My first solo photo exhibition opens tomorrow in Austin, Texas:
Ben Aqua
Invasion of Privacy
July 17 - August 6, 2008
Opening Reception:
July 17, 2008, 7-10pm
Using photography and time-based media, Ben Aqua's work explores
the notion of identity formation and its relationship with fear. Often
influenced by the eccentricities that occur in the development of
personal identity, he depicts how these characteristics translate aesthetically
and metaphorically within the subjects' immediate environments.
"In modern Western culture, we are bred with a fearful mentality; fear of
death, fear of terrorism, fear of homosexuality, etc. I believe there is something
tremendously powerful about the honest discovery of one's self that allows us
to overcome all fear. This process of fearless self-identification that I see in
others is something my work constantly explores, acting as a sort of
psychological mirror in which I investigate my own humanity."
Even further, Ben's work exists within the context of our rapidly evolving
technological world where identity bleeds into the virtual realm. The Internet
and online media act as a wide-open virtual playground devoid of time and
space. In this vein, he explores methods in which technology extends the
concept of identity formation, offering the theoretical luxury of anonymity
and a sort of lush, blank canvas for fulfilling one's own destinies.
