Ben Aitken
Photograph
Photograph
Photograph
Photograph
Photograph
Photograph
My name is Ben Aitken and I am a drawing practitioner based in Bristol. My practice introduces subjects around: phenomenology, perception and perceptual experience within the physical space. The works that are created around my practice are records of movement and sense of place through a linear sequence. They trace a movement from a specific landscape on a particular day, and are a record of physically assimilating the space. The build up of each piece creates the spatial depth. Lines are infinite variations of different routes taken. The organisation of space within the installation, the route appears to change as the viewers move from one position to another.
Instagram: @baitkenart
Email: benaitken31@hotmail.co.uk
Artist Statement
‘Ocular X’ is the current piece which involves drawing and installation through performative video. The scale of the installation allows the lines to flow through and around the material. The process involves adjusting the line, allowing the piece to take over from the initial free mark making, and then redrawing the route. Each piece of work records the progress of the drawing as well as tracing the route of the original commute with natural elements shifting with the installation and adding more to the spatial aspect of the work.
My work acknowledges the presence of light within the spatial depth, and it adds a new perspective onto the work of the subject bringing a new element into production. I utilised common research methodologies such as: ontology, epistemology, and my studio practice to further understand and employ how the presence of light became an additional support to ‘Ocular X’.
Additionally, to support this, I discovered throughout my practice that there is a role in which the body is a part of the work through the extension of the self that stems from the initial documentations of commuting whilst also positioning myself around ‘Ocular X’.