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High Five

Ben Stone

1999 00:00:46 United StatesEnglish4:3Hi8 video

Description

High Five usually comes across as absurd and silly, and generally gets a laugh when shown. I appreciate this response and agree it is quite ridiculous on the surface. However few know the true dark meaning of the piece, which was my personal contribution to a ceremony commemorating the twentieth anniversary of my mother's suicide. The two women in the video are my sisters, the numbers on our uniforms relate to our age at the time, and the high five itself was shared between only us as we were the hardest impacted and thus most deserving to celebrate our relative functionality as adults. I would never expect anyone to understand the personal significance without my explanation and don't always share such information when the video is shown. Much of my work comes across as humorous and is intended to do so but there is almost always an element of darkness related to the death of my mother imbedded within.

-- Ben Stone

This title is only available on Suitable Video, Volume 1.

About Ben Stone

"I was born on the south side of Chicago during the turbulent summer of 1968. Other than a few years in Rhode Island and Los Angeles I have remained a Chicago resident though I currently live in Berwyn with my wife Amy and daughter Sophie (still counts). I went to Rhode Island School of Design for undergraduate, where I studied painting and learned to love making art. I worked for a few years as a tow truck driver and auto mechanic before becoming so disgusted with my artistic production that I went to graduate school. I attended UIC where I nearly had a nervous breakdown, but ultimately did very well, becoming an active participant in the Chicago art scene. Like many others, it was at UIC where I made the transition from being a painter to making videos and sculptures or whatever was the most appropriate form for the piece to take. I have taught Foundations, Sculpture, and Drawing at Northern Illinois University for the last decade, and I am currently represented by Western Exhibitions. My next solo exhibition should occur in 2013."

-- Ben Stone