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Dudi Ben Simon: the artist who creates optical illusions of ordinary objects
Dudi Ben Simon: the artist who creates optical illusions of ordinary objects
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Art is all around us, art is natural and artificial, art is sophisticated and wearable. The latest is what we here in FOXYLAB NY is thriving for as you, our community may know. When I find myself in the epicenter of high fashion week in Paris, I feel like overwhelmed with beauty and art. Whooping from every corner of the fashion capital, every street I walk, every show I assist, every face I cross. It can be even too much. One may need a rest after such concentration of ARTS in the air. And then, this is different ART. Art of turning the most ordinary, day-to-day things into playful images. This art requires a talent to combine unrelated at first sight objects into one recognizable piece.
Creative director Dudi Ben Simon from Tel Aviv possesses this rare talent, which he happily shares with us on his Instagram account. His optical illusions created in ready-made style, are full of meaning. They make us smile and gaze into to understand what they are made of.
What a magic skill resulting in art objects you will never be enough!
Here is Dudi Ben Simon exclusively for FOXYLAB NY:
How did you get into the art universe? Were you somehow predetermined to become an artist or it was more like by chance?
I was born creative, so my life’s reality directed me to my place today. As a child, I was marked in every frame as a talent in the field of painting, which led me to art classes.
I believe that people from my childhood will not be surprised of my current occupation. In a later stage, I focused on the visual communication area, and for several years, I’ve been working as a senior creative person in one of the leading advertising offices in Israel. I am responsible for campaigns of large companies in the Israel, and after a long experience in decoding marketing briefs, I felt the need to create freely, without dictating, to express myself and share the angles I see things and the ways I want to express them, and I found the social net as an appropriate stage to exhibit in. Very soon people around me related to my work, and to my surprise some people throughout the world also did.
My works have been covered in a lot of magazines, websites and art and cultural design blogs, such as: Vogue Korea, Elle Hong Kong, Boredpanda design website, the Instagram world blog and articles published in the US and Europe. I had exhibited in an Art exhibition in New York and Paris.
You create fun optical illusions by mixing different apparently disconnected everyday objects into playful images, how would you describe your style?
I never learned photography and I do not define myself as a photographer, I am an auto-deduct so I am the one who photograph and stylize. Sometimes it comes easily like a gift I get from the universe, and sometimes it is a slow, prolonged process; if I am dissatisfied with the result, it will be through away regardless of the investment.
There were also cases in which I was so pleased and satisfied with what came out and put it online but it does not relate to the public. I see my work as a type of readymade, a trend in art created by using objects or daily life items disconnected to their original context, changing their meanings and creating a new story from them.
I attempt to preserve the regular appearance of the items but with a switch; for example, take the earphones of a smartphone, leave them in their natural environment on the table, and by adding to them a paper on which there is a printed lower part of a female body, change the meaning of the earphones by turning them into sort of a bra.
I truly believe in minimalism. What doesn’t require to tell the story does not exist. I believe in this concept also in the advertising field: everything must be simple, without disturbances; we do not have the luxury to have the customers ponder about our creativity.
You are working at Israel Publicis as a creative director. How do these two worlds, your own art and your work at Israel Publicis coexist?
While working in advertising, my ideas are driven by a goal and my work is done within marketing formats. Whereas through my creations I find that there are no limits to the world. Instagram platform provides an entirely new way to access this kind of art. Artists once had to acquire elite critics and huge collectors before stepping into museums and reaching the masses. Nowadays with Instagram as my visual art gallery my fans become critics and collectors, witnessing the creative process in real time.
Where would you find your inspiration? Do you need to travel to get inspired?
Every day I find so much inspiration on social media!
As of travelling, to my opinion, Tel-Aviv is one of the most beautiful and fun cities in the world. It is pluralist and a hot spot of culture and creativity, good culinary, excellent climate and beautiful beaches. The city is full of talents in different areas. Since I live in Tel Aviv, I take a lot of inspiration from this city! I love travelling around the world, it is important to me. Before the pandemic era, we traveled a lot. I always look for the less touristic areas in the very popular touristic cities. To tell the truth, I have no preference on vacation in green place or in a loud busy city. However, surprisingly, I also love home and routine.
Would you express any ideas within the images you create or it’s just art for a sake of art?
I believe that one can learn my life through my work. In rare occasions, I use the exposure to social/environmental massages, like the elections in the USA and the contamination of the oceans.
I also would like to point out that from an ecological point of view I am rather happy with the weakening of the need for paper in the world. I do admit that I was required to print some of my works on a paper designed for the exhibition. It feels quirky, as in my opinion, the transition to two-dimension reduces the visibility. I prefer to photograph a paper with print on it rather than print my final work. Although paper is disappearing especially in the field of advertising as everyone advertises in the digital media. I personally base a large part of my work on photographs on paper and by addition of an element to the paper I tell a story.
I am pleased that I found an interesting way to use paper.
Can you share with us your future projects? Any exposition to come?
My dream is to exhibit my works in MOMA of New-York. Obviously this will happen someday)
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