News about our work
The Walls Have Ears at Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City
by San Francisco Art Institute
Published on November 2007
Museo Nacional de Arte in Mexico City, 50th anniversary commemoration of Diego Rivera.
by EXonline
Published on November 27th, 2007
Many Mexico news outlets featured the exhibit, Grafico Hipergrafico, an that features a reflection space, which included Ben Woods' animated documentary, The Walls Have Ears, about the destruction of the Rockefeller Center Mural, Man at the Crossroads, which featured interviews with the family of Rivera and his assistant Lucienne Bloch, and academics such as Noam Chomsky on the implications of the historic and philosophical of the mural.
Museo Nacional de Arte in Mexico City, 50th anniversary commemoration of Diego Rivera.
Published on February 5th, 2004
Many Mexico news outlets featured the exhibit, Grafico Hipergrafico, an that features a reflection space, which included Ben Woods' animated documentary, The Walls Have Ears, about the destruction of the Rockefeller Center Mural, Man at the Crossroads, which featured interviews with the family of Rivera and his assistant Lucienne Bloch, and academics such as Noam Chomsky on the implications of the historic and philosophical of the mural.
Ben Wood MIT School of Architecture and Planning Profile
by Ben Wood
Published on May, 2007
I have always hoped, as an artist might, that I will be able to achieve the goal of showing my work in order to actively contribute to the environment and society where I live. My hope is that I will be in a location and situation that allows me the flexibility to continue to grow and challenge the definition of what art practice can be. I see the role of the artist as someone who may reflect upon larger issues and propose something new and better, to learn from the past in order to teach and propose something better for the future. My work addresses issues of learning from those who have come before. It is my intention to embrace the opportunities that I am given, in order to positively contribute to those environments in which I find myself, whether it is as a teacher, artist or designer.
Grad Student Revives Rivera's 1933 Mural
by Stephanie Schorrow, MIT Architecture Department Newsletter
Published June 2007
It was perhaps the most famous act of artistic destruction in modern history. After renowned Mexican artist Diego Rivera refused to alter a mural commissioned for the Rockefeller Center in New York City, the painter was sent packing and the 1933 mural demolished. Ben Wood, a second-year graduate student in visual arts in the Department of Architecture, has long been fascinated by murals. He became intrigued with the controversy over Rivera's original commission and the copy the artist later painted in the Palacio De Bellas Artes Museum in Mexico City.
Read MoreAshdown House Documentary Wins Film Fest Prize
Published on December 6th 2006
Two graduate students in the School of Architecture and Planning have won a prize for best history documentary at the 2006 CampusMovieFest, the world's largest student film festival, for a video documenting the history of MIT's Ashdown House. Ben Wood, a candidate for the master of science in visual studies in the Department of Architecture, and Luciana Pereira, a visiting student from Brazil in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, worked on the project nights and weekends over a period of five months, purely as a labor of love, they said.
Read MoreGuided by History, Projecting Art
Published April 17, 2006
I spoke to artist Ben Wood today about his collaboration with David Mark, titled '1906 dismantled: a projection', an overlay of historic and contemporary films that will be projected onto Coit Tower Click here to learn about third-party website links over a two day period. The projection juxtaposes contemporary firefighting drills that the artist filmed in both San Francisco and the Boston area, with historic films available from the Library of Congress.
Read MoreBen Wood: Outstanding Alumni
by West Valley College Newsletter Article
Published May 2006
Among the events surrounding the 100th anniversary of San Francisco's 1906 earthquake was a movie premiere honoring the city's firefighters. The film, directed by Ben Wood, a former West Valley College student was shown April 18 on the side of Coit Tower, a building resembling a fire hose. You can also see it online at www.sfcentennial.org, or visit Coit Tower on July 4th for a rerun.
Read MoreBen Wood - New Art from Ancient History
by Allison Bing, Stretcher Magazine
Published April 2006
The British artist Ben Wood is gracious about answering questions, but it's clear his mind is elsewhere-specifically, underneath the facade of the Officer's Club in San Francisco's Presidio. He's on his way there to document the excavation of an adobe wall which is one of the two oldest structures in the city. This is how he'll be spending the next month, and he's not yet sure how he'll make use of the digital images he's planning to take: Perhaps a video collage projected onto the side of the current building? Such are the conundrums that come with making new media art out of ancient history. Wood has to remain open not only to future possibilities-fresh ideas, advances in digital imaging, screening permits-but also to the possibilities that the past still holds, awaiting our (over)due consideration.
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Fun Fact
Ben Wood is the middle of a set of triplets, the others being Bryan (identical) and Richard (fraternal) When the Wood Triplets were born, they were the first triplets to be born in many years at Southlands Hospital in West Sussex, United Kingdom. Ben weighed the least at a little under 2 llbs. He is one of six boys.See news from 1980.