00 Ben CrittonSome Works2009 & 10
benjamincritton.com (CV, etc.)surplusurplusurplus.com (Shop)falsearms.com (Image Repository)largeredbutton.com (Buttons)
[email protected]@gmail.com
Ben Critton01 J. DoggettIllustrationsSpring, 2010Ea. 8.5 in. × 11 in.
Construction paper on construction paper.
Ben Critton02 Living In ConnecticutPosterFall, 200918 in. × 29 in.
About three months before J.D. Salinger died, I reread Nine Stories and was struck by several of the pieces that took place in Connecticut. I sort of envisioned myself writing a new novel about the experience.
Ben Critton03 Little Boy One & TwoBooksSpring, 200984 pp., 104 pp.Ea. 4.375 in. × 7 in.
Liitle Boy is a series of two books. The first is a fictional story written in traditional prose. The second is a fictional story writ-ten in informational renderings and color theory diagrams, their contexts and points of reference removed. Original writing.
Ben Critton04 BoomPoster/PaintingSpring, 2010141 in. × 177 in.
A hand-painted poster announcing the arrival of guest critic and lecturer Irma Boom, rendered on painter’s dropcloth.
Ben Critton05 False Arms / Armes FaussesWebsiteSpring, 2010falsearms.comVariable
False Arms / Armes Fausses is a colour-based image re/depository
falsearms.com
Ben Critton06 Cinderblocks BookletsSpring, 2010Ea. 16 pp.Ea. 4.75 in. × 7.875 in.
A series of zines that depict non-traditional uses of the Cinderblock. Found photogra-phy showcases the object’s uses outside of a building context. The series: Shelves, Artworks, Graffitis, Foundations, Karat-echops, Supports, and Planters.
Ben Critton07 Red, Green, BluePostersSpring, 2009Ea. 24 in. × 36 in.
A series of film posters for Amores Perros, 2046 and Mulholland Drive. Palette and mood associations with each film led to a color combination that relates directly to issues of light, projection, and the digital workspace.
Ben Critton08 FormaTypeface; SpecimenFall, 2009Variable; 24 in. × 36 in.
A redrawing and reinterpretation of a 1966 Aldo Novarese typeface, from the Societá Nebiolo foundry in Turin, Italy. A mostly Modernist sans-serif given a bit more Humanism and quirk.
Ben Critton09 PO.MO.NO.BookFall, 200948 pp.9.75 in. × 14.75 in.
A reading list of Postmodern Fiction dis-guised as a reader. An attempt to create a canon, accompanied by written thoughts on language and its [ab]use in Postmod-ern novels. The cover was printed on loose book cloth. Original writing.
Ben Critton10 One Departmental ChairsPosterFall, 200925 in. × 38 in.
Publication poster for a talk I gave about Yale University’s relationship with mid-century modern(ist) furniture. An abstract representation was created for each of the 12 pieces highlighted in the lecture.
Ben Critton10 Two Departmental ChairsBookletFall, 200916 pp.6.25 in. × 10.5 in.
A booklet handed out at the Departmental Chairs lecture provided a walking tour of the University’s campus and the locations of the 12 pieces of furniture mentioned in the talk. In this way, otherwise unattain-able objects could be sat on and enjoyed but also questioned and interrogated.
Ben Critton11 One Avant-One, Avant-Two & Avant-ThreeBooksSpring, 200976 pp., 84 pp., 66 pp.Ea. 10 in. × 13 in.
A series of books about Herb Lubalin, each dealing with a different aspect of his career: Avant-One, his life and out-put, Avant-Two, the historical context in which he made work, and Avant-Three, a specific piece of work, in this case Avant-Garde magazine. Original writing and photography.
Ben Critton11 Two Avant-One, Avant-Two & Avant-ThreeBooksSpring, 200976 pp., 84 pp., 66 pp.Ea. 10 in. × 13 in.
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Ben Critton12 CarterPostersSpring, 2010Ea. 16.5 in. × 23.4 in.
Noticing a resemblance between a young Matthew Carter and a young Michael Caine, stills from the 1971 film Get Carter were used to publicize a lecture and work-shop by typographer Matthew Carter.
Ben Critton13 Lydian Bold CondensedTypeface; SpecimenSpring, 2010Variable; 16.5 in. × 23.4 in.
A redrawing and reinterpretation of a 1946 Warren Chappell typeface, from the American Type Founders in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA. A condensed cal-ligraphic sans-serif version of the previ-ously digitized Lydian family.
Ben Critton14 FoundryPosterSpring, 201012 in. × 18 in.
A poster publicizing the inaugural meeting of a committee to organize the creation of a type foundry, which would distribute typefaces created via academic briefs. Twelve recently-completed student type-faces were each used to render one word.
Ben Critton15 One L’Amuse BoucheJournalSpring, 2010128 pp., Offset5.75 in. × 8.5 in.
An exhaustive redesign of L’Amuse-Bouche, the French Language journal at Yale University.
Ben Critton15 Two L’Amuse BouchePoster (& Detail)Spring, 201016.5 in. × 23.4 in.
A poster announcing the launch of the newly-rdesigned L’Amuse-Bouche sought out an English-speaking audience for a French-language publication by displaying items that all begin with the prefix ‘French,’ as in ‘French Bread’ or ‘French Fries.’
Ben Critton16 Day In, Day OutPoster InstallationFall, 200922 in. × 22 in.
A poster (sort of) announcing a 100-day workshop. Vinyl type was applied to a white wall several days prior to the work-shop. Pushpins numbered 1–100 were then tacked to the wall on 18 November; one was removed from the wall each day of the workshop.
Ben Critton17 One Surplus Surplus SurplusWebsiteFall, 2009–Spring, 2010surplusurplusurplus.comVariable
From the site: “Looking around my home; identifying unused, underused, inessential or redundant objects; collecting and curat-ing a selection of 100 of these objects; assigning them a dollar value; making one of them available for sale every day for 100 days.”
surplusurplusurplus.com
Ben Critton17 Two Surplus Surplus SurplusInstallationSpring, 2010Variable
At the end of the 100-day period, I was left with approximately 40 remaining items and US $678. I wanted to make a sort of ‘what I got out of the project’ documenta-tion. Original Photography.
Ben Critton18 Here and NowPostcard; InstallationSpring, 20105 in. × 7.25 in.; Variable
A postcard and subsequent installation for the show Present Continuous / Con-tinuous Present. Themes of presence and time informed the creation of a postcard that was specific to no single moment or location, but rather specific to all moments and all locations. With Melissa Levin.
Ben Critton19 1982PosterSpring, 200933.1 in. × 46.8 in.
A lecture given by Hunter Tura focused on the major architectural, technological and musical events of the year 1982. It was hung using extensions of its own graphic elements; in this case colored tape that blended seamlessly with printed linework. With Sara Hartman.
Ben Critton20 Yes Yes Yes YesBag & T-ShirtSpring, 2010Variable
For Part Of It. A simple translation of the DaDa mark has an automatically optimis-tic result as well as visual connections to the Straightedge movement and New York Hard Core (NYHC) scene. (partofit.org).
Ben Critton21 DVDVPoster InstallationFall, 2009Variable
A poster announcing a workshop to be given by Daniel van der Velden—or DvdV, as he is colloquially known—13 Oct. thru 27 Oct, 2009.
Ben Critton22 Some Intellectual PropertyBookletFall, 200916 pp.7.875 in. × 10.25 in.
With a one-word brief – ‘Domain’ – an exploration began into geodesic domes, intellectual property, and the striking shape of Buckminster Fuller’s bald head.
Ben Critton23 ZigguratProposal & PostersSpring, 2009Ea. 24 in. × 36 in.
A series of posters that supported a pro-posal to build a small-scale ziggurat on an urban green. The bleacher-like assembly sought to act as the embodied average of a playscape, sculpture, bench, stoop and theater.
Ben Critton24 D. JuddPoster (& Detail)Spring, 201016.5 in. × 23.4 in.
Research done about Donald Judd’s art-making compound in Marfa, Texas, led to the discovery that Judd kept a bed in each of the sixteen buildings he owned. Original typography.
Ben Critton25 The Princess BrideDVDFall, 200998 mins.5.25 in. × 7.5 in.
Watching The Princess Bride for the first time in fifteen years or so, I attempted to replicate all the dialogue from memory by overdubbing the audio track of the original movie and then publishing the results in the format of a DVD.
Ben Critton26 George Fucking LoisPosterSpring, 201016.5 in. × 23.4 in.
Unapologetic ad-man George Lois came to give a talk about being an unapologetic ad-man. A poster was needed to publicize the talk. Ideally the critique is inbuilt.
Ben Critton27 One E.P.i.M.H.i.P.F.Postcard; NewspaperSpring, 20104 in. × 6 in.; 11.5 in. × 15 in.
A postcard was created to publicize a series of screenings that coincided with research into a filmic trend that puts bad people in modern architecture. I curated the series and hosted each of the screen-ings, which were free and open to the public. A newspaper was then made from the various research materials.
Ben Critton27 Two E.P.i.M.H.i.P.F.NewspaperSpring, 201028 pp., Offset11.5 in. × 15 in.
The newspaper-format publication that stemmed from the series of screenings paired original architectural criticism with several illustrations and stills from eight films. The piece intends to act as a view-ing list, star map, and reader in one.
Ben Critton28 RaisonnéTypefaceSummer, 2010Variable
A geometric sans-serif typeface that pays homage to the candor and rigidity of elementary letterforms. Available via Colo-phon (colophon-foundry.org), Winter, 2011.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll
Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv
Ww Xx Yy Zz—
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I want to make big things. But they need to start small in order that they might get big. And so it begins with letterforms, which, appropriately enough, are good examples of integers; they create words that prompt paragraphs which spawn works that comprise canons. And if the success of a work depends on an engaging narrative (indeed, it should), then this is a near-perfect place to start: with an alphabet, the most common narrative-builder. And then it goes and grows from there.
—Unto themselves, the elements that comprise the work should be dumb, blunt, candid; honest in the same way Modernism liked its materials—think of an ‘O’ rendered from a perfect circle. In aggregate, their candor should allow multiple points of access, ultimately getting at something humorous or friendly from the artlessness of it all. With its details in collusion, the whole should literally be prettier, better and bigger than the sum of its parts.
—And the things must be big—in gesture, appearance—because they seek an audience. The audience doesn’t yet exist, though, and so the bigness should make them aware of something that they didn’t know they were looking for. Performative in this way, the bigness seeks to create dialogue or discourse; the work, if it’s done, distributed and disseminated with thought, prompts exchange between me and an audience member—fiscal, intellectual, emotional, etc.—and it’s this exchange that grows my ego and perhaps my wallet, and allows me to make more things. It should go without saying that the new things should be bigger and better than the ones that begat them.
