Spookey Ruben

I AM A MUSIC MAKER AND VISUAL ARTIST.

IN MY VISUAL ART IT’S IMPORTANT FOR ME TO FULLY DEVELOP THE OVERALL CONCEPT, COLOR PALETTE W/ DETAILED SKETCHES, SAMPLE MATERIALS ETC. IN ADVANCE OF EXECUTING THE WORK.

MY WOODEN FLAGS FOCUS ON THE ELEMENTARY DESIGN OF NATIONAL FLAGS WHICH ARE GENERALLY KEPT AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE IN ORDER TO BE EASILY RECOGNIZED FROM MILES AWAY FOR PRACTICAL AND STRATEGIC REASONS (E.G. WARFARE). THE OBJECTIVE HERE WAS TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE REPURPOSE THESE POLITICAL SYMBOLS AS GRAPHICAL ICONS AND MIX THEM UP. E.G. WHEN WE REPLACE THE CANADIAN MAPLE LEAF WITH THE JAPANESE ‘RISING SUN’ (THE BIG RED DOT), DO WE STILL RECOGNIZE EITHER COUNTRY OR DO WE JUST SEE A RED CIRCLE AND TWO RED RECTANGLES? WHAT ARE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF STROKES NEEDED IN ORDER TO COMMUNICATE AN IDEA. WHAT KIND OF POLITICAL STATEMENTS ARE WE MAKING WHEN WE CROSS-POLLINATE FLAGS OF DIFFERENT NATIONS?

IN MY DIGITAL GRAPHIC ART I’M ASKING SIMILAR QUESTIONS: E.G. ‘BREAKFAST TELEVISION’ DEPICTS TWO YELLOW CIRCLES SURROUNDED BY WHITE OVALS (EGGS ON A PLATE??) - HOVERING OVER IT: AN OVERSIZED MULTi-COLORED TV REMOTE. THE SHAPES ARE STRICTLY DEFINED BY AN OUTLINE, THE COLORS ARE FANTASTICAL, BUT THE VIEWER ‘GETS THE PICTURE’. A SNAPSHOT...

B.F.A. Film Production, York University, Toronto, Canada