“How shall Integrity face Oppression? What shall Honesty do in the face of Deception, Decency in the face of Insult, Self-Defense before Blows? How shall Desert and Accomplishment meet Despising, Detraction, and Lies? What shall Virtue do to meet Brute Force? There are so many answers and so contradictory; and such differences for those on the one hand who meet questions similar to this once a year or once a decade, and those who face them hourly and daily.” - W.E.B. Dubois
Cyanotype / A photographic blueprint - Noah Benus (2021)
I think this series is about how Noah engages with the physical and emotional world. I am thinking about how he breaks down walls, tears off leaves, looks through, under, within, and around obstructions, the Noah that emerges, is revealed. Noah has a deep curiosity, an electric connection to material. He is driven to make. He is process: searching, experimenting, getting lost and dirty. Noah welcomes us to bear witness, to share in his exploits, to discover a renewed enthusiasm for our own curiosities. Noah’s core identity is Jewish. This series was made while wandering the woods and gardens of Wave Hill Public Garden and Cultural Center, located in the Riverdale section of The Bronx. Just a walk away from where Noah grew up, it is a space where he has begun to teach, to design interdisciplinary curricula, and to challenge institutional structures and the value systems that inform them.