Benjamin Entner

Brockport, NY
Residency: May-June 2008

Project Description
Landscape: Charcoal on Paper:

This is the second in a series satirizing the relationship and/or competition between drawing/painting and sculpture. Ever since I became an artist I have suffered from the inadequacies of my chosen medium and the envy I have for the serious and reputable work of two-dimensional artists. So for this series I thought I would try my hand at making respectable artwork: still lives and landscapes. For this drawing I limited myself to a paper-like substrate (tyvek), and the most elementary of two-dimensional media (charcoal). I originally intended to make a still life of a hotdog and a brontosaurus. However, after using the only and obviously primitive means I know, (sewing the tyvek into large-scale forms, inflating them, and rubbing charcoal all over them) I noticed my still life looked more like a landscape and it was named thus.

The Burgeoning (Memories of Levenworth)

The Myth: This is part of an ongoing performance piece involving a character known simply as “the artist”. In this installment of the performance, “the artist”: has a coming-of-age moment; ascends to new heights; dons the garb of his new found craft; and is asked to test his nascent skills and abilities by plummeting into a ‘thing’ of his own creation- all for the pleasure of his viewer. Having survived the test he quickly departs for his next challenge…

The Truth: This is part of an ongoing performance piece. In the previous installment, The MFA, I felt compelled to jump through a ring of fire for the finale of my graduate education.Since then I felt the urge to jump off of something really high. (I have a fear of heights, -which I am getting over.) The Sculpture Space building seemed to provide ample height and an appropriate opportunity.

Survival instinct told me I should probably jump into something. So after a few failed (and painful) attempts at various types of landing pads and minimal internet research, I happened upon the idea of using cardboard to create a “crumple zone.” Crumple zones are often used for professional stunt work. The form of the cardboard ‘thing’ was of no preconceived notion. Rather it was created by an intuitive/reactionary process.

For the jump I felt it necessary to have some sort of flight suit. An inflatable handcolored Bunny Suit seemed like the most reasonable and respectable option.

About the Artist
Benjamin Entner creates works that are the result of conceptual play and material experimentation. Entner’s work actively engages a viewer to intimately react and interact through the use of humour, wonder, and large physical presence. Benjamin Entner is a graduate of Syracuse University's prestigious Sculpture Program. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree. His work has shown nationally and internationally; most recently with solo shows at the Bronx River Art Center, the Lawndale Arts Center in Houston, as well as, at the University of Southern Maine and the University of Cincinatti. He was born in the plains of Western New York, and for a time was reared by wolves. He is a Taurus and enjoys longs walks with his dog, Taz.