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Ben Woodeson
1 – 30 September 2020 Maybe, Maybe Maybe, Maybe; what happens in that crucial instant when we interact with an unremarkable physical glitch in the fabric of our world? Woodeson’s recent research focusses in on what he has labelled the crucial instant; the point when interaction, objects and context come together to ensure that momentous events do, or do not happen. Extending on from research conducted after the 2017 Mexico City earthquake, Ben Woodeson’s Maybe, Maybe series has been made specifically for MOCA London. The works quietly celebrate otherwise banal urban disruptions, eulogizing their individual possibilities. Irrespective of their potential consequences, like natural phenomena, they are neither good or evil, they just are… The series consists of eighty-three unique images and a concrete poetry video piece developed during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. As work on the series progressed in tandem with the UK’s strict lockdown and social distancing, Ben Woodeson found that even deliveries of mundane cleaning products had the ability to improve the mood of his day. Realizing that post and parcels were all the external stimulation that many people were getting, Woodeson decided to give away an entire iteration of the Maybe, Maybe print series. He raided his contacts list and social media and posted eighty unique prints across the world. While the images may be used in future works and sizes, each of these prints is and will remain unique. An accompanying letter sets out the project and asks that if possible, the recipient emails MOCA London to confirm receipt. The order that the acknowledging emails arrive will decide the composition of a concrete poetry video piece composed from the individual images. The letter also makes it clear that no obligation is placed on the recipient of the work; do they choose to acknowledge receipt or not? The Maybe, Maybe video piece will be released once sufficient replies have been received. Three of the image series have been set aside for unlimited download-to-print-PDFs and they can be accessed here: place, rather, lust The full image series can be seen on www.woodeson.co.uk/pages/maybe_maybe Link to video piece of the series vimeo.com/463089008 Dividing his time between Roswell, New Mexico and Brighton on the south coast of England, artist and curator Ben Woodeson was born in London and studied at Glasgow School of Art. He has recently spent time researching and making work in New Mexico, Wisconsin, Mexico, Vietnam, Spain, Germany and England. Woodeson has exhibited extensively throughout Europe and North America. Recent exhibitions include Between One Thing and Another at William Bennington Gallery (2018), Burning Ring of Fire at Amarillo Museum of Art (2018), Ireland Glass Biennale at NCAD (2017), Midway Between Immortality and Certain Death at The Roswell Museum and Art Center (2017), The London Open at The Whitechapel Gallery (2015) and Obstacle at Berloni Gallery (2015). In 2018 he curated Solid Gone for the Sordoni Gallery in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He is the Director of Art Roswell a new curatorial organization that plans to bring artists and art works to Roswell, New Mexico for curated city-wide exhibitions. Instagram: benwoodeson www.woodeson.co.uk |
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