Hello, I'm

ROB RITZENHEIN

Installation view of Dreams and Hallucinations with framed photographs on gallery walls and a divider wall printed with a green circuit-board photograph
Macro photograph of a green computer circuit board
Close-up of a framed risograph poster with a red and blue duotone portrait of a man wearing glasses, part of a row of posters on the wall
Row of framed risograph posters mounted on a wall printed with a green circuit-board photograph
Detail of a risograph poster overlaying a photo of hands operating machinery with Spanish text reading 'Supongo que podría dejar de programar, ¿pero entonces qué haría?'
Two gallery walls, each with a wall-mounted screen playing video next to a large print of pixelated glitch patterns
Booklet displayed open on a plinth showing a pixelated portrait titled 'Dreams and Hallucinations' beside a printed text panel
Close-up of an open booklet page styled as a computer terminal transcript with a security prompt asking whether to trust the project
Two-page booklet spread showing a pixelated green portrait on the left page and a black-and-white portrait of the artist smiling on the right page
Close-up of a booklet page styled as a terminal session ending with 'whoami', showing Rob Ritzenhein, Multi-disciplinary Artist and Designer, robritz.com

Dreams and Hallucinations

Humans dream. AI hallucinates.

For two decades I've enjoyed the benefits of being a white man in tech. Worldwide economic downturns seemed to glance off my career. During the 2008 financial crisis, people were still building websites. During Covid, SaaS products boomed as companies reached for IPO. My privilege appeared to be impermeable.

With the proliferation of AI, tech companies are gambling on the unproven potential of a digital workforce. Dreams and Hallucinations examines the question, “I guess I could quit coding but what else do I do if not that?” This quote has echoed throughout the online forums and discussion groups as my demographic reckons with our weakening professional value. Do I embrace the rapidly changing landscape, trading my dreams and aspirations for dreams and AI hallucinations? Or do I use my privilege to explore other options?

In a series of six sarcastic posters, photographs are combined to compare the traditional corporate headshot with a profession considered to be “AI-proof”, showing the character pondering options he has seen as plan B vs plan A. The posters are placed in the barrios of Poblenou and Eixample, areas with a high population of tech professionals. As people walk past the posters, they appear to be rendered in code as if replaced by AI.

Risography is used to produce each poster; a technology invented for corporate reproduction now used for niche artistic printing. The posters are paired with a booklet exploring a conversation about career and white privilege with Claude Code.

View the booklet PDF.

This work is on exhibit at Nau Bostik in the Sala Gandul gallery from 25 June to 25 July, 2026.