BEN AQUA
Nonsensical, zany situations in beautifully/bizarrely decorated spaces.
interview: Tiffany Tso
images: Ben Aqua
I've always imagined that looking into master-of-all-trades Ben Aqua's mind might be something like walking into a mirrored funhouse room filled with zentai-clothed acrobats, or maybe just like an acid trip at a nudist rave. However, it seems as if in every piece of artistic work Aqua puts out, whether it is a new mix, a photograph, digital art or performance piece, we are getting deeper into his complex psyche.
From his musical projects (Realness, MVSLZ, ASSACRE and DYX), to his complicated relationship with popular culture and the Internet, to his color-saturated and visually over-stimulating photos, it's clear that Aqua is unlike anybody else you've ever met. His cool and friendly demeanor might throw you off and trick you into thinking he's just another human being like the rest of us, but trust me, he is not from this planet. He's just masquerading until complete world domination.
What did you dream about last night?
Last night, I dreamt that I was Rick Perry's assistant, and he kept avoiding eye contact with me the whole time. He had lots of strange requests, like "I want ice coffee with white chocolate-dipped mint leaves" and "get me a pile of white paper clips and form them into a pyramid".
Who would you work with in a dream musical collaboration?
Frédéric Chopin, Wendy Carlos, Frank Zappa, Timbaland, Giorgio Moroder, Danny Elfman, Michael Jackson.
Who would you work with in a dream artistic collaboration?
Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp.
Do you have any cool collabs coming up?
What are the main differences between Realness, MVSLZ, ASSACRE and DYX?
They're quadruplets, just different beings under different masks. Realness is the party child (and RIP at the moment), MVSCLZ is the ecstatic gym rat, ASSACRE is the angry divinity, DYX is the hood rat with an attitude.
Performance by Ben Aqua at Dolls in Space
Is there another alias in the foreseeable future?
There might be a new cyber bro named "B3N G", an internet-based immortal pre-psytrance buff troll.
If the Internet did not exist, what do you think you'd be doing?
Playing in a grunge band and eating stale nachos in a moldy basement that at one point was converted into a home gym by a gay dad.
What websites would you miss the most?
Tumblr, Google Images, Discogs, Youtube, Soundcloud.
Now give me a couple websites I don't know about already to check out.
Hyper Geography and Barmecidal Projects
Any films?
Groove, Cube.
If you made a movie, what would it be about?
Something involving totally nonsensical, zany situations in beautifully/bizarrely decorated spaces.
Will you ever make one?
HMMMMMM MAYBE.
Do it.
Ben Aqua (right) in "Smile More Often"
Last night, I dreamt that I was Rick Perry's assistant, and he kept avoiding eye contact with me the whole time. He had lots of strange requests, like "I want ice coffee with white chocolate-dipped mint leaves" and "get me a pile of white paper clips and form them into a pyramid."