Brian Bent’s “Gesamtkunstwerk”

The artist, hot rod builder and surfer takes us for a ride out on the Ortega Highway.

Brian Bent is involved in an immersive event that, in poetic terms, might be called total-art, or what in 1849 Wagner termed “Gesamtkunstwerk”. His approach envelops his entire existence through building hot rod cars, kook box surfing, skateboarding, playing (and writing) music and painting. Each is done with absolute sincerity and with maximum energy. Maintaining such a commitment to creativity is hard and Brian explains that his support from his immediate family and his believe in God are both central to his ability to maintain this on-going, fever-pitch performance. Today everything is measured in money and fame and Brian has little interest in either. However, he does appreciate recognition from his peers and a recent feature on him and his work in The Surfer’s Journal hit all the right notes for a man who has dedicated most of his life to the art of placing a wooden or glass-fibre plank perfectly into the right part of the wave. Invited to festivals of surf and custom culture across that globe BB is genuinely grateful and yet cannot wait to get back to California, the studio, the beach and the cars. What comes out of this is a vast body of work and who knows where it will end.

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Issue 18 (July 2018)

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