Ben Stokes
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About the Artist
There are no easy labels to describe Ben Stokes' career. He works as a director, animator, composer, visual artist, producer, and most often a blend of all these things at once. He creates dazzling spectacles and employs an impressive array of talents to make it happen.
As a visual artist, Director & VJ, Stokes has designed live shows and directed music videos for artists including Janelle Monaé, Nine Inch Nails, M.I.A., De La Soul, Public Enemy, and DJ Shadow. Stokes has also designed large scale multimedia projections for SF City Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Century Plaza Hotel & the Antarctica Dome at Coachella.
The work spans decades and disciplines from Live music events to interactive installations. Diverse interests have always driven the work. A musical background informs the visuals and vice versa.
“Sound and Picture are not separate disciplines, together they create a third thing: ‘Visual-Audio’”
About the Work
Frozen in Motion
San Francisco is seen in perpetual motion. An impressionistic ballerina flutters across the surface of the building casting sparkles as she "activates" iconic sights of San Francisco. She zooms around magically, occasionally "teleporting" from one location to the next in an instant with a flash of light, each time, revealing something new. She appears in vibrant, twitchy of streaks of light and has a fantastical look. (Created with footage of an actual dancer combined with light painting effects.)