Ben Roosevelt

I’ve seen Roosevelt’s work in person. The visual effect is what I like so much about what he does. His work captures the feel of life sometimes as a collection, always as an individual piece.

Comment by chris — September 15, 2009

Imagine an apocalyptic scenario where all humans are vanquished. Two thousand years later, an extra-terrestrial archaeologist exploring the ruins of a city stumbles upon an amazing room containing hieroglyphics…

“While similar to symbols found on other artifacts from the period, this room is repetitive, distinct, and depicts a confusing, conflicting array of human activity from this period.”

“Was the wall meant to tell a story? Was it a specific record of events? Was it an educational tool? It is difficult to say, however it tells us a great deal about the conflict and anxiety present in the social affairs of these creatures…”

Comment by Ernie Gray — September 14, 2009

Ben,

Keep up the good work. We love this!

Comment by Scott — July 6, 2009

I found myself attracted to the artwork. At first glance it resembled hieroglyphics and maybe that is how the artists wants us to read it by discovering what the meanings are to us the viewer. how we interpret this is how we develop an emotional connection and maybe we need to see it in person to gather higher thinking from it. i found that i wanted a closer look to be able to step back and read it. Is that not what we seek as artists and viewers something that stimulates us to connect on some level even if it is distaste.

Comment by Michelle — June 17, 2009

This is a perfect example of avant garde art. Art that is meant to push away the general public. This repulsion serves the art museums, galleries, and critics by keeping the focus in areas that most people would rather avoid. Then they can pick the artists that can be easily replaced and manipulated. This also avoids dealing with general public as the art goes unnoticed and few attend. Please keep in mind that your tax dollars are paying for it all! It also hurts artists like myself when over-priced work is sold to someone who later realizes that the resale is not close to the price they paid. This makes another investment in art from that person extreamly unlikely

Comment by James Huebing-Reitinger — June 17, 2009

I can appreciate the meticulous construction of this artist’s pieces. I too however feel like the final product is under developed and rather sterile to look at. Skilled yet uninspiring.

Comment by mattgreermusic — June 17, 2009

Mr Roosevelt is a conceptual artist, an idea generator. But his ideas, good as they are, seem underdeveloped. It’s as if once the concept was initially visualized, further development of the image stopped. A couple of the pieces on the artist site, specifically “District” & “Populism”, are a bit more satisfying, but, as a whole, the work is dry and institutional. 3 j-dubs.

Comment by JerryWayneAnderson — June 17, 2009

This artist is innovative. The artist website is very nicely set up and visually pleasing. The artwork presented there is very interesting and thought provoking.

Comment by Casey Shannon — June 17, 2009

I was very impressed with a lot of the projects on the website. After having a gander on there, it made me appreciate this particular piece more.

Very interesting work.

Comment by laura — June 17, 2009

I enjoyed the website. The piece depicted is not “Properties” — apparently the one the artist wished to have shown. I like the relationships between the parts in “properties” more than the grid I see here.

Comment by Phil Irish — June 17, 2009