Artbank Staff Profile: Ben Givney

Name: Ben Givney

Job Title: Office Coordinator

What year did you join the Artbank team: 2019

Describe your role and what you enjoy about working for Artbank:       
I am responsible for the maintenance of Artbank facilities and properties in Sydney and Melbourne. I coordinate with the Admin team to produce and renew documentation for clients of Artbank. I enjoy supporting Artbank staff across all teams to facilitate a safe and efficient work environment. 

Select an Artwork to represent you:
#12807, Adrian McDonald, Gestell Series #6, 2010, Vinyl emulsion paint on clayboard.

Short explanation of your artwork selection:                                         
Although seemingly simplistic on first glance, the audience can apply their own complexity to the piece. The geometric shapes are almost like a blueprint or map, but the ultimate design or destination are unclear. As someone from a property and project management background, the piece and the series as a whole is reminiscent of the floorplans I looked at every day.

McDonald notes that his "painting functions as a meditation on the condition of perplexity that characterises searching in the context of abstract art”. The idea that a blueprint could be searching, as if the inanimate is conscious, is poetic and wonderful. As any project manager will tell you the finished product never looks like the plan, it is the search for the final form.