“Natural Process” revolves around the painting “A Web Page” and related processes. “A Web Page” is broadcasted via the Internet in the form of footage that contains the space the painting is exhibited in, complete with visitors. The processes of shifting from digital (image data) to analogue objects (paintings), and conversion in the opposite direction, suggest the shift of values between Internet and real spaces.

Depicted in “A Web Page” is the top page (including browser window) of Google, which the artists frequently accessed in 2003 when the painting was made. The result they categorized as a painting of an “Internet landscape seen through a window.” Thanks to the appearance of the smartphone after the work was unveiled, today we are able to access the Internet from any place at any time. Rather than something we “peek at through a window,” the Internet has turned into “something that is always by our side,” and for many people it is probably about viewing something through specific applications and services rather than via a browser.

“A Web Page” is publicly exhibited and broadcasted online for the first time since its initial presentation 14 years ago, and it remains to be seen how the scenery of 2003 turns out when it is once again cast into the “Natural Process” while involving us living today. The 2018 edition of the Internet landscape includes additional elements in the form of search results of ”#awebpage“ on Instagram.

The UI painted in “A Web Page” is from back in 2003.

“A Web Page”: Collection of Google Japan LLC
Painting: INAGAKI Masayuki
Cooperation: Rhizome