Ben Gooding

In all my work I am interested in following a very simple system which
is devised prior to execution and cannot be deviated from during the course of production.

There is an abandonment of colour, of gesture, of the expressive, and
instead I instate an almost mechanistic methodology that minimises the decision making process and emphasizes a systemic approach. In this respect the work can be seen more as a result, bounded by a set of rules as opposed to something derived from an intuitive, responsive operation. The work has an almost meditative quality, the repetition of a single form or action synonymous with a mantra, yet there is a stark mathematical edge underpinning each piece.

Although there is an almost machined, industrial aspect to the aesthetic, they are very much hand made objects, obsessively laboured and crafted. I am attempting with each piece to follow through the process as accurately as possible, however there are invariably “mistakes” present. This presence of the human acts to undercut the implicit abandonment of any expressive or gestural mark making. One is thrown into relief by the other. The work occupies a space between this pure
reductive detachment of authorship and an acknowledgement of the hand made.

Website:
http://www.bengooding.co.uk/