Spotlight Shines on Benjamin Aufill

CLOCK: Why do you consider yourself an artist and what sort of self-applied expectations are contained within that label?

BA: I consider myself an artist because of what I’m involved in. Anyone involved with theatrics, at any point, has to, at the very least, have a creative mind and the ability to express as many different art forms as they can. I sit down with a director and they tell me the general concept of a show, then I have to use art, life, or anything in the universe and apply that concept to a certain production. Depending on if I’m doing lights, set, or even if I’m stage managing a production, it’s all about expressing a certain art form and displaying the mood of a production either through paintings, sounds, or one instance in history; you apply it all to the design. You have to effectively transport a concept from the mind of the director to the mind of the audience.

CLOCK: What is your artistic mission statement and how does it affect your work? What is it that you are pushing yourself towards?

BA: I am trying to elevate my art form to a standard. A lot of productions of theatre are, sometimes, not as well done as they could be. My goal is to push the limits of how I well I can do my job. If I’m designing a piece, I need to push the limits of what the director’s expectations of me are and to push them beyond what the audience is expecting. I try to be beyond the experience shared by the director and the audience. To get that experience exactly right, more than right.

CLOCK: What are some other values that you hold to be artistically significant?

BA: Anytime something “wows” me, say, for instance Cirque Du Soleil, I just sit there and I’m amazed by it. That’s what I want to do, to wow the audience, not to distract them with my particular work (it’s supposed to be well incorporated) but to push the limits of my contribution. For other art forms, like the Graphic work for Centripetal, the idea is to make people want to read a certain book, a concept that carries through to my design. I want people to see it, want it, and believe it.

CLOCK: What would you consider to be your most lofty ambition?

BA: I’ve come across different projects that were hard and I’ve had to work with people whose ideas were different than mine, but I rely on the future to hold my greater accomplishments. A Broadway design. A mainstream movie. Sets, lights, production manager, stage manager, or even graphic design. Cover art for cinematic productions, or books, or theatre productions. These seem hard now because I haven’t done them, but in the future, I aspire to professionally amplify what I do now. With that comes the opportunity to raise the bar even further.

CLOCK: Has their been any one person who has inspired you, if so, what about their work did you find so motivating?

BA: The reason that I’m here, at Plymouth State, is because of a man named Matt Kizer. A professor in the theatre department, he designed the web site that I looked at right before I came here. I transferred, let’s see, two and a half years ago and he just “wowed” me by his production shots, by what he’d achieved through his own work. His designs are always spectacular. He has the belief that time, money, and talent are what we all rely on. We have no time and we always run out of money, but he always has the talent to pull it off. When I got here, he was a reason for me to strive to go further. He has raised the expectations of Silver with his designs and innovations and I would like to beat him really badly. My goal has always been to “wow” him and for him to think that one of my choices was the correct choice to have made in a given situation.

CLOCK: Is there any one person that you feel you might not have been successful without?

BA: When I was a freshman in college I was at the university of Oklahoma and there was a group of people who were working with me that, above all odds, managed to go above and beyond to make shows successful despite the department falling down around them. They didn’t care if everything fell apart, they still believed in the theatre. I have a lot of people like that now who believe that no matter what happens, the show has to go on, the show must be spectacular. Those kinds of people are the reason why I continue on.

CLOCK: What have you gained as a student at Plymouth State College?

BA: I think we have the best facilities outside of Boston and sometimes, even better. It’s just perfect for theatre design and one of the best public schools for design technology that I have ever seen. I believe that we are up to the standards of private schools because our professors are not afraid to make us try new things. There is no limit to what we are allowed to do, or what we are capable of doing. It’s the end of the season, but if we got enough of us together that wanted to do another show before the end of the semester, then we would do it and the professors would support us the entire way.

CLOCK: What are your projected goals for the next year? The next ten years?

BA: This summer I’m doing an internship, which is the first of my goals. I’m working with Tony Award-winning designers. This aspect is something I’ve always wanted t o do and it’s kind of a pivotal point in deciding which way my career will go. I get to work with the top dogs of the industry and see what happens. Whether or not I like it is yet to be discovered, but I plan to somehow elevate theatrics to the standard that it used to be. Cinema has taken over the mainstream, but you can’t beat the three-dimensional feel that theatre provides. Nothing compares to the element of excitement involved with theatre. When nobody knows what is going to happen and still the production goes up successfully, it’s simply amazing. Theatre reaches you in so many different ways because it’s right there with you. It has an energy that you just don’t feel with cinema, not that I would mind working on cinema, it just might not be as fun.

CLOCK: Was there ever any one event or particular piece of work that has given you the feeling that you are doing the right thing with your life?

BA: When I went to Italy my sophomore year, I was able to help with some small productions. Being immersed in art, in Italy, was like getting back to where it all began. I was able to show them aspects of theatre that they had never seen before and in turn they showed me old art that just inspired me. It inspired me to be better and to show people new things at all times.

CLOCK: Is there anything coming up that you are involved in?

BA: The Centripetal release is coming up on May 6 at 7:00 p.m. down at Biederman’s deli where you will be able to see the cover art that I collaborated on. I also wrote some poetry that will be included in the on-line edition of Centripetal.