Some Info

I know I need to include some sort of biography as the creator of all this. The process page is probably the more interesting artsy version of this. I’m not exactly sure what to put here, so I guess it’ll be a sort of personal, artistic, and business biography. Could be interesting, or not.

Me

My name is Ben Hider. I’m 20 years old, born and raised in Portland, Oregon, (actual Portland, not Beaverton, West Linn etc.) I’ve had a deep interest in film and art for the majority of my life. I love music, specifically albums, specifically listening to projects front to back. I also love music videos, I watch them like tv. I’m a big NBA follower, and a diehard Trailblazer fan. I mention all this because a lot of my art has to do with albums, music videos, NBA, and Portland stuff, like Aminé and Lillard. I make all this stuff for the complex reasoning that I just like it.

Me & dawg

Me (white shirt) & CJ McCollum

The P

Working

Favorite front-to-back listens

Me & Art

As I mentioned above, I’ve always been artistically inclined. By this, I mean I was always the kid who was good at drawing throughout school. That sounds understated but it was definitely something I internalized and was proud of. I was able to create with sketching and painting, and it was something I enjoyed, but I was never quite able to get it fully down as being “great.” I felt confined to realism or accuracy, and it created a ceiling for what I made. That’s why this digital-surrealist-collage style clicked so well for me. The nature of collage is hard edges, imperfectness to create an effect, and that allows the creativity to function independent of the technical aspects. I also wasn’t confined to a singular look, and was able to create work with a variety of feelings. That all being said, I do be making cool shit that’s not on the computer.

Mural I painted throughout senior year

Sweatshirt I painted

Chadwick Boseman sketch

Shirt I painted

Random pen sketch

Some People Inspirations

While I love Tyler’s music, his main influence on me is his general attitude towards art. The lack of restriction he has on the genres he creates in and the variety of artistic practices he’s involved in coincide with my anything-goes view on art. I want to make sure I’m not boxed in by what I think I can make, or what I “usually” make, and always look to push myself creatively. This is a practice that is greatly strengthened by looking at how Tyler bounces from genres, style of music, clothing, videos, and ever-curious attitude.

Tyler, The Creator

Watching Cole Bennett develop and create such a strong grasp on the music and pop culture industry has been crazy. I am ridiculously inspired by the way he has crafted the Lyrical Lemonade brand, and inserted himself into the industry with such longevity and growing quality. Watching the meaning of Lyrical Lemonade transform from music video production to a whole platform that produces a variety of content and allows artists to grow and be noticed has been very influential on my ideas towards the OBC brand and my work in general.

Cole Bennett

Mac’s music is easily what I put above all else in my library. I don’t feel a connection to any other artist as I do here. That being said, it’s Mac’s personality that influences me. There’s a mixture of pure creativity, independence in adversity, and a general calm, peaceful approach to life that I always gather from him. Artistically, I’m inspired by the transformations he went through creatively, and how he was able to master a variety of sounds. Personally, I’m inspired by his the relaxed, beef-free persona he maintained throughout his life.

Mac Miller

I was watching Key & Peele from a pretty young age with Substitute Teacher and Lineup name sketches. So, when he dropped Get Out, it was a fun time. As an artist and someone with a general interest in filmmaking, something about a comedian coming over and making that made me want to write a movie immediately. It’s strange, I associate that movie with creativity and inspiration. As he went on to make Us and Nope, I educated myself on the freedom he now operates with in the industry, and how that was a preconceived goal. Bravo.

Jordan Peele

Also Donald Glover for a mixture of all the reasons mentioned above. Casey Neistat also the goat.

Some Visual Inspirations

I was looking for wall art on Etsy when I came across a collage of Travis Scott, which inspired my first collage piece of the Potato Salad video. Then, on instagram, I came across an artist, Mr. Babies. His work opened me up to trippy-collaging and got the ball rolling for the Surreal From Summer series. Those were my starting inspirations, and I don’t have consistent active ones besides that. I’m a big fan of music videos, and the 4 on the right are probably the most exciting ones I watch when I want to feel inspired or creative. Also to the right is the Secret Life of Walter Mitty and The Truman Show. I don’t really know how to explain it, but they make me want to create.

Praise The Lord - Linked

ELEMENT. - Linked

Propaganda - Linked

A$AP Rocky PacSun - Linked

Mr Babies on Instagram - Linked

The Truman Show

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The random Travis Scott design that inspired me

In general, much of my inspiration now comes either in a random bolt of ideas, or by surfing through what people are making. Not necessarily in a sense of directly doing what someone else does, but the practice of constantly expanding what I think is possible to accomplish with my medium.

This Website

Lastly, I feel like there should be some sort of mission statement or something regarding this website. There really isn’t one aside from being a big portfolio and having an excuse to reflect on what I do. I think it’s pretty.

This Brand

While at it’s core, this is just me making art, I do have long-term, idealized visions of the Obligatory Collection. Whatever it ends up being, I want it to be characterized by a sense of creative freedom, trying everything, and inspiring others.