Applied Kinetic Arts

Benjamin Carpenter began exploring his creativity as a child building cardboard forts and various other contraptions with tools smuggled from his grandfather’s garage in New England.

Earning a B.F.A. from the Maine College of Art in metalsmithing and jewelry led him to explore traditional blacksmithing and the possibilities of larger scale architectural metalwork, kinetic and interactive sculpture.

He gained experience working with several artists and craftspeople on both coasts of the United States. Now living in San Francisco he spends his time pursuing his interests individually and with the collaborative groups 5 Ton Crane and Applied Kinetic Arts.

He maintains an active role in his community by teaching at the Crucible, an industrial arts school, and has guest lectured at the major art schools in the Bay Area.

He has shown his work locally, nationally and internationally. Backbone is the moniker under which he does commissioned work.

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My work is about many things.

It is a meditation on life in the 21st century and the history that led to it. It is also an expression of the questions I that I have about the world and my place within it.

In one sentence however, my work is about making connections.

I am interested in the relationships that occur in Nature between the symmetrical forces of our Universe and the infinite number of asymmetrical outcomes that are produced by their interactions.

With these connections as my subject matter, I combine reclaimed materials with techniques borrowed from traditional metalsmithing and industrial fabrication. I integrate this work with contemporary media such as digital video, sound, electronics, kinetics and programming to build interactive experiences for viewers to explore our evolution & progress as both individuals and as a species.

The questions that emerge from working with this process often leaves me with insolvable conundrums. Nevertheless, these compel my further scrutiny of the world and serve as focal points in my work.

Higher from Benjamin Carpenter on Vimeo.

Cone Forming from Benjamin Carpenter on Vimeo.