“Brown artists in alignment with the BLM movement aren't asking to be placed on a pedestal until things somehow "blow over", we aren't asking anything at all. We're demanding that in exchange for our support (the black dollar) that we share the spaces where decisions formulated.”
- Benjamin Moore, aka Farticus
I first met Farticus a few years back when he was in the middle of installing a group show at the old Tapp’s Art Center on Main. Caitlin Bright, director of the center, introduced us and it was in those last few chaotic hours before First Thursday when the old building would absolutely pulse with the music and the energy of our favorite night of the month.
I’m not sure how or why I missed the opportunity to better get to know Farticus back then, but that is what it was - a missed opportunity.
The young artist and Columbia, SC native was kind enough to participate in a virtual interview with Jasper last week and we’re honored now to share his honest and evocative perspectives with our readers.
-Cindi Boiter
JASPER: First, tell us about the work you do -- what is your discipline/medium, how long have you been at it, are you formally trained (if so, where and when) or are you self-taught?
MOORE: I am a self-taught, multi-disciplinary visual designer and creative director best known for my experimentation with texture, typography, semiotics, color theory and reinvention of pop culture references. I use nostalgic and sci-fi elements to translate an abstract perspective of daily life in an aesthetically consistent, distinct, and relatable format. I’m experienced in textile mediums (collaging, watercolor and acrylic painting, crayon, colored pencil, marker, and more). The spectrum of my pieces varies from detailed, layered and seemingly chaotic mixed media to clean and simplistic layouts emphasizing composition, juxtaposition, and effective advertisement. I’ve been experimenting with mediums of expression for nearly a decade.
JASPER: How old are you and how would you describe yourself philosophically?
MOORE: I’m not one to give age too much power. I feel it can misrepresent maturity in a lot of ways, so I tend to think of it purely as an indicator of inherited wisdom. Experience is just as good a term. Not to say that inherited wisdom and experience is always applied. I’m 29 but when most people ask, I just tell em I’m 8… turned to the side. Philosophically speaking, I’m a black man with heightened intuition.
JASPER: Who have been your major influences as an artist?
MOORE: Artists that have had a major influence on me are: Jean Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Frank Stella, Egon Schiele, Mark Rothko, Ellis Wilson, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Hajime Sorayama, Tekashi Murakami, Kanye West, and of course my parents.
JASPER: Can you talk about how your parents have influenced you as an artist?
MOORE: Well, outside of showering me with support and encouragement, they're two of the most resourceful, self-motivated, and inspiring people in my life. My father is an entrepreneur. That's a different level of creativity. And my mother is an interior designer. They're both sticklers about quality, thoroughness, and professionalism but they don't take shit from anybody. Their taste and attitude are most definitely hereditary.
“I truly believe we navigate on a timeline of tasks. Some are born undoubtedly aware of their purpose and contributions to the human experience. Others like myself spend a lifetime figuring it out. As artists, we help those that are less expressive understand, appreciate, and better document their individual timelines.”
JASPER: It's super interesting that both sci-fi and nostalgia find voice in your art. Care to speculate on why that may be?
MOORE: Nostalgia is a lot like DNA. It's a shared consciousness to those that experienced whatever visual, sound, or event. I feel it's unavoidable being that history repeats itself. As for sci-fi, it's an alternate reality, oftentimes future tense. You mix memory with prophecy or premonition and you've got artwork that's timeless. When I incorporate these elements, I'm inserting my personal preferences into an agreed upon "reality" to create my own.
JASPER: I was glad to hear you mention Egon Schiele as one of your influences. You probably know that Schiele died at the young age of 28 during the Spanish flu pandemic. It's heartbreaking to think of the loss of such a powerful artist at such a young age -- and especially when we're experiencing a similar pandemic in 2020. Can you reflect on this as a young artist and share your thoughts with us?
MOORE: I hadn't realized the Spanish flu was his cause of death, but I too found his early demise interesting and unfortunate. It helped me appreciate self-portraits that much more. Inspired me to make as many of myself as I could. If you've ever heard of The 27 Club, Jean Michel Basquiat too had an untimely transition. I truly believe we navigate on a timeline of tasks. Some are born undoubtedly aware of their purpose and contributions to the human experience. Others like myself spend a lifetime figuring it out. As artists, we help those that are less expressive understand, appreciate, and better document their individual timelines. The way art appreciates once an artist transitions may have everything to do with the messages and documentation in which they dedicated themselves to, finally being exalted. It's all in divine and supreme timing.
JASPER: Can you tell us about your pseudonym please? What is its origin and do you/will you continue to use it as an artist?
MOORE: The pseudonym is an icebreaker and an easy way for me to gauge personality types. Some refuse to call me it, some are apprehensive but accepting of it, others can't stop themselves from saying it. I have friends that abbreviate my name to PDF, honestly, both Fart and Farticus were given to me as nicknames. Of course, Fart came first. An ex-girlfriend began calling me Fart once we had gotten comfortable enough to fart around one another. It helped me realize we only fart around people we love. I've since referred to the moniker as me humbly saying I feel as though I'm the shit and that anything we feel deep in our gut is worthy of being expressed. As for the .PDF portion, I enjoy comparing humans to large computer files. All these aspirations, insecurities, abilities, secrets, and desires compressed into this single mind and body, we're more computer like than we'd like to admit. Above all else, the name is unforgettable, and I have a theory that 3-5-character words have the highest success rate of being both popular and iconic.
JASPER: How has the pandemic impacted you and your ability to work and share your work as an artist?
MOORE: This plandemic (not a typo) has been fruitful to those closest to me. As artists, rebirth and abrupt adaptation is nothing we're unfamiliar with. What this moment is allowing is a more purposeful and accurate perspective of life. Once again, my ideas of past and future welding into one are being presented all around me. I've always imagined at what point will the future have progressed so much so that it would become the past. I see people getting to the core of who and what matters most, individually, and collectively. We're divvying our days more wisely, giving attention to our diet, curating our abodes, enjoying our environments in a more mindful way, and promoting personal space. 2020 has pushed us into our own realities and broken us into tribes that build trust through health and wellness. My artworks are no more difficult or easy to share than before, but the connection with my audience is greater. My audience actually grew by several hundred. I used these moments of stillness to get more familiar with commerce and production, I discovered I have a passion for cooking and preparing brightly colored dishes, my determination to make my home double as a creative space even encouraged me to transform my front room into a functioning gallery. I can't describe how motivated that keeps me to produce full show concepts with ready to hang artwork, something I would never expect to be thinking about given the current predicament and recent events.
JASPER: How can we, as a community of artists and arts lovers, support and promote the BLM movement in a way that you and your cohort of young artists of color would realize?
MOORE: The BLM movement (not the organization because we truly have no idea how that crowdfunded money is being used) is one of Utopian coexistence via equality and updated legislation. The thing is, abolishing privilege in a system and society founded on what can be viewed as injustices, would require a new system and society in its entirety. I don't like using words like oppressed to describe people that look like me, but that's the reality of it, and pacifying any specific group with minimal revisions to a system that rewards acts of oppression will never yield long term results. It's the equivalent of taping a dam with more leaks than logical for it to work efficiently but choosing to continue doing so rather than completely destroying and rebuilding the dam. Performative acts are counteractive. Brown artists in alignment with the BLM movement aren't asking to be placed on a pedestal until things somehow "blow over", we aren't asking anything at all. We're demanding that in exchange for our support (the black dollar) that we share the spaces where decisions formulated. We either need more companies and brands built on the premise of equal representation or more that represent only us. Enterprises founded before equality was worth mentioning, ones that failed to even the playing field and instead capitalized on our disadvantages are simply outdated. The standard of white supremacy be it beauty, success, whatever, is outdated. I guess what I'm saying is, including us (as much as I hate that word and sentiment) in the genesis of an idea rather than as an afterthought is the best way to support and promote our voices to those willing to listen.