ben bunch at the proposition

ben bunch ‘see you on the game grid’, 2010 foam, wire, chipboard, acrylic, marker, colored pencil and glue 24" x 24" x 20"

entanglements – ben bunch the proposition, new york on now until december 5th, 2010

new york-based artist ben bunch explores new and old technology, electronic hardware, video games… working on sculptures that appear both abstracted while at the same time realistic through the representations which he uses. for the proposition exhibition ‘entanglements’, bunch presents four new works: ‘pop-up’, ‘drill, baby, drill’, ‘force-field-donut-hole’ and ‘see you on the game grid’.

‘see you on the game grid’, 2010 is a composite of different sample images of circuitry and electronics. the whole is a frenetic explosion of those sampled forms in which scale and functionality are mixed. the result is a spilling over or avalanche of details and forms that look technologically sophisticated and playful.

ben bunch ‘see you on the game grid’, 2010 (details) foam, wire, chipboard, acrylic, marker, colored pencil and glue 24" x 24" x 20"

ben bunch ‘force-field-donut-hole’, 2010 (detail)foam, foam core and glue 26" x 26" x 8"

‘force-field-donut-hole’ is an assemblage of circuit boards and wires, arranged in the shape of a donut. the piece refers to our hunger and desire for technology, but also how we are easily sucked in to new gadgets and software.

ben bunch ‘force-field-donut-hole’, 2010 (detail)foam, foam core and glue 26" x 26" x 8"

ben bunch ‘force-field-donut-hole’, 2010 (detail) foam, foam core and glue 26" x 26" x 8"

ben bunch ‘drill, baby, drill’, 2010 foam, wire, chipboard and glue 17" x 17" x 20"

‘drill, baby, drill’ combines two extremes of bunch’s practice: making objects that appear abstract and realistic. one side is the invented object, while the other is the realistic object. within the sculpture there is a game controller from the 1980s atari game system. a foam cord connects to another object – a playful machine-like abstraction, which is made up of mechanical parts such as buttons, cogs, a drill auger, and switches, which are symbolic of mechanical functions. balanced like a top, the abstract machine is tethered to the game controller, giving the impression that it can be manipulated. the relationship between the machine and controller speaks to a more general theme about extensions of the body. here, the game controller acts as an extension of the user, navigating an area otherwise inaccessible without the controller.

ben bunch ‘drill, baby, drill’, 2010 (details) foam, wire, chipboard and glue 17" x 17" x 20"

ben bunch ‘pop-up’, 2010 foam, wire, chipboard and glue 32" x 32" x 15"

‘pop-up’ comes from bunch’s experience of working on the insides of old coin operated arcade boxes. bunch had a vision of an arcade box unfurled, becoming alive, where all the guts could keep the machine standing on its own, even with the skin removed. this imaginary deconstruction represented the power that these machines used to transport their users into another world. though many of these machines have been retired and disused, bench wants to portray that the nostalgia of that experience is still potent.

ben bunch ‘pop-up’, 2010 (details) foam, wire, chipboard and glue 32" x 32" x 15