Spotlight on John Also Bennett

What makes working at the OSU Urban Arts Space so wonderful is being surrounded by a staff that is made up of active artists, thriving students, and community leaders. John Also Bennett has been doing some great work around Columbus, and we want to recognize him!

John, our Exhibitions Assistant, is the lead curator of the Skylab Gallery, and a performance installation/sound artist in his own right. Some of his recent works have been recognized and written up in Metropolis Magazine and on Adobe Airstream Online Magazine.

One of these projects is called Audible Dwelling, located in a parking lot at the corner of East Long and North Washington Streets, in downtown Columbus. This temporary installation features two modular homes (I think they look like tamales) that broadcast Chord of Columbus, John's industrial soundscape and contribution to the project.

Another of John's recent involvements was with the University of Texas at El Paso Rubin Center. John created a multi-channel sound installation for an indoor show of landscape architecture called Snagged. Of John's sound installation, Alex Ross of Adobe Airsteam says this:

"Bennett interweaves elements of human presence from both sides of the US-Mexico border, where screeching machinery muffles the solemn tones of traditional native dances. The abrasive percussion of jackhammers, trains groaning...register the desert as a site whose transforming cultural and economic infrastructures perpetually impel and mirror its physical alterations."

Way to go, John! We're proud of you!

Also, (get it? John Also!) check out John's blog.

-Leigh Lotocki
Social Media Assistant at the OSU Urban Arts Space