This practice re-imagines and contextualizes existing architecture in ways that reveal implicit social structures. Tracing the borders that separate religious from state and secular order, the arenas where this work overlaps occur and intrude between different conventions of thinking, creating space for broader systems to emerge. I release these architectural subjects from their pragmatic limitations and extract histories, symbols, and implications of power and authority embedded within them. click here to view Artist Statement click here to view CV e. benjaminstagl (at) gmail (dot) comTumblr (3.0; @benstagl)http://benstagl.tumblr.com/<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/805acf96f653406e183be3c4f41c4aa0/tumblr_ml7s58NSDU1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Titanic Chamber, 2012</p> <p>Digital Print  30”x 60”</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/47898672610http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/47898672610Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:07:00 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/6b3514b8bdc617a8b249eac82061e715/tumblr_ml7s077hQ71qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>The Rising, 2012</p> <p>Digital Print 30” x  48”</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/47898449106http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/47898449106Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:04:00 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr0qvzEcwN1qjfv0oo1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Click image to enlarge</p> <p>from <em>Dichotomies</em> virtual photograph series, 2011</p> <p>go to <a href="http://benstagl.tumblr.com/dichotomies" target="_blank">http://benstagl.tumblr.com/dichotomies</a> for more images</p> <p>I <span>re-imagine existing architecture in order to reveal implicit social tensions concealed within the surface of its facades. Tracing seams separating religious, state, and secular order, I seek areas where overlaps occur and slippage between different conventions of thinking allows space for emergence of new and broader understanding. </span></p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/9806567176http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/9806567176Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:09:00 -0500Ben StaglArtDigital<iframe src="//www.tumblr.com/video/benstagl/10560470232/400" id="tumblr_video_iframe_10560470232" class="tumblr_video_iframe" width="400" height="300" style="display:block;background-color:transparent;overflow:hidden;" allowTransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>Dome of the Rock vs Capital Building - Double Headed Eagle</p> <p>1:06 loop</p> <p>click image to play video</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/10560470232http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/10560470232Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:06:00 -0500Ben StaglArtDigitalProjection<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr0qm06LkE1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><span></span>Click image to enlarge</p> <p>from <em>Dichotomies</em> virtual photograph series, 2011</p> <p>go to <a href="http://benstagl.tumblr.com/dichotomies" target="_blank">http://benstagl.tumblr.com/dichotomies</a> for more images</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/9806328266http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/9806328266Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:03:00 -0500Art,Ben StaglDigita<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr1cmo2f7Y1qjfv0oo1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>detail from <em>Pulse Point</em>, 2011</p> <p>Installation for Urban Institute of Contemprary Art in Grand Rapids, MI</p> <p>go to <a href="http://benstagl.tumblr.com/PulsePoint" target="_blank">http://benstagl.tumblr.com/PulsePoint</a> for more images</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/9824671310http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/9824671310Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:33:00 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo8s592VyF1qjfv0oo1_r3_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Virtual sketch for upcoming installation “Pulse Point” as seen from outside.</p> <p>Designed for The Urban Institute of Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, MI</p> <p>go to <a href="http://benstagl.tumblr.com/PulsePointrenderings" target="_blank">http://benstagl.tumblr.com/PulsePointrenderings</a> for additional rendered images</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/7549095593http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/7549095593Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:36:00 -0500<iframe src="//www.tumblr.com/video/benstagl/10603158200/400" id="tumblr_video_iframe_10603158200" class="tumblr_video_iframe" width="400" height="225" style="display:block;background-color:transparent;overflow:hidden;" allowTransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>Video Document of Lost Gate, 2011</p> <p>Fabric, Digital Animation</p> <p>2:20</p> <p>work produced in collaboration with Su Hyun Nam</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/10603158200http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/10603158200Wed, 04 May 2011 09:46:00 -0500Ben StaglSu Hyun NamLost Gate<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls1i6yaUQE1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><span class="il">Lost</span> <span class="il">Gate</span>(숭례문), 2011</p> <p>fabric, acrylic, string, wire, wood, projected animation</p> <p>work produced in collaboration with Su Hyun Nam</p> <p>At approximately 8:50pm on Sunday, February 10, 2008, South Korea lost it’s National Treasure No.1, a historic pagoda-styled gateway named Namdaemoon by the arsonist.  It turned out he did it out of revenge for the government, which he said treated him unfairly. By burning historic architecture, he showed the challenge for the authority.</p> <p>However, Google Earth, which has a seemingly endless database of physical reality, still allows me to see it online even from here.  The physical limitation in the real world are overstepped and blurred by the virtual world.  Such virtual maps are formed by anonymous users who are allowed to create, distort, and own digital models of real objects.  Depending on our position, architectural objects not only contain the histories of many human dramas, but also today can control us or be controlled by us.</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/10606160879http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/10606160879Wed, 04 May 2011 09:45:00 -0500Ben StaglSu Hyun Nam<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkoe9qe8Ce1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Arrested Ascent<br/>2011<br/>Laser Cut and Etched Acrylic, Projected Light, Braided Steel Wire<br/>Arrested Ascent presents the image of a sanctuary hung inverted, affording the impression of a ship hull and keel.  The prismatic virtual object deconstructs projected light and text describing the incidents which occured the night of my brother’s death by brutal police shooting 5 years ago.</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5190069017http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5190069017Wed, 04 May 2011 09:44:00 -0500<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llo46dd8Ah1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><strong>Review of <em>Arrested Ascent</em> by Su Hyun Nam      May 4, 2011</strong></p> <p>Stagl moves his work between digital and tangible realities in order to reposition himself relative to architecture.  In the digital reality he takes over the authority of those magnificent objects in the real world, distorting and rearranging them in order to examine and look into them further.  Sometimes he combines unrelated ones and finds something in common or transpose their meanings in real world.  As the virtual models become tangible objects, they have the power to call back people’s memory, and tell a history of human life.</p> <p>In <em>Along the Axis</em> (2011) as he reorders the structure of a church, which is the symbol of authority and sanctuary, converting it into a fragile object, he attempts to reveal what it has cherished and what we could not have seen behind conventional belief systems. I could imagine those who have longing, emotional trauma and belief in divinity, come and tell their story in there. A church looks like a vessel for hope and story of human to me.  That could be the reason traditionally the church room is seen as a ship.</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5778454958http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5778454958Wed, 04 May 2011 09:43:00 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkoe77ydjY1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5190046745http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5190046745Wed, 04 May 2011 09:42:43 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkqi88wV9j1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>detail of <em>Arrested Ascent</em> without projection</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5221665832http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5221665832Tue, 03 May 2011 13:04:00 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkqiceF8dA1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Votive Ship, 2011</p> <p>Virtual Photograph</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5221700365http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5221700365Tue, 03 May 2011 12:07:00 -0500<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ll1stbiDuR1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Digital Still Image from Animation “Passage”</p> <p>2010</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5398531880http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5398531880Tue, 03 May 2011 09:08:00 -0500<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkqiriXVmu1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Along the Axis, 2011</p> <p>Virtual Photograph</p> <p>40” x 30”</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5221822259http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5221822259Mon, 02 May 2011 11:09:00 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkqit528gu1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Genesis Point<br/>2011<br/>High Resolution Inkjet Print of Virtual Rendering<br/>40” x 30”</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5221834923http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5221834923Mon, 02 May 2011 11:08:00 -0500<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkqk51gm6F1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Carceral City<br/>2010<br/>Wood, Motors, Digital Projectors<br/>2 sculptures both 15’ x 3.5’ x 3.5’<br/>Digital information projects onto sidewalk<br/>The Carceral City continues my investigation into architecture of incarceration and soul reformation, specifically my interest with the Metropolitan Correctional Facility in Chicago, IL. Lighthouse and church signifiers are pressed up against the image of a guard tower, focusing viewers on the dualistic capacity that ideas of protection can offer, both a beacon of hope and an oppressive potential.</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5222218233http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5222218233Mon, 02 May 2011 11:06:00 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkqkbadoUY1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Carceral City - 18 S Wabash</p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5222267133http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5222267133Mon, 02 May 2011 11:05:00 -0500<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkqkf61WWN1qjfv0oo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Digital Rendering for Proposal - Carceral City</p> <p><a href="http://www.popupartloop.com/active.php?id=105" target="_blank">http://www.popupartloop.com/active.php?id=105</a></p>http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5222298146http://benstagl.tumblr.com/post/5222298146Mon, 02 May 2011 11:04:00 -0500