Aug 18, 2026 · 39 min · 10 segments
Artist Ben Mazey was seven years into a career as design director at Kenzo in Paris when the pandemic hit. Stranded in Sydney with an empty apartment and an at-home clay kit, he decided to pretend he…
Ben MaiseyGuest
Carrie ScottHost
Well, and if anyone's watching, not just listening, the, there, there is a flag work on the wall behind you.
Let's, let's just talk through, I mean, yes, they're flags, but they're not like flag, flags then, are they?
So I have this thing, and this is something that, like, um, as a kid, I really liked maths.
Like, I loved it because there were rules, and it was just right or wrong, and I found that very, um, probably a lot about control and I think, you know.
So, you know, maths, like, it's just that, and even in high school, like, or whatever, like, 'cause maths was right or wrong.
It didn't matter what the teacher thought of you or anything else, and it was, there was...
Um, and I also vividly remember as a kid, like, this probably comes down to, like, a control thing, and then there's a bit of, like, this sort of nihilistic, like, death thing.
I believed, I vividly remember that I believed that everyone lived until they were exactly 100, and I was totally fine with that 'cause it meant I wasn't afraid of death.
So when you're 72, you've got 28 years left, and when you're 98 or when you're 23.
And then I remember when the penny dropped, being like, "I could die tomorrow or I could go another 100 years." I'm like, I just, I, I, I...
So the flag thing was literally, like, taking, setting myself rules, right? Like, setting myself like you've got a shape, which it's a 20 by 50 centimeter rectangle of clay, and you can have a, you can, there's sort of five ways you can manipulate it, and then they become the things that you can build things up.
So whether like Lego bricks or, like, that kind of thing, or like sculptures of brush strokes or whatever.
So then, you know, that's like a dozen of them arranged in different ways, and that, like, those rules, I just, I find it so great to have those rules for myself, and they're totally invented rules.
Like, I could do whatever I want, but I've never, ever approached my practice in a way outside of that.
'Cause if you had said, "Just go for it," I'd be like, wouldn't know where to start.
But if I give myself these little rules and it's this sort of control thing, and I, and I also really think there's something quite, um, I find there's something quite beautiful that comes from, um, I guess, like, not limited resources, but like, like, okay, what can you do? Like, what, what happens if you've got like that and you arrange it that way, and then you arrange it that way? Like, and it becomes, you know, these kind of- Yeah, that's, that's the flag series.
It's this constant really simple repetition of exactly the same thing manipulated slightly different ways, and then you build up like these combinations of forms.
So like with the flags, right, you'll have a grid and then one is sort, sort of doing its own thing or-
Well, and if anyone's watching, not just listening, the, there, there is a flag work on the wall behind you.
Let's, let's just talk through, I mean, yes, they're flags, but they're not like flag, flags then, are they?
So I have this thing, and this is something that, like, um, as a kid, I really liked maths.
Like, I loved it because there were rules, and it was just right or wrong, and I found that very, um, probably a lot about control and I think, you know.
So, you know, maths, like, it's just that, and even in high school, like, or whatever, like, 'cause maths was right or wrong.
It didn't matter what the teacher thought of you or anything else, and it was, there was...
Um, and I also vividly remember as a kid, like, this probably comes down to, like, a control thing, and then there's a bit of, like, this sort of nihilistic, like, death thing.
I believed, I vividly remember that I believed that everyone lived until they were exactly 100, and I was totally fine with that 'cause it meant I wasn't afraid of death.
So when you're 72, you've got 28 years left, and when you're 98 or when you're 23.
And then I remember when the penny dropped, being like, "I could die tomorrow or I could go another 100 years." I'm like, I just, I, I, I...
So the flag thing was literally, like, taking, setting myself rules, right? Like, setting myself like you've got a shape, which it's a 20 by 50 centimeter rectangle of clay, and you can have a, you can, there's sort of five ways you can manipulate it, and then they become the things that you can build things up.
So whether like Lego bricks or, like, that kind of thing, or like sculptures of brush strokes or whatever.
So then, you know, that's like a dozen of them arranged in different ways, and that, like, those rules, I just, I find it so great to have those rules for myself, and they're totally invented rules.
Like, I could do whatever I want, but I've never, ever approached my practice in a way outside of that.
'Cause if you had said, "Just go for it," I'd be like, wouldn't know where to start.
But if I give myself these little rules and it's this sort of control thing, and I, and I also really think there's something quite, um, I find there's something quite beautiful that comes from, um, I guess, like, not limited resources, but like, like, okay, what can you do? Like, what, what happens if you've got like that and you arrange it that way, and then you arrange it that way? Like, and it becomes, you know, these kind of- Yeah, that's, that's the flag series.
It's this constant really simple repetition of exactly the same thing manipulated slightly different ways, and then you build up like these combinations of forms.
So like with the flags, right, you'll have a grid and then one is sort, sort of doing its own thing or-
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