A cyber-interview with David Rosen

Ben,
I am truly fascinated with your work and I would love to feature you
on my blog. I would like you to be the first interview I do on my
site. Eventually I hope to get to doing it with video or voice but
for my first I would really love if you took a few minutes to answer
my questions below.
I will be posting this on my website and include images and link to
yours. I thank you ahead of time for any time you take reading this
or answering my questions. If you would like to see my blog go to
http://www.creatingitchy.com. Thank you ! David Rosen

So who is Ben Livingston?

What drew you to neon?

Did you ever work under another artist to learn your skills?

If someone was interested in working with neon what direction would
you point them?

Where do you feel art is going?

Where do you feel your art is going?

What type of people purchase your work?

What is the subject of your work?

Is there symbolism behind your color choices?

How are you using web technology to promote your work?






Hi David,

Thanks for your interest in me & my work. I will attempt to answer your questions but instead of plowing along at 4 words a minute. I'm going to send you my 2 blogs that are very important to me in hopes that you can extrapolate some of these answers to your questions for yourself, as I am really busy these days getting a show together for March called 11+11 (11 songs +11 works). Writing and the word, as I have found is paradoxically THE most abstract, concise and honest means of expression that I have found to date other than making love and meaning it.

Please take a look at these:

http://spirithousesafari.blogspot.com/

http://continentalclubshow.blogspot.com/

So who is Ben Livingston?
THOSE BLOGS ARE PRETTY MUCH WHO BEN LIVINGSTON IS.

> What drew you to neon?
I LIKE TO DRAW AND IN 1980 I WAS WORKING AT THE WASHINGTON PROJECT FOR THE ARTS IN DC, I SAW A SIGN WHERE THE DUTCH MASTERS WERE OUTLINED IN NEON, IT OCCURED TO ME THAT MAYBE I COULD DRAW WITH LIGHT! THE REST IS HISTORY.

> Did you ever work under another artist to learn your
> skills?

SKILLS??? NO, BUT I DID DO A LONG APPRENTICESHIP UNDER TWO NEON MASTER CRAFTSMEN, HOWEVER, THEY WERE NOT ARTISTS. ARTISTS DON'T REALLY EXCHANGE SKILL SETS...MENTORING-YES! THEY MOSTLY GAVE ME PHILOSOPHICAL ADVICE AND TAUGHT ME HOW TO REFINE WHAT I WAS DOING TO PROMOTE MYSELF MORE PROFESSIONALLY AS AN ARTIST...STEPHEN ANTONOKOS, JESUS MORALES, JAN MOYER, PEBBLES WADSWORTH, RUDI STERN, MADELINE O'CONNOR. JOHN CHRISTENSEN, GARY MARTIN.
>
> If someone was interested in working with neon what
> direction would
> you point them?
MY STUDIO FOR A DEMO AND THEN THEY'RE ON THEIR OWN.
>
> Where do you feel art is going?

UNIVERSITIES HAVE DRIFTED FROM THE EVOCATIVE ROMANCE OF A LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION TOWARDS SOMETHING THAT MORE RESEMBLES A VOCATIONAL SCHOOL THANKS TO THE LURE OF SUPERFICIAL CAREERS BASED ON MONEY AND SCIENCE.

IN OTHERE WORDS, ONE USED TO GO TO SCHOOL DRIVEN BY HUMAN-NESS AND CURIOSITY, NOW THEY SEEM DRIVEN MORE BY MATERIALISM & DESIRE..

IN A SIMILAR WAY, I FEEL THAT THE DEFINITION OF "ARTIST" IS CHANGING. ON ONE HAND, AN AGELESS TRADITION OF EXPRESSIONS THAT ARE CONCEIVED THROUGH REFLECTION AS A REFINEMENT OF A UNIQUE FILTER THROUGH WHICH ONLY THAT ARTIST EXPERIENCES AND RECREATES THE WORLD; AND ON THE OTHER HAND IT SEEMS TECHNOLOGY AS A MEDIUM, LIKE CRAFT IS ALL ABOUT PUSHING THE LIMITS OF OF MATERIAL. I FIND THIS TO BE RELATIVELY VOID OF INTRINSIC HUMAN CONDITION OTHER THAN EXUDING A DEEP SENSE OF LONELINESS AND ISOLATION THAT SEEMS TO COME FROM SOME SORT OF ENGINEERING BURNOUT, OR WHAT I CALL "BNS" OR BURNT OUT NERD SYNDROME. THE "BNS" MECCA WOULD BE APTLY NAMED BURNING MAN..WHICH I ALWAYS THOUGHT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED "BURNT OUT MAN". I CONCLUSION, THE PROBLEM WITH "BNS" ART SEEMS DRIVEN BY THE DESIRE TO BE & LOOK COOL AND IMPRESS OTHERS "VS" THE OLD SCHOOL WHERE THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS SIMPLY TO PLEASE ONE'S SELF.

I THINK WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES HAVE TURNED THE PURSUIT OF MAKING ART INTO A "BETTER MOUSETRAP" GAME AND THIS IS PRIMARILY WHY WE ARE CULTURALLY CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT ART IS.

What type of people purchase your work?
MUSEUMS, CORPORATE & PRIVATE COLLECTORS + MY MOMMA.

> What is the subject of your work?
NATURE, THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE, THE FORCE & FRAGILITY OF LIFE AND THE SPIRIT OF CREATIVITY
>
> Is there symbolism behind your color choices?

NO SYMBOLS..SPONTINAITY IS THE LOUDEST VOICE OF THE MUSE.
>
> How are you using web technology to promote your work?

I HAVE A WEBSITE THAT IS 8 OR 9 YEARS OUT OF DATE...IT DOES JUST FINE..
I LIKE TO USE BLOGS TO WORK OUT BIGGER IDEAS WITHOUT USING PAPER, ALTHOUGH HAND WRITING AND DRAWING IN JOURNALS ACTIVATES FAR MORE CREATIVITY AS IT FEELS LIKE A MUCH MORE SOULFUL AND ORGANIC EXPERIENCE.

THAT'S ALL I CAN DO FOR NOW..I HOPE THIS IS GOOD FOR NOW...

BEST REGARDS,
BEN

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
—E. B. White