2008
basealphagallery.com
Hoogerbrugges frst large solo exhibition at Base-Alpha showcased works made in
2008: new prints, watercolours (self-portraits), a prototype of the Fuck Death Toy,
the Karaoke installation, and the presentation of the book Modern Living.
Works included: Ataxophobia (print series), Fuck Death Toys (prototypes), Watercolours: Happy
Famous Artists and self-portraits; Prostress Pillbox; Karaoke, PROFOOL wallpaper
Links: Exhibition pictures by Trendbeheer: bit.ly/14ixKZf

2013 Filmhuis Den Haag Filmhuis Den Haag The Hague nl solo
25 jaar Stadscollectie Rotterdam Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam nl group
To Have and Have not Halle 14 Leipzig ge group
Art Brussels Galerie Base-Alpha Brussel be group
Forum dart contemporain Casino Luxembourg Luxemburg lu group
2012 Grapic A.N.D. Protest Electron Breda nl group
So-and-So Printroom Rotterdam nl group
Shunck@pinkpop Video Landgraaf nl group
Video in the city Videos in de galerij Brussel be group
Its Art in the Game Museum Hilversum Hilversum nl group
Dow Jones Galerie Base-Alpha Antwerp be solo
La Grande Fte des Voyeurs TENT Rotterdam nl solo
2011 Load It Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam nl group
Speech Matters 54th Biennale Danish Pavilion Venice it group
Future Pass Palazzo Mangilli Valmarana Venice it group
The King of Fools MOCA Taipei tw solo
Revised Law of Universal Media Pole Seoul kr solo
Gravitation
Rtrospectif + App animation LUnique Caen fr solo
La Grande Fte Real Dolls CBK Rotterdam nl group
2010 La Grande Fte #2 Galerie Le Cabinet Paris fr solo
La Grande Fte #1 Sala Parpallo Valencia sp solo
Popjugend Galerie Maijke Husstege s-Hertogenbosch nl group
La Ligne Espace Avendre Nice fr group
Tarte la crme Le Cabinet Paris fr group
De Fantasiefabriek Noord Brabants Museum s-Hertogenbosch nl group
2009 Animamix Biennal MOCA Taipei tw group
Smolet is Beautiful Espace Avendre Nice fr group
Notes on Narratives Nest The Hague nl group
Met eigen ogen Noord Brabants Museum Den Bosch nl group
Dropstuff 53rd Venice Biennale Venice it group
Exhibitions
2008 H.E.C Le Cabinet Gallery Paris fr group
Profool Galerie Base-Alpha Antwerp be solo
Talent in Beweging Glaspaleis Heerlen Heerlen nl group
Dropstuff On tour in Holland nl group
Beeld op drift CBK Groningen Groningen nl group
Enter This Body Cultuurhuis De Bijl Zoersel be group
2012 Tripostal de Fives Lille fr
Treat on Laughter London uk
Shunk@pinkpop Landgraaf nl
2011 FOTB 2011 Brighton uk
OFFF 2011 Barcelona Barcelona sp
2010 Illustratie Binnale Haarlem nl
Fte de lanimation Lille fr
i-Brain Gent be
2009 Share Festival Torino it
2012 Run Motherfucker Dance SO-AND-SO The magazine as an art form #2 nl/it
2011 Prostress#2 BIS Publishers nl
2010 Prostress#1 BIS Publishers nl
2009 Modern Living/The Graphic Submarine Channel nl
Universe of Han Hoogerbrugge DVD
2008 Modern Living/The Graphic BIS Publishers/Submarine Channel nl
Universe of Han Hoogerbrugge Book/DVD
Festivals
Books/Editions

2
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A MAGAZINE ON CONTEMPORARY CULTURE
EUR 12 E UK 11
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! ALL DEDON I MAGES ARE PROTECTED BY COPY-
RI GHT. DEDON GMBH RETAI NS THE RI GHTS OF
USE. ANY CHANGE OF THE DEDON AD LAYOUTS
AND/OR CREATI VE MATERI AL I S NOT PERMI TTED. !
DEDON worl dwi de: www.dedon.de offi ce@dedon.de
RODA - Distributor in Italy. Via Tinella, 2 21026 Gavirate (Va)
Fax 0332 748655 info@rodaonline.com
97 appendix b: damn article
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HAN
Han Hoogerbrugge is regarded as one of the pioneers of Internet art, though the
web is just a medium besides the many others he explores. Hoogerbrugge recently
published a comic book version of his frst Prostress series; he also creates art
installations for galleries and museums, as well as designs video clips, newspaper
illustrations and commercials. Currently he is developing a set of wearable puppets.
Despite the versatility of the media he employs, his work demonstrates a strong
visual and conceptual coherence in the way it explores the contemporary human
condition, its neuroses and obsessions.
When Han Hoogerbrugge (1963) opens the door of his Rotterdam studio, I
am struck by the resemblance to his virtual alter ego. Well, I try to look like him
as much as possible, is his witty reply. Hoogerbrugge, a tall Dutchman in his late
40s, is stylishly dressed in black, his hair combed backwards, sporting a long,
drooping moustache resembling that of Lemmy from Motrhead, one of his idols
which he references in his work. Hoogerbrugge gained international acclaim in
the late 1990s with Modern Living/ Neurotica (1998-2001), an on-line interactive
animation series for which he posted a new episode every two weeks. In these
monochromatic self-portraits, his alter ego is caught up in bizarre situations that
evoke the absurdity of Samuel Beckett, the surreal awkwardness of David Lynch
and the distress of Robert Longo. Setting himself in a minimal, non-descript and
clinical background, he engages in several actions that revolve around his person
such as throwing darts at his own head or pulling out a teeth with a pair of pincers.
These short clips are rendered in a loop, emphasising the characters entrapment in
cyclical and obsessive patterns. Hoogerbrugge is a kind of cyberspace-Everyman,
exposed to the over-stimuli of todays consumer society and the resulting stress,
alienation and angst. The viewer is invited to set repetitive, often dark mechanisms
into action, such as making the protagonists head explode or making him drown.
Hoogerbrugge manages to extract the sadist out of us: The violence always works.
These works are the most popular. Last year I had a show in Taiwan where they
put eighteen animations from Nails (the series following Neurotica) on separate
touch screens. It was funny to see the visitors triggering the violence. I also made
this ten-part interactive animation called Hotel. There is a scene when the doctor
gets smaller every time he gets hit on the head. If you kicked him ffty times, you
got the message: What are you doing? After one hundred times it said: You
are a sick person, and after two hundred hits you could answer questions for a
competition and send them to me. I thought nobody would fnd it. But when Hotel
went online, I got the frst e-mail after 12 minutes!
the medium is the message
Hoogerbrugge a painter by training - started making comics, which he simply
put online. Little by little, he began experimenting with animation to make these
drawings more adjusted to the web. Unlike fellow net explorers, Hoogerbrugge
doesnt want to overwhelm the viewer with contrived applications and gimmicks.
He always adheres to a no-nonsense approach searching for the most effcient
solution for a specifc problem. His backgrounds are stark, devoid of any dcor,
and his colour palette is deliberately limited to keep the fle size to a minimum. The
animation itself is based on a simple concept and restricted to one action, triggered
by a single mouse click. Hoogerbrugge began his Modern Living/ Neurotica series
in animated GIF loops but after episode 28 he switched to Flash animation, where
he also composed the soundscape. The images originate in video footage of
himself, which he then draws, uploads on his computer and animates. The entire
series is archived on his site, though the frst nine episodes are missing, as the
foppy they were stored on got lost. The evolution of the Internet and software is a
big challenge for the conservation of his work: I am really afraid that Flash is going
to disappear, as Apple doesnt want to support it on their mobile devices. Adobe
is putting together software to make a Flash-like software. If Flash disappears, I
might have to fnd a converter. I always knew this was going to happen sooner or
later, but this is a bit sooner than I expected. Once Flash disappears, my work will
be no longer accessible on the Internet and will disappear, which is also cool in a
99 appendix b: damn article
certain way. On the other hand, as Google is archiving everything, there is stuff
that I took off but which is still out there.
cross media
Hoogerbrugge is currently continuing his daily online comic Prostress, an absurd
series in which his aging - alter ego delivers his cynical observations on the
world, joined by the likes of Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch, Bob Ross, Ozzy
Osbourne and other celebrities. During the weekends he also makes intricate
watercolours. These different media constantly infuence one another and can be
translated from one medium to another. For his 2010 solo show in the Salo Parpallo
art museum - a converted cloister in Valencia - he created new video works which
were installed in different alcoves. These wall-to-ceiling projections had a physical
immediacy and a direct relation to the viewer that is more diffcult to achieve on
the web. On the other hand, it is doubtful whether an art exhibition might attract
the 1,100,000 visits his website has yearly. As in his Valencia show, Hoogerbrugge
often deliberately quotes scenes or motifs from earlier works. He seems to be the
quintessential cross-media artist switching between high art and low culture,
between exhibitions and commissions, over to video clips for indie band Dead Man
Ray to the more recent Love etc. for the Pet Shop Boys. For a postmodern artist,
he manages to make highly original work, exploring human feelings in a way that
is at once profound, dark and humorous.
Text: Sam Steverlynck (for DAMn # 27 / 2011)
100
Han Hoogerbrugges websites
hoogerbrugge.com / prostress.com
ml.hoogerbrugge.com / nails.hoogerbrugge.com
Contact Han Hoogerbrugge
Kindly direct all queries regarding interviews, press
packs, exhibitions, commissions, and sales to:
Henny de Man, manager
mobile: +31 (0)6 509 135 00
offce: +31 (0)10 841 03 59
henny@hoogerbrugge.com
info@hoogerbrugge.com
Han Hoogerbrugge is represented by
Galerie Bertrand Baraudou, Paris, France
baraudou.net
62, rue Saint Sabin 75011, Paris
paris@galeriebaraudou.com
+33 (0)9 53 47 41 62
+33 (0)6 11 89 24 89
Base Alpha Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
basealphagallery.com
Kattenberg 12, B-2140 Antwerp-Borgerhout, Belgium
bart@basealphagallery.com
+32 (0)3 295.86.36
+32 (0)476 62 03 17
Unless stated otherwise, all images & design Han Hoogerbrugge, 2013 (v.1)
Texts by Mark Poysden

101
Ever the outsider, Hoogerbrugge has been banned from
Facebook twice once for an image of a disembowelled
body (as part of Prostress), the second time for reposting
the same image with the Facebook ban stuck on top of it.
Reacting to this again, he made a drawing of the events
and posted it. This time it was not removed.

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