Ben Cook The Interview
It’s early evening on a Friday and as I drive along the road that hugs the shoreline into the Cornish town of Penzance, the streets are quiet. I knock on the door of the Cornwall Contemporary Art Gallery and the owner welcomes me inside and tells me to go up to the attic space.
I’m here to meet Ben Cook, the 41-year-old artist who since moving to Cornwall in 2003 has created quite a ripple in the South and beyond with his surf-obsessed art. Tonight is the private view for his latest exhibition, Surf Stories.
I pass the neat rows of filled wine glasses and climb the wooden stairs to meet Ben. As I enter the attic, he offers me a beer, and nods at the cool box explaining, “Apparently, surfers don’t drink wine”.
Can you briefly tell us how you got to where you are now?
I did a degree in Fine Art at the University of Sunderland, and then did an MA, after that I taught for a while. I spent a lot of years in Manchester as a sidewalk surfer, doing a lot of skateboarding, but I had an ambition to move to Cornwall and I really wanted to see it through.
How would you describe your work?
Work that looks at contemporary surfing and its effect on the landscape.
What are your influences?
Anybody that believes in what they’re doing and at least strives to be original. I like Joseph Beuys and I use his work as a reference point to add a more serious side to surfing. I have to explain to most people who he is, but I like that, and it can add to someone’s appreciation of the work.
Ben with Beuys’ Das Rudel (The Pack 1969) in Tate Modern, London UK
What has been the most memorable moment for you in your art career?
I have been lucky to have had many memorable moments. Showing in group exhibitions in New York, Spain, France and St Petersburg are highlights. Also, being part of the global touring show The Happening Live last year that placed my work amongst many of the artists that I admire from the worldwide surfing community. However, the most memorable moment for me was moving to Cornwall.
What do you see yourself doing in ten year’s time?
Hopefully doing pretty much the same. I want to collaborate with other people who are interested in stressing the cultural importance of surfing, as it can be underrated.
What three things can you not live without in your studio?
I work at home now. I worked in a studio for ten years, but now I’m happy to work on my own. I enjoy having lots of coffee, the Internet to check the surf report and good music.
What gets your goat about the art world?
Nothing anymore, because I’m not really in it. I get away with doing my own thing down here and that’s accepted because it’s a really diverse community.
If you could only look at one piece of art for the rest of your life, what would it be?
You know if you go into Tate St Ives and walk down onto the balcony, and you look outside of the big windows; it’s that piece of art out there, called the sea.
What are Cornish boys to do? (2008) Bespoke tie made from vintage textile, chalk on board.
"This piece was inspired by a piece of graffiti I saw in Cambourne skate park. The skater who’d written it had seen the writing outside of the closed-down South Crofty tin mine. After a bit of research I traced the line to a Cornish folk song that goes:
Well Cornish lads are fisherman, And Cornish lads are miners too, So when the fish and tin are gone, What are Cornish boys to do?
With the loss of these traditional industries in Cornwall, there are very few career opportunities for young people who wish to stay in the county. Much available work is seasonal and low paid, but what attracts some to stay is surfing. The tourism industry uses the attractive image of surfing to glamourise the county, but surfing in Cornwall is not, and never will be a career option, due to the inconsistent surf and the remote geographical location of the area. The surfer’s tie is thus a paradoxical item representing the (non) possibility of a career in surfing and also an item of clothing seldom found in a surfer’s wardrobe."
Reef girls (2009) Photomontage and Eco-Comp UV-L resin on found plywood. 60 x 40cm
"The portrayal of women in advertisements for surfing products has traditionally been less than PC. As the number of women taking to the water increases year on year, and women’s competition surfing gets stronger, the use of the female image looks more and more anachronistic. Nobody can deny that surfing and sex are inextricably linked in an almost primeval sense, (just take a look at some of the ‘sex faces’ pulled by surfers ‘in the tube’ or ‘getting shacked’). However, with more and more women refusing to simply be eye candy on the beach, and now joining the men in the waves, isn’t it about time that the media and surf companies stopped depicting women as merely post-surf entertainment for the bro’s?"
Duke (2008) Off-cuts of hardwood and softwood, recycled stringers and beeswax 37 x 30cm
"This piece is made of materials that may have been used to make surfboards in the early 1900s. The title is a reference to Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, the ‘founding father of surfing’, who conveyed his love of surfing to others on his global travels. Duke espoused family values, a love of nature and respect for the ocean and epitomised the ‘soul’ of surfing which many claim has been lost. Ironically, it was Duke’s promotion of ‘surfboard riding’ to the rest of the world which started the slow but inevitable march towards the globalisation and commercialisation of the sport, which many surfers today find so problematic."
Bellyboard landscape (2008) Recycled plywood, stringers and EcoComp UV-L resin. 52cms diameter
"There was a time when most people’s experience of riding waves in Cornwall took place on a wooden bellyboard. These were made from any old bit of shaped recycled wood, varnished with yacht varnish or even linseed oil. Due to their ‘greenness’ and a certain amount of nostalgic ‘retro’ value, they are currently making a comeback to the beaches of west Cornwall."
The Pack (2008) Recycled and borrowed surfing paraphanalia.
"This installation is a re-make of Joseph Beuys’ 1969 work of the same name. It was commissioned by the Eden Project in Cornwall. Beuys’ work was said to represent human survival in the face of technological failure. I used the format and context of the work to draw attention to surfing’s ‘toxic paradox’ — the issue of plastic surfboards in the marine environment – a dirty little secret that goes contrary to the sport’s green image."
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