Congratulations to MFA student Benjamin Dearstyne Hoste (Photography| Video| Imaging) selected for the 2020 recipient of the Marcia Grand Centennial Sculpture Prize!
Ben’s project, Prevailing Winds explores our contemporary state in which alternative facts continue to supplant reason and reality despite overwhelming evidence. Prevailing Winds will consist of a network of 20 custom made, bicolor aeronautic windsocks mounted atop select University buildings. The rejection of science and reason in favor of manufactured theories only serves to undermine our collective wellbeing. Although it may be convenient to believe whatever we like, alternative facts will inevitably succumb to the forces of reality. Much like the truth, wind is invisible but unavoidable. It surrounds us, envelopes us, has the strength to lift us, and the power to destroy us. By providing a constantly present and highly visual mechanism to visualize and contemplate ongoing wind conditions, Prevailing Winds is a constant reminder to us all to critically engage with our surroundings, or risk being permanently shaped by them, possibly without our knowledge or consent.
This project recognizes the University campus as a critical site where individuals use their bodies to move through space in constant relation to large repositories of knowledge. This includes libraries, research facilities, and individuals, which collectively house an immeasurable depth of historic, scientific, and cultural knowledge. Even so, it is a common sight to see masses of individuals mindlessly buried in mobile devices, fingers swiping, as they shuffle their bodies across campus, seemingly unaware and unengaged with their surroundings.
Benjamin Dearstyne Hoste was raised in California, studied mathematics in college, and holds a masters in journalism from the University of Missouri. His work has been exhibited internationally and is held in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. He is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Arizona.
Explore Ben’s work at his website and Instagram @benhoste
The Marcia Grand Centennial Sculpture Prize builds on the excellence of the University of Arizona School of Art’s graduate programs providing support for the completion of work in the 3D/sculptural arts. The Prize has supported graduate students at the University of Arizona School of Art for more than 30 years.
