Ruben Benjamin

This transcript was generated automatically (YouTube auto-captions) and then edited for readability: names and obvious mis-hearings corrected, filler words removed, speaker labels added where the speaker is clear. Passages that could not be understood are marked [unclear]; short omitted passages are marked [...]. Timestamps are approximate. The recording is the authoritative version.

Konstantin Girst 00:00:00

Welcome back to a new episode of Campus To Capital. Today Julius and I are not in Copenhagen and we are not from Mo [unclear]. Today we are in Munich and we are in Ruben's studio. We're with Ruben Benjamin today and he's an artist and yeah, we look forward to get to talk to him. Hello, Ruben.

Ruben Benjamin

Thanks for having me.

Konstantin Girst

Oh, thank you for making this possible. Yeah. And I think when we look at the guests that we typically have, I think their career paths are very, let's put it, let's say they're very objective, because I think our last guest, he was the CFO of Bitpanda. And when we talk about what he's doing, I think it's like you're the CEO of a company and it's very black and white. Those are your tasks and this is what you're doing. But you're an artist. And I think that's a more subjective career field. So what does becoming an artist mean for you and when did you stop becoming an artist and started being an artist?

Ruben Benjamin

Okay. So I think it wasn't just one moment or one decision to say now I'm an artist, as you would say now I'm a founder or something. It was actually a progress over the last maybe almost 20 years, because I would say in the beginning it was just always out of pure curiosity and enjoying being in this creative state when I was maybe 12 or something, to

00:01:30

start working with spray paint and stuff. But as I didn't study art at an art school, there wasn't this graduation moment where I could say, so now I'm an artist. It was more a process over the last almost two decades, I would say, and I would also say it still feels like I'm still becoming an artist. I wouldn't say that you arrive at some point. It's just the curiosity is still in the foreground. It's still the driver, the curiosity and the fun of being in this creative state. But I would also say it's still the same feeling as when I was 14. I think you have to enjoy being in this creative state. I think that's the most important thing. But as you said, it's a completely different industry than what I actually studied. But it often hits me that I realize, so this is now my profession and now my job, and this is definitely always a very, very happy moment. So I really enjoy being in this profession.

Konstantin Girst

I also think it's probably, being creative is also not very, it's not very static, right? It's quite agile. I think you always keep moving and you always keep exploring new things and new mediums and new ideas. But yeah, as you said, you didn't graduate from art school, and that was kind of a set in stone moment: okay, now I am becoming an artist. And I mean a lot of people that are active in the art world, they either go to an art school or they study art history. But you did not take this conventional track. You actually have a

00:03:00

bachelor's and masters in finance and mechanical engineering, which is pretty cool. [...] I think it's a very, very interesting field, but it's also interesting to kind of shift from that into being a creative, and what do you think are maybe some advantages and maybe also disadvantages that you experience from having this career track that is not necessarily directly aligned with being a creative?

Ruben Benjamin

So what I'm definitely really grateful for is that I really now recognize that I could always work super independently, so creatively independently, that there was no one who told me how I had to do art or what my art should look like or which medium I had to use. And looking back, I'm really thankful for this now, that I could always work completely free and I didn't have the professors in this ecosystem. That this is basically also why I'm working with this medium now and how I'm working as an artist, because I was super independent in this segment. And also I'm actually pretty happy to have this technical background now because I'm always working with new technologies. For example, right now I'm working on a series of sculptures printed from black sand, for example. And this is why I'm always working with an architect right now for technical sketches or with new materials. I have so much technical stuff downstairs where I

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really paint. So, I would say it helps me managing those different worlds right now. But because you also asked for the disadvantages. So what I definitely didn't have is the pole position in terms of the network, because many art schools, they have this ecosystem of curators and gallerists and professors and art dealers, and I had nothing of this at technical university. So I really had to build each of these contexts from scratch and the whole networks, because I had nothing of this when I graduated.

Julius Ambrosius

No, definitely. I think this also aligns pretty much with what we talked about with Magnus Resch in one of our episodes, because he really emphasized that network is your net worth per se, especially in art.

Ruben Benjamin

Yeah. Yeah.

Julius Ambrosius

So when you approach a new artwork, we were wondering, how do you know when a piece is finished? Because I could imagine that, as Konstantin said, not only your career is an ongoing process, it's not very static. It's the same when you approach a new artwork. So do you ever feel tempted to keep adding, or is there always a moment where you say, "Okay, now I'm done"?

Ruben Benjamin

Yeah, that's a really good question, because I think especially if you work abstractly, which I do for the most part, it's because there's no clear point where you objectively see now it's finished.

00:06:00

I think I now really realize it makes click once I know, okay, now I'm really finished. But the frustrating part is often to get to this point, because I often just keep painting and painting and painting and adding layers, but it doesn't click and I don't feel like now it's really, really finished. And once this moment happens, it's super satisfying and super nice, but it's always dangerous to keep going and keep adding, because you can also really kill an artwork. And then you just regret it so much that you kept adding, because maybe a couple of hours before it was really good and now you killed it, because it's also too many layers of pigment. So, I would also say it's just definitely the challenge to know when to stop, when to stop, because something maybe was balanced before and now you [unclear] it up. So it's a very, it takes time to learn once something is really good. But what I often do is, for example, I finish an artwork downstairs, bring it up here, look at it for a week if I'm not 100% sure, and this also helps a lot. But the best moment is once it really clicks and you feel like, okay, now I should definitely stop.

Host

Yeah. I think if I would be an abstract artist I think I would be very scared of always doing too much and then looking at it and think, oh, maybe I should have stopped a little bit earlier. But in that process, is there maybe a set in stone guideline that you have, for example, that you kind of know, okay, if I

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work with this size of an artwork I kind of know how much time it usually takes, and then you kind of also take that as a reference point, or is it just completely a free flow of doing things and seeing where it takes you?

Ruben Benjamin

So I kind of do have a timeline, because with different materials the artworks dry for a long time, and some of the bigger pieces dry for like 2 months. So this is something I have in mind once I know I'm working towards an exhibition or I need a certain artwork at some point. But besides this many things are pretty random. I often have a vague idea before I start. But the last details of color compositions are often super random and just happen during the process, and sometimes I really just work from my gut feeling. But I would say it's a good mix of planning and chaos. If I would plan everything, it would also be kind of boring. So often the best artworks are really those which just happen during the process and while you're in a kind of a flow, a mental flow. But I try to plan some stuff because if you do everything spontaneous and destroy some artworks, it's also a bit of a pain if it already dried for 2 months and then you were too unpatient. So, it's a good mix of patience and planning and chaos.

Host

Okay. Interesting. And I think, I mean, talking about the visuals

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of your art, I have a very, very, very great passion for visual art. I think for me a very big thing, for example, when I go traveling, is I always want to see museums in new cities, and also whenever I walk into this space I think I'm always super, super excited to see your works hanging on your walls, but I think also for me, I personally know that I will never be a visual artist. I don't think that's where my field of talent is. I don't even think that that's necessarily an interest of mine. But I think one form of the arts that I very much care about as a creator as well is literature. And I think literature is also a very big part for visual art. So I was wondering, how do you choose and pick the titles of your artworks, and is there a specific meaning that comes with the titles of your artworks?

Ruben Benjamin

Yes. So the titles are actually super important to me. I just think it's also one of the most fun parts, honestly, and it's always the very last part when I paint. So what I would say is, I often like to do, when I go through my day and through the world, I just really like to note down and pick up fragments of sentences and pick up fragments of human interactions which I somehow find often funny, because they are just, they don't have much. I would say, I think art is often very heavy, you know, and I really like to pick up those light fragments of conversation and human interactions

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and use those smaller fragments as artworks, because I think they really add the final character to a piece and I just really like to leave a lot of room for interpretation. So what this kind of conversation fragment could be in a human interaction, and I just like to pick up stuff that I find kind of funny. Maybe it's because I also grew up in a household where humor was really, really important all the time and always there. And I just like to pick up those fragments I find in a conversation or in a song or something that you read on the plane, and in some little notebook I just have an endless list of titles which I always note down. And once I'm finished with an artwork, I really take a week to figure out which title might be perfect for this. And for me, an artwork isn't really finished until it has its title. And this is the very last point. And this is then also the part of the signature on the back side. And that's it. But I would say, I think I would lose so much opportunity to just number the artworks. For example, blue number 17 or something. I would find this so boring, because I think it gives just so much character if you have these rather weirdly poetic fragments as a title. For me it's a very important part.

Host

I think I could not agree more with this. It's a great answer.

Me too. So talking about passion, you're fortunate

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enough to make a living from your passion, but I think what people often forget is that art really is a business and it's quite a rough business. And I mean, when you have a collection and you sell certain pieces, does the commercial success of your artworks influence the scales, themes, colors of your, yeah, next future artworks?

Ruben Benjamin

That's also a really good question, because, as you said, this aspect is often forgotten, that it's also a business or you have to make a living. But actually I would say it really doesn't for me, because it might be tempting, but I feel like it might be really boring, because as an artist, I think, also for the personal development it's important to do new stuff, but I also feel it could be really dangerous because you get stuck in a loop, because you know which artworks are very heavily requested from collectors, and then you feel like, oh, okay, this size and these dynamics, these color compositions, these gestures and so on, and you keep doing, overdoing this, and I think it might feel safe, but you get stuck in this loop, and the more you do it the less you get out of your comfort zone, because this is your safe space and you know this works well. But I'm 100%

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sure that the best ideas come when you try to push this comfort zone or try to work with different materials, different equipment, different pigments, or completely different shapes, different materials. I just think it would be boring otherwise. But yeah, and last but not least, I think I also wouldn't like to be known for just this one. So this is the guy who only does these colors in this style and that's him. I think it's nice to come up with something new, but of course it's a gradual development. It's not just from one day to another, but it's important to keep developing.

Host

No, for sure. But do you sometimes see that the market demand is maybe driven by trending colors, if that makes sense? So, let's say, okay, light blue is a trending color in 2025. Do you see something like that as well?

Ruben Benjamin

I don't really, I of course feel like some artworks are even more requested by collectors than others. Of course also some sizes are, for example, more suitable to some collections, because it's great fun to work on huge pieces, but often some collectors don't have the space for them, for example, even though they love the artwork, but they don't have the space in their collection. But I just feel like it's also super subjective, that some artists or

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some collectors prefer midsize but super strong pigments and super strong gestures. And there are some collectors who would prefer a piece which is a bit more quiet and a bit more subtle. But when I paint an artwork, I would never think of in which collection this might end up. So I first of all think of the artwork and the character of the artwork and the artistic language. But of course it's always interesting to see in which collection it ends up and who fell in love with which piece. But it's not like I would have kind of a statistics or logic behind this. But of course I love to see, especially if it's very international, where the pieces end. But I don't really think about this once the pieces are gone. It's always a nice feeling because the wall is empty again and I can think of a new project. But once they're gone, they're gone and I don't think about them too much, to be honest.

Host

I mean, I would probably also assume that next to the public demands and interests, your own personal interests also play a great role in what you produce and how you create and produce art, right? And would you say that there are maybe, because I mean you work on wood or you work with marble, for example, and would you maybe say that, out of the processes that you do, there's one that you enjoy the most, or is it also something that maybe fluctuates from time to time?

Ruben Benjamin

You mean in the

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artistic process, which I like the most? That's a good question. I think it's hard to say. I just sometimes have weeks where I really, really want to paint and I have a lot of meetings, for example, or I travel a lot, and then I'm like, I would really prefer to listen to music and to prepare new artworks from scratch in the first layers, for example, or I have phases where I really just really, really want to explore more pigments, which come in the later phase of artworks for me. So I would say I have different phases, and sometimes if I had like three or four days where I was painting heavily, and it's also physically exhausting because I have to wear a mask and stuff, where I'm often like, okay, I painted too much. I would really like to just get new inspirations, travel, see more, and I'm really done with painting for a week now. So this really, really shifts. But, for example, it's always fun to explore something new. For example, as I did my first marble sculptures now, it was really fun because it's a completely new material, a traditional material. And it was just fun to have something completely new, and you are like a child again. Okay. So, how does this work? Which tools do I use? Which types of marble exist? How does it feel? How does it behave once I hit it? This was great fun again, just a couple of, two or three months ago, to really start from zero

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and to learn how to work with a completely new material, because I think this really helps for your entire creative process, to start off new, because of the existing materials. It's like with every profession, you know how it works. You know how it behaves. I know how my pigments behave. And that's why once you change equipment, it's often maybe a pain in the ass because nothing works out. But once you get used to it, this is maybe also this getting out of the comfort zone, that it's a challenge at first, but then it really picks up getting fun once you get used to it. So this is something I want to do more and more in the next years, to really have a hard break and to work with some completely new material and to accept this challenge.

Julius Ambrosius

No, definitely very interesting perspective. So quite recently you had the opportunity to work together with Vacheron Constantin. I think that's something Konsti and I really find interesting, as we're both quite watch enthusiastic. And we were wondering, how do you balance creative autonomy with brand expectations when you collaborate with, yeah, established brands like Vacheron, and what is your general philosophy in this field, or, yeah, in this clinch?

Ruben Benjamin

Okay. So first of all I would also say that 99% of the time I say no to collaborations

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because I think also an artistic career is a very fragile thing and I see many collaborations where I'm also like, okay, this doesn't make any sense at all. And I think this has to be a lot of my gut feeling in the first place. But what was really beautiful with Vacheron Constantin is that I had a lot of freedom. So just a high amount of freedom. We had some frame, we had a small framework for the installation, but basically it was super, super free. And this is something I really liked, because this is something I would also do in the future, or will do in future collaborations, to really clarify in the beginning who's responsible for what. What is this collaboration really about and what can I do? What shall I do? What can't I do? Because I think if you don't do this, you will definitely get problems during the collaboration. So my take would be that I will always try to check the values in the first place and really align the values. So what do we want to communicate with this? And what's the idea? Because I think it might be the risk, if you don't talk about this in the first place, you as an artist might be, or it might be annoying in the middle of a collaboration once you feel like a brand is deciding everything and you

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are just the hand that executes. But if a brand would tell you exactly which pigments to use, which artistic language it should be, which character it should have, it wouldn't be fun anymore. And with Vacheron Constantin, it was in this case very fun that they most of all said, "We would like to work with you. This is the space we want an installation in. What do you see in there? Could you do some sketches?" And then they were like, "Okay, let's go." And they didn't give me any hard framework, and I think that's why it was really fun for me as well, because it was mostly my ideas. But this is something I would really recommend, if somebody is working in this field, to really talk about many things in detail, that you don't have these problems during a collaboration, and I think in the end it's a lot of gut feeling. Do you really like this brand and do you really think the values align, or is it just a brand you don't really like? And then I think you should never do it. You should only do it, from an artist perspective, if you really love the brand. And I think it was a cool fit because it's a very quiet luxury, a very elegant brand, very technologically super innovative. And I think it was a really beautiful fit.

Host

That's fascinating. Because I would have imagined them to be a bit more conservative,

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if that makes sense. Because I mean they exist for, I don't know how long, a couple hundred years, 250 or 60. So I think it's fascinating that they give you this artistic freedom to do basically whatever you want, because it's quite a responsibility for you as well.

Ruben Benjamin

Yeah. I think also that's why I really had great fun with the whole team, because it was a lot of trust involved from both sides, and as you said, I think it's always cool if such a traditional brand is brave in this way and doesn't go to a very old, very established artist, but rather says, we like what this guy is doing and we trust in the work and we want to give it a chance. So this is what I find really cool.

Host

I think, building on top of this, unlike many other artists, you're also an entrepreneur, and you also have the ability to completely work on your own terms. And because of this, in my eyes, you are a leading example of being someone who flips the script of how an artist's career is traditionally approached and established. And was it always your goal to be this disruptive persona in the art world? And what excites you most about bringing in this fresh wind?

Ruben Benjamin

Okay, so I think, thank you first of all, but I actually never woke up or thought I want to be disruptive or anything.

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I think also that's just not really my type. I think it's maybe also because I just had a different approach, because I had different start settings, as I didn't come from this art school background. I had to think of different ways, and from the beginning I always had a very close contact to collectors and really wanted to build these relationships, and I think I just often try to zoom out and not only look at the art industry, but also to look how different industries approach things in a cool and a fresh way. And I just think this is what I like to do, to listen to my gut feeling and to zoom out and look at different industries. And last but not least, I would say the art industry is, I mean, if you're an artist, you can do whatever the hell you want. So it's not very regulated. There are some rules. So you have to document your works very well and stuff like this. But I think in the end it would be boring to do everything how it's always been. I think you can look at different industries and go through the world and try to deduct something for your own work, and I think this is the way new ideas evolve and you get new approaches to how you build your career in this industry.

Host

And I mean, would this, let's say, disruptive profile

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give you the opportunity to be present as a personality, let's say, next to your work, or would you always, yeah, let your artworks speak for themselves? Because there are many artists that have established a great personality alongside of their work, like Andy Warhol or Marina Abramović.

Ruben Benjamin

Yeah, that's also a good question. I think it's really individual. So, I myself, I don't want, like, my personality, don't want to be in the very spotlight, to be honest. I think maybe some artists really like this. It's just not really my style to be in the full spotlight. I would always want the art to be more in the center. I feel like this is also way more interesting than me as a person. I don't know. That's what I feel like. But I think a bit of personality is good or important, or, to speak for myself, if I follow artists internationally which I find really interesting, it helps me a lot to have a bit of their personality online, that I can kind of more grab the personality, and I think this also helps a bit to understand their artistic language a bit better. But this is how I feel if I follow artists. I think complete anonymity would also be a bit of a missed opportunity. But I think if you look at someone like Banksy, for example, I

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think if the strategy is to really be mysterious, this can be a way. But sometimes you see artists where their personality really overshadows their artistic work. And I find this sometimes a bit boring, if it's just about the person and the work is in the background. But this is how I feel. But I think it can be a good mix.

Host

I think also, in regards, because earlier you said that you can also look at different industries and kind of draw trends and ideas and things that work from other fields and areas that are not even necessarily related with art. And I think in the times that we are in today, social media is a topic that is relevant and crucial for every single industry. I mean that really ranges from food and beverages over to automotive over to fashion over to visual arts. So I think everybody kind of needs to have the presence in this digital field, because that's where everyone is active, and we talked about this a couple of weeks ago as well, because I think, I mean, now it makes sense that you show and distribute your art over social media. You can grow a brand for yourself and that's the most efficient way and also the way that makes the most sense. But then there's also people who don't use social media for the art. They make art for the social media, and then it's not that much about the artwork anymore. It's more about creating content, which personally I am not too fond of. But

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where do you see the line between art and content production?

Ruben Benjamin

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I personally think it's really hard to draw a line, or I would even say for me I don't see a clear line. I think maybe also artists from the '70s, nowadays, I think they would be heavy Instagram users as well, because I think media itself shifts over time and there are always new types of media, and I also feel like this is highly individual, and some artists don't do it at all. Some do it heavily. But it also raises the question, so what is content? Is it already content if you just take an image and upload it to Instagram, or is it content if it's a reel format, a video format? So, where is this line? And just one thing I personally wouldn't like to do is to really heavily follow those trends, because I think this is something which you notice quickly, if someone just uses those short-term trends on social media which everybody, for example, then there's a trend how people present their artwork and everybody does it, and I think then it feels a bit like peer pressure, and this is what I don't like, if I see something and I really notice it really just feels like peer pressure. But besides this, I just feel like media changes and social media changes and it's

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hard for me to judge in this way. But I completely understand where you're coming from and why you sometimes feel like it's a bit over the top regarding content.

Host

Well, I guess it's the same with kind of using or following along on colors or mediums that are in very high demand right now, and that it's just important to not just get carried away by all of these things, but rather to stay true to yourself.

Ruben Benjamin

Yeah. And maybe it always has to be a balance, how much time you really spend with your art and how much time you spend online and looking and comparing to others and looking what they are doing. I would even recommend to look at other artists as little as possible, or not that much, because then you have comparison and you don't really focus on your work that much. You just get in this muddy area where you think maybe I should go in this direction or this, or present it this way. And I think then you get, yeah, in kind of a muddy area. And maybe if you spend more time with your camera on social media than in your studio, it might also get a bit boring.

Host

Yeah, definitely. So as we figured, you have a technical degree from TU Munich and quite a technical approach to artworks as well. So we're wondering, do you see the rise of artificial intelligence and, yeah, NFTs, non-fungible tokens,

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as a threat to traditional art or rather as an opportunity to innovate and grow your practice?

Ruben Benjamin

Mhm. I feel like those technologies are a huge opportunity actually. I think that the art industry historically was often very skeptical towards new technologies, for example, to photography or different forms of replication. But I feel like everything finds its place at some point in the art industry and it never helps to be too skeptical towards new technologies. And for example, I think blockchain is a super interesting, super good technology. It's just maybe still in its puberty, in its chaos puberty. New technologies like 3D printing, I find it super cool and super helpful. And also AI is, I think, let's see where things go. But I feel like right now it just increases productivity heavily and it can also help you to work more creatively. I think it's just important that you are the one who's really steering it. But I also feel like artists might be the people who are affected at last from AI, honestly, because I think you now see all the white collar workers getting problems from AI, but I think art is something where humans will really

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want humans to do it. Or that's just my gut feeling, that humans will not want to collect art which is entirely done by a computer or algorithm. So I think we are kind of on the safer side for now. But all in, I'm pretty optimistic that new technologies are often a new toolbox which you can use as an artist, and it doesn't help to be too scared of everything.

Host

Actually, I think that's a pretty good point, because now when I think about it, I think no company will care if an AI did their balance sheets or reports, because probably the margin of error is way thinner for the technology than for the human being. But then when it comes to creating art and literature, I think, yeah, we always want to have kind of a beating and bleeding heart behind it. So it's a very good point actually. And I think, to kind of move towards this subjective side again, I mean, you are commercially successful and that's a great feedback to what you produce as an artist. But next to this feedback, is there maybe a very important moment in your artistic career that you have experienced with someone maybe giving you a compliment, or seeing that your art had a certain impact on someone, that kind of was super important and very, very great to experience, next to being successful on the commercial side?

Ruben Benjamin 00:34:35

So looking back, I wouldn't say that there's one big event or one contact that changed everything. Honestly, I think it's many, many beautiful moments looking back and so many lovely interactions on the way and so many milestones over the last years. But I don't feel like there was this one crazy, crazy moment. It was just more like all those milestones after each other. But I think the last four years have just been super intense, just so much work but also so much fun in the ride. But, for example, I ran into good mentors at the right point in time. I would say this always helps a lot. But something which also really helped for the whole state of mind thing was actually moving into this studio, because my last free [unclear] studios in Munich, they were always just temporary solutions, which was also cool, but now it feels really good to come here every day, because I really believe that you need to have a space where you feel really comfortable to get into this creative mood. And in my last studios, they just were not perfect for me for painting, for example, because I have so much heavy equipment and stuff. And I think it's just really good to have a space where ideas can really

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grow and where you just like to spend a lot of time having a coffee, reading a book, getting new ideas. And this is why I would say the last months have been just so much fun here, because I really feel like here I have a space on the two floors where I can really think about new ideas, test new materials, and I think if you have a studio where you don't like spending time, you will only do the bare minimum and then you go home again, and I'm just here basically every day, also on the weekend, and I think this is just good if you have a space which helps you to get into this creative state. So, I would say getting the keys for the studio here just helped me to find some time to breathe, and now it's time to look forward for new ideas. But there isn't just this one moment in time where I said, so now we're going good. So it's just always one thing after the other.

Host

Well, I mean, to our listeners who can't be here with us today, Ruben has a pretty cool studio. I mean, we are right in the city center of Munich and there's broad daylight flowing in, these beautiful industrial lamps on the ceiling, great white walls that do your art justice. And I think, I mean, if this would be my studio, I would really like to come here to work as well. So I can definitely see how that encourages the creative process. And we will definitely touch some visuals to let everybody, yeah, feel this environment we're currently sitting in. But maybe building

00:37:35

up on that, would you say that Munich has a great art community or great infrastructure, because that's not what the city is most known for in Germany, at least?

Ruben Benjamin

I think it's okay. I think it's not the most disruptive and maybe not the most futuristic. But of course there is a really good ecosystem with the Academy of Fine Arts, with the pilot [unclear], with house village [unclear], there are many, many art clubs, and there are a lot of people who are interested in art, but I also often feel like, so we could do more here and it could be a bit more dynamic, but maybe this is also something I could try to foster, this ecosystem more in Munich, which I just like doing, to host events here. But I think it's also a personal question if you like living in a city, and for me it was just a decision to stay here because I like the network I'm in, with all the friends, and just always have a good vibe here, and I think this is also really helpful, to be in a productive ecosystem for your creative environment. But I would like, for example, next year to work in New York for a couple of months, because I just also feel it's more and more important to build these connections to the

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center of the art industry worldwide, and this is New York. But this is also one step after the other. But I think next year is the year where I want to do it. But I don't know if I will fully move to the US or just give it a try for a couple of months and keep this studio and maybe in the long run have two studios. So maybe one in the US, one here, because I feel like Munich is just a calm place where you can go to the lakes and go skiing and relax, and the US is more high-paced, but I wouldn't want to live there forever, but maybe a couple of months each year to get new ideas, get new contacts, and then go back to Munich, which is a bit more boring, but where you can just focus on painting a bit more. But all in, I think it's a super good city to live and a super good home base, which is really wholesome and where I just like to spend most of my time.

Host

For sure. I mean, we're both from Munich, so we're quite biased in that, but we think we can definitely agree. So maybe to close up this very interesting and inspiring conversation we had today: do you have one favorite artist or artwork that you admire or that inspires you the most?

Ruben Benjamin

So to name a few which I really like at the moment are, for example, Ollie EP [unclear], a British artist which I really like. He's painting

00:40:36

figuratively, but his technical skill is insane and his motives are just really, really fun. It's this crazy good mix of humor and technical perfection which I really, really love. This is really cool. Another artist I really like right now is Devon Dejado [unclear]. He's from LA. What I like about him is also that he doesn't actually come from the art industry. And I like how he's building his career and how he's developing his a bit gloomy paintings, which often have kind of a religious approach, kind of, but I just think it's amazing stuff he's doing. And another one I really like right now is Adam Pendleton, because I think he's really combining also a poetic approach, combining literature, spray paint, and also a very, very dark, rough style of painting. So, I think those are really cool, and those aren't really working abstractly, but kind of a mix of poetic, figurative and fun style. And I also, as an abstract artist, find it really important to really look at many different styles of artists sometimes, because it can give you new ideas, especially if it's from a completely different style, to find new approaches. I think this is just often interesting, to look at completely different stuff than something in your own

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your own visual language.

Host

I think that is something that not only applies to art but basically every profession you can do, to really get different inputs, and I think this is a very good closing note to our talk today. So thank you very much for this opportunity.

Ruben Benjamin

Yeah, same for me. I had a great time. This was a lot of fun.

Host

Definitely.

Ruben Benjamin

Yeah. I thank you for coming to my studio today and looking forward to your next episodes.

Host

Yeah, thanks. So you got it. Yeah, tune in two weeks from now, where we will upload the next episode, and we will see you then. Thank you.