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Roos Groothuizen

science & technology , Network , Media , Internet , installation , Digital technology , Artistic research

Roos Groothuizen (she/her) is a media artist who cares about digital human rights.
In her own practice, and within the art collective Telemagic (with Cyanne van den Houten and Ymer Marinus), she conducts research into the human side of invisible algorithms, information filters and unfair distribution. Who is ultimately in control of what we observe?

Someone is at your front door
Someone is at your Front Door (2025) - someoneisatyourfrontdoor.com is an online publication featuring artistic research on the smart doorbell. The device is quietly conquering our country. One in five households now has a smart doorbell, a threefold increase since 1. While privacy risks are a hot topic, the smart doorbell also impacts our humanity. The research exposes the underlying distrust in humanity, how our relationships are changing, what accountability you can offer as a creator, and questions the question: is the security camera changing from an enemy to a friend? This online publication includes DIY doorbell tutorials, interactive essays you can scroll through with videos, and effects. Dr. Laura op de Beke (Utrecht University), Dr. Dan Hassler-Forest (Utrecht University), Simoon Hermus (De Volkskrant), and Dave Borghuis (Hackerspace Tkkrlab) made significant contributions to the research. The research was funded by CBK Rotterdam and the Creative Industries Fund NL.
Telemagic: archive.dweller (2023) - The archive.dweller is an otherworldy portal to AI's unique way of thinking. Choose an image from the Centraal Museum's archive of 60.000+ objects, and watch how an open source AI interprets them. The (usually concealed) algorithmic interpretations and associations of the artworks are often factually incorrect, sometimes poetic, occasionally style-breaking but above all, they are infinitely diverse. Combining two artworks results in giving a contemporary twist to seventeenth-century paintings, while Rietveld's chairs, for example, can suddenly take on a picturesque context. Commissioned by Centraal Museum as part of Centraal Collection until 2026.
Ode to Frances (2022) - This lugubrious dollhouse game by media artist Roos Groothuizen and set designer Isa van Weert is based on the Nutshell Studies by Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962). In the 1940s, the forensic scientist recreated crime scenes in miniature to clarify unsolved murder cases. She analyzed what an interior tells us about the life that took place within it. Eighty years later, multimedia artist Roos Groothuizen, in collaboration with Isa van Weert, translated one of the things, the Three-Room Dwelling, to the here and now. More and more households are equipped with smart technology; the operating software and log files 'know' everything about the users' activities. Had the events occurred in a smart home, what electronic traces would they have left behind? In this interactive dollhouse you are invited to solve the murder case. With an accompanying tablet you can read more about the case and gain insight into all the data. Ultimately, you'll need to answer some crucial questions before time runs out.
I want to delete it all, but not now (2021) - 'I want to delete it all, but not now' is a playful, conceptual escape room in which we explore our personal choices to escape the data industry. Apps, video platforms and social media have become an essential part of our daily lives. The downside of this is that our online behavior is continuously recorded and resold and that we actually have no idea what we are giving permission for. We've all thought about going offline or exploring alternatives, but what's stopping us? In a 60-minute experience, players are confronted with personal dilemmas through physical and digital puzzles about aspects such as online addiction, privacy and responsibility. The escape room takes place in the room of missing international student Rosa Aringa. As a private detective you look for the answers behind her disappearance. By retracing Rosa's steps you discover why much of her room was mysteriously locked. Was her disappearance staged? What was she doing online? Whose were all those cryptic apps? And why was the door gone? By solving the puzzles, you become aware of the choices that prevent you from taking action and regaining control of the internet. You can play the escape room digitally via a livestream body camera and/or physically in Tetem. The work 'I want to delete it all, but not now' was developed on behalf of Tetem. The title of the exhibition is based on a quote from the book 'Sad by Design' by Geert Lovink. His analysis of the dark side of online platforms was the source of inspiration for Roos to create a deliberately endless quest in which human desires hold us back. 'I want to delete it all, but not now' was nominated for the Golden Calf Digital Culture in 2021.
Telemagic: TelePythia (v1 2019, v2 2022) - A place of techno-pilgrimage... a beacon hidden in the woods. An oracle is ready to offer you unique advice and direction, based on parameters found in constellations, wind direction, internet traffic, and time. What it has to tell is fully generated, as well as its lighting and a soundpiece played by live synthesizers.
Telemagic: Concert in AI / vNine (2019) - Concert in AI is a series of concerts where self-learning musical algorithm vNine is the ubiquitous host, conductor, instrument and musician. The AI ​​vNine was developed by Telemagic icw Arran Lyon, Mrinalini Luthra and Valentin Vogelmann in 2018. The AI ​​is able to bodilessly direct multiple instruments in harmony, but also plays by your side. Through a combination of theatrical and algorithmic black boxes, Telemagic searches for new insights in music, creation, space and data visualization. Concert in AI invites you to ascend with vNine into an exploration of extended dimensions within music. In collaboration with Valentin Vogelmann, Arran Lyon and Mrinalini Luthra. In co-production by Theater Frascati. Funded by SIDN Fund. Costumes designed by Draga Dina.
The Black Box Bellagio (2017) - Welcome to the Black Box Bellagio. In this unusual casino you don't play with money, but with your data and integrity. Take a seat at one of our gaming tables and play with the (un)fairness of average odds, predicted risks and losing your identity. It is common knowledge that companies use algorithms to track you. However, you never seem to be able to know what these algorithms do, or when they are there. It is not always clear what is withheld and what is made invisible. Yet you are held responsible for your own knowledge. In a created state of uncertainty, all options seem unreliable. What is real and what is fake? What is good, what is evil? In this casino all outcomes are known, but you will never know what outcome you will get. The bank is always one step ahead: The bank always seems to win. The Black Box Bellagio responds to current data issues such as the lack of clarity about data collection and generalization and discrimination around generated identities. In this immersive experience, the feeling of loss of control is translated into a new physical, accessible context, which can be found in every game. In 2018, the Black Box Bellagio was further developed in collaboration with the Waag, as part of the European DECODE project. The Roulette and Lucky Server were created in collaboration with Ymer Marinus.
Consulate of Google (2015) - The “filter bubble” is a phenomenon where websites and companies adjust your web content based on your interests. They can determine your interests by looking at your search history and clicking behavior. The result is that Internet users, without realizing it, become stuck in a bubble containing only things they already know and like. These data profiles work in a similar way to passports. Both are strictly personal, unique, and only grant you access to locations where you have permission to enter. At the Google Consulate you can have your interest passport printed and learn how Google thinks it knows you. However, the passport is printed with such small letters that you can only read it under a microscope.

Gastdocent - Breitner Academie

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Location: Breitner Academie
In association with: Breitner Academie

At the Breitner Academy I give master classes in the context of ARTechlab, the didactic part of the courses that deals with technology and art.

Oprichter - .zip

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Location: .zip
In association with: Cyanne van den Houten

.zip is an experimental creative space in Rotterdam, focused on exploring digital culture, queer futures and alternative art forms. The space is managed by 9 makers who actively fight to make the experimental use of tools and space more accessible to artistic peers. .zip was founded in 2021 by Cyanne van den Houten and Roos Groothuizen.

https://www.zipspace.nl

Programmamaker - Verse Algoritmes

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In association with: Huis73

Huis73's Fresh Algorithms project investigates dilemmas surrounding digital citizenship. We wonder out loud: Is there no other way for the Internet? Aren't there better, alternative digital platforms? And if there aren't any, can we come up with new ones?!

For Verse Algorithms I have created a workshop series (Black Mirror Stories), a theater debate (Welcome to the Metaverse), an artist lecture, a corporate identity and a website (in collaboration with Vera van de Seyp).

https://versealgoritmes.nl/

Artist-in-Residence - Rathenau Instituut

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Location: Rathenau Instituut
In association with: SETUP, Rathenau Instituut

As the first artist-in-residence of the Rathenau Institute (in collaboration with SETUP), I have, among other things, participated in research into the social impact of VR and AR. By making research by design an essential part of the research practice of the Rathenau Instituut, the aim of the project is to make concrete experiences and practices visible. In this way we can take our knowledge further than is possible with theoretical models and cautious speculation.

https://www.rathenau.nl/nl/digitalisering/kunst-en-wetenschap-onderzoeken-samen-urgente-vragen

Programmamaker - Waag

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In association with: Waag

DECODE was a European project that researched realistic solutions to decentralize data ownership and give citizens back control over their personal data. I have been involved in developing a public program for Amsterdam and further developed the Black Box Bellagio here.

Lid Kunstcollectief - Telemagic

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In association with: Cyanne van den Houten, Ymer Marinus

Telemagic is an art-meets-tech collective founded by Cyanne van den Houten, Ymer Marinus and Roos Groothuizen. Telemagic doesn't believe in the idea that invisible technology is anything to fear; but something we should embrace and make tangible. Being an open media lab, they test interdisciplinary methods within rationalism and animism, nature and technology, and measurability and immeasurability in the form of manifestations, art interventions and tools.

https://www.telemagic.online
This artist has no awards yet.