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Ben Gooding answers FADs questions TOAF/FAD #THREE

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Ben Gooding answers FADs questions – As part of FADs support for emerging artists we have teamed up with The Other Art Fair to showcase 14 of the exhibiting artists at Boxpark.

The Artists were chosen by Ryan Stanier (Fair Director TOAF) and Mark Westall ( Creative Director FAD) and they will have a piece of their work exhibited by poster In an exhibition at The Boxpark Gallery.

There will also be an art opening on Thursday May 3rd which will have live + performance art, Music + free drink + much more.

In the lead up to this event FAD will be showcasing each of the 14 Artists who were chosen
#THREE: Ben Gooding

1.If you weren’t an artist, what else would you be?
A Biologist.

2. Can you tell us more about your work and what are the main ideas you would like to express?
The work is the result of a very simple process which is devised prior to execution and cannot be deviated from during the course of production. Here, a single line is repeated as many times as is required in order to fill the picture plain and culminates in a logical end point. There is an abandonment of colour, gesture, of the expressive, and a mechanistic process is emphasised instead. I see them as drawings primarily, although I like to think they fall into a grey area between drawing and sculpture.

3. How do you start the process of making work?
I begin by crafting a tool specific to each work. This tool is a line carved into sheet melamine and it is this initial line that defines the composition that runs through the work.

4. Do you consider the viewer, when making your work?
Yes, the work is very much about the immediacy of the viewing experience. As the viewer moves in relation to the work, the light plays over the composition and the surface becomes “activated”. It is the way the work reacts to this constantly shifting proximity that is central.

5. Name 3 artists that have inspired your work?
Bridget Riley, Sol Lewitt, Richard Sera.

6. Name 3 of your least favourite artists.
De Kooning, Dubuffet, Vittriano

7. What defines something as a work of art?
The boundaries of what constitutes “a work of art” have been pushed to breaking point. The question is what constitutes something that is of value and how do we recognise it. Anything can become art, so the concern should be discerning what is good.

8. In times of austerity, do you think art has a moral obligation to respond topically?
No, artists do not have a moral obligation to “do” anything other than make the work they want, otherwise it can seem a bit contrived. That is not to say artists can’t or shouldn’t respond to their social/political context, but they shouldn’t be press ganged into it.

9. Anytime, any place – which artist’s body would you most like to inhabit?
As a lover of science, maybe Da Vinci, as he was so ground breaking in both fields (and the weather would have been nice).

10. What is your favourite ‘ism’?
Minimalism.

11. What was the most intelligent thing that someone said or wrote about your work?
“from a distance they resemble a sound wave, or a sweep of light, one unified movement over the surface…” Francesca Baker for Who’s Jack magazine.

12. And the dumbest?
“They look like hair”.

14. Do you care what your art costs? State your reasons!
Yes! It costs money, time and effort to produce work, this should be reflected in the value.

15. If Moma and the Tate and the Pompidou wanted to acquire one of your works each, which would you want them to have?
I’ll cross that bridge when I get there…

16. What’s next for you?
A few more shows in London, but am working towards something in Germany, particulaly the Berlin scene…

www.bengooding.co.uk/
www.theotherartfair.com www.boxpark.co.uk

The Other Art Fair + FAD pre fair party Thursday May 3rd 2012 from 6pm at Boxpark
Join The Facebook Event for more info and a free drink: www.facebook.com/

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