AT KOLAJ FEST NEW ORLEANS
Collage Making Demonstration with Ben DiNino
Ben DiNino works in excavation and concealment. At Kolaj Fest New Orleans, the artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota will present a demonstration of his methods.
Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, July 12-15, 2018. Visit the website to learn more, see an overview of the program, and register to attend.
He produced a series of book pieces where he cut out all the extraneous text leaving only specific images exactly where they were originally located. The pages of the textblock are sealed shut so that only the cover opens. This creates a collage that was ever-present in the book, allowing the viewer to see through the pages and look at the whole body of images the book offers. “I never know exactly how these biblio-excavations will visually culminate and it’s an exciting process to watch them divulge themselves,” said DiNino.
DiNino also works in a more traditional collage method. In this work, he layers, eclipses, and obfuscates images to create visually interesting situations. Much of this work has recently revolved around cutting up 4”x6” photos, many of them his own, but some also scavenged. “My attempt in making these pieces is to create something visually interesting or uncomfortable to myself,” said the artist. “Some of this work is simply abstract, such as combining only the negative space remains left from cutting out specific imagery for other work.”
In “Biblio Excavations and Collage Techniques” at Kolaj Fest New Orleans, DiNino will demonstrate a variety of methodologies, specifically how he makes his book art collages. In the Saturday evening program, “Why Is That Dinosaur Holding a Vacuum & Other Stories from the World of Collage,” DiNino will tell the story of inheriting a set of 1950’s paint-by-number paintings from his grandfather and what happened when he collaged them.
Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, July 12-15, 2018. Visit the website to learn more, see an overview of the program, and register to attend.
About Benjamin DiNino
Ben DiNino lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Tyler School of Art graduating with a BFA in Sculpture and a minor in Art History (and a jaded disposition of the art world). Over the past 2 decades, he’s worked various jobs while constantly collecting ephemera and pursuing an assortment of creative outlets. Most of the art created over these years was given away with little to no interest in promoting his work professionally. Learn more about DiNino and his work on his Kolaj Magazine Artist Directory page and at www.bendinino.com.
Images (top to bottom):
The Way Things Work (detail) (8.5″x5.25″x1.75″; excavated book, card stock, PVA glue; 2012)
The Way Things Work (8.5″x5.25″x1.75″; excavated book, card stock, PVA glue; 2012)
Architecturalike (8″x10″; photographs collaged on paper; 2015)
left: untitled #1 (9″x6″; cut-up paint-by-number, glue; 2017)
right: untitled #15 (9″x10″; cut-up paint-by-number, glue; 2017)