Benjamin Dobbin
Artist's statement
Growing up in the early age of the personal computer, I started to transcribe art onto the screen using the Commodore Amiga (Warhol used the same package in the 80s). At the time, I was influenced by graphic novels and abstract art, in particular the detailed work of the Japanese artist and animator, Katsuhiro Otomo. Anything with a distinctive, intense graphic style I became drawn to; buying early techno records because I was captivated by their artwork. Whilst studying Kandinsky I read about synaesthesia (conjoined senses) and this gave a name to what I had always felt about the connection between sight and sound and has become a predominant theme in my work.
I've developed a process of continually visually ‘remixing’ my work as the defining act.
I start a new piece by working from the last piece I finished. As such there is no original picture- each one carries the DNA of it’s predecessors and they are all linked in a continuous chain. The process of working a piece involves cutting, revolving, enlarging, super-imposing, blurring, and heavy modulation of colours.
The works bear a witness to their process of formation, containing marks and scars that were manifested through that series of actions and persist without conscious design. I dwell a lot on these many small details which tell the story of how the piece was made.
When you set off from where you’ve started its very hard to return to that place. Whilst the processes are always the same, the result is always unique to the environment in which I made it. The further possibilities that could lie on this serendipitous journey ahead is what motivates me to keep creating new work.