ben taggart

It is another beautiful sunny morning on day 4. We talk to Ben Taggart

How's it going?

Pretty good for the most part but it’s obviously a very strange time to be alive, it still feels like a dream. I’m glad to have time off to slow down and focus on what matters most. It’s not all doom and gloom, I must admit!

What is your living situation? Do you have outside space or are you living in an underground bunker?

- Currently living in my usually shared but now empty house, with good lighting and a decent sized garden – this is my current studio. I feel very lucky that I have my own space for now, with privacy, peace and quiet, to do as I please without annoying other humans. I’m close to shops, nice places to walk and most of my close friends live in the area if I need anything. As a bit of an introvert, this is an ideal situation for me, I keep having to pinch myself when thinking of how much freedom, time and space is at my disposal.

How has the pandemic affected your arts practice?

- If anything, I feel It’s allowed me to overcome a long creative block. It’s the first time in nearly two years where I have enough free time to rest, prioritise, and take stock of what’s important for me personally and for my practice. When I realise the value of this I do feel somewhat pressured to make a lot more work, I see this as an artist residency in my own home in a way.

The themes I investigate have always been a bit apocalyptic, so now more than ever I feel like I can trust in my process and hopefully people can relate to the work. I actually feel a sense of relief that I’m no longer in the minority of people who understand that everything can change in an instant. I’m fascinated with the evolution of society, technology and consciousness and I feel that in a time like this, there is a lot coming up within those themes. Be it society’s ability to act as one to save ourselves, the use of advanced medicine & technology, or the ways in which we manage our internal world during such an event, through mindfulness for example.

I’ve started a series of paintings which are a follow on from older video and sculptural work. I always felt painting was my strong point but I’m glad to have branched out to various other media. It does feel that I’ve come full circle in my practice, revisiting old ideas which now have new layers of meaning. The process of generating reference material for these paintings involves the intentional bending and breaking of data, creating ‘glitchy’ overlapping videos which inform the paintings visually and metaphorically. For me, the glitch now has even more weight to it as a symbol which represents the times we live in.

How are you coping with the temporary closing of the Vault?

- It is sad to see. Due to work and other commitments I rarely get the time & energy for vaulting. Now I have the free time, I would love to spend it there, but I can understand the importance of why we are closed. I hope everyone is keeping as well as they can during this.

What do you appreciate during lockdown?

- Financial / housing security, family / friends, the Internet, rest, time off, stillness, art, music, books, growing food, cooking and eating food, booze, herbs, mushrooms, nature, Spring time, sunshine, being alive!

How do you imagine the future after lockdown? For yourself and the wider art world in general.

- Great question. I feel like as tragic as this really is, an event like this was looming and is an integral catalyst for collective and personal growth. It’s a time for everyone to stop, have a deep think about how their intentions are aligned with their actions. Sadly, it takes something of this magnitude for the average person to ask, on a personal and collective level; What is working and what isn’t? What is important and what isn’t? How do my actions affect others? Who can I trust? How do I deal with adversity? Can I sit with myself without distraction? What is sustainable and what isn’t? What jobs do we value and why? If I didn’t have to spend my life chasing money to survive, how would I live my life?

I hope the wider world will now understand the importance of biodiversity, fund regeneration projects and realise that we ARE nature and should act accordingly. I hope the general public will be more aware of how interconnected we all are, realise the fragility of our systems and to understand that we are all unique expressions of the same thing.

In an ideal world post Coronavirus, I hope for new social initiatives such as universal basic income, to promote innovation, creativity, security and physical / mental / spiritual wellbeing – this is already a reality in certain countries, with data showing positive results. Being optimistic, which I rarely am, I hope that once this is over, we will show more respect and support for – Science, healthcare, Arts & culture, food production and housing. As a species we have a leaning towards not learning from our mistakes, hopefully this time it’s different.

Where can people find you online?

• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bentagg_art/

• https://bentaggart.weebly.com/