Who is Ben Brooks?
The Ben Brooks is a Madison based artist, born in the deep woods of Northern Wisconsin. His style plays with retro futuristic pop-surrealism alongside scumbag punk aesthetics, all heavily influenced by themes of universalism, psychedelia, and sci-fi. Ben Brooks is an illustrator, graphic designer, percussionist, and party nerd. His brand represents his optimistic lifeview. Oftentimes his art is playful, as he enjoys playing with dimensions of reality that are a bit outside the norm. “I want it to be lively and have it resonate with people, even if they’ve never had a similar experience; at the same time, I want to make art that resonates with me.” At the beginning of his journey, he only made art if someone else put value into it (e.g., a band’s poster art), so he never really made art for himself. However, now with TheBenBrooks brand–he is able to make art that represents himself to the fullest.
What are three words that describe your brand?
Wonderful. Psychedelic. Life.
Going back to Ben’s childhood–he was very inspired from cartoons, in fact he wanted to be a cartoonist. By the age of 8 years-old he was taking art and drawing very seriously, as he was even reading art textbooks on his own. Likewise, he was able to take different cartoon styles and make his own style from it. For example, taking a cartoon’s design and creating his own characters within that animation world. One example was creating characters for the Sonic the Hedgehog series. When Ben reached the third grade, he had feelings that he was already behind within his craft because he met two students his age that could draw the Tasmanian Devil better than him. “I had this urge to give up early on, but I moved on to music and started making posters and cover art.” Even though Ben thought he had given up–it never really stopped him, art kept coming back into his life. In high school, he was in charge of physically designing the school’s newspaper. “Even though I gave up internally, art kept coming back to me.”
What advice would you give to an artist that keeps “failing” or wants to give up?
“Recognize that we’re talking about creation–this is a complicated beast. My advice would be to not beat yourself up, not continue to beat your head into a brick wall especially if the muse isn’t with you. Take it easy–it’s supposed to be fun and sometimes it won’t be and that’s okay too. Taking a break and coming back another time is okay to do. Beeple is an inspiration with his mantra of ‘everyday,’ which highlights the spirit of sitting down and creating instead of worrying about replying to texts, emails, or even fixing the toilet.”
Do you have any secret talents?
“I’ve been a dog trainer since I was 2 years-old. Right now, I’m teaching my dog to communicate with English. For example, having the dog press specific buttons with recordings on them in order to deliver the correct message (e.g., go outside, go pee, food, etc.).”
Best place to eat in Madison?
“Red Sushi! Jack is a wonderful chef.”
Favorite local artist?
“Claire Warhus (Snaggle Tooth Arts), Lauden Nute(American Trash), and @iampeeld. They all have been releasing incredible work from Madison for a long time now. Everyone should go follow and support.”
How do you regulate your ego in creative settings?
“Whatever I’m fixated on that’s making my ego inflated–I try to remember there’s always another perspective. There were plenty of experiences where I was so sure of myself and then I saw someone expand my idea or make it better. Recognizing that your ego is not alone but it’s one perspective in a vast sea of viewpoints with all different realities. For example in my current reality this art is good, but it always depends on whose reality it’s seen from.”
How would you describe the art scene here in Madison?
“It’s vibrant and beautiful. I wish I was more connected and I think that’s because I don’t come from an academic background. I love every aspect of the art scene that I’ve come in contact with here in Madison (e.g., music, tattooing community, visual artists, etc.). The street art scene is prolific and awesome. I’ve seen a majority of visual artists through the music scene and it’s all very inspiring to me. Madison is somewhat a small city and yet there are so many different cliques within it, which is a bit strange to me. For example there are different punk bands who played at the same venues as me, but I never knew about them. In general, Madison has been a powerful force in my life to do things I never thought I could do. For instance, designing software applications—where someone saw my design work and asked me to help out with new types of projects.”
Be sure to check out Ben Brooks’ Instagram page, as he’ll be dropping new art that he’s been working on during the pandemic. Ben is a drummer for a space rock band called Poney and they just released a new album, “Pagan Nouveau” on 12 inch vinyl along with a short film DVD, published by Forbidden Place Records (Denver).