BARNEY PATTERSON, who goes by the artist identity Sus Boy, is a multimedia designer and artist based in Los Angeles. His arsenal of work spans a variety of forms including gaming and app development, web design, fashion design, animation and music video direction. He has collaborated in the past with musicians Skrillex, Boys Noize, Baauer, RL Grime, Jack Ü and The Diplomats; and is a pioneer in the field of experimental live visuals. He was awarded Best In Album App at the 2014 Flash FWD Awards for Skrillex’s Alien Ride App, and was honored by Rolling Stones for Best Graphic Design at this year’s Lollapalooza Festival for his work with Berlin-based techno artist Boys Noize. Barney graduated with a degree in Graphic Design from CalArts and is a member of LA-based collective Wedidit, alongside his brother and fellow artist Groundislava.
Fall 2015 Seminar 
Barney Patterson and his production crew are very inspiring to me. Not only have they become successful in a business that they enjoy, but it’s the fact that their own humor and ideas have been the main contributors to Sus Boy becoming a unique icon. Barney trusted his own voice and truly believed in his artwork, bringing out an absurd character that’s not only an Internet sensation, but a statement on our world–making a profound comment on society.
It may be that Barney uses a plethora of stock photos and what some would call ‘easy’ animation techniques, but more power to him. I see his work as a defining excerpt of our time: harnessing the craziness of animation to satirize the insanity of politics, pushing the serious nature our our lives into a fresh relief from the strictness that art can bring. I absolutely love that he embraces the flaws in his work as strengths. It really pushes me to see my failures as another aspect of my work and I’ve always been drawn to do the same.
Cheers to Sus Boy and the unique, outrageous work that I look forward to seeing from Barney in the future.
LikeLike
I really want to write something positive about this lecture but I can not. I didn’t find anything interesting in that presentation. I respect Sus Boy as an artist but simply I didn’t like his art and aesthetics. His productions didn’t have the quality that I expected and his explaination even made it worse. Although one may say he is bold to create such an art and present it as an artwork but to me he just wanted to keep it easy for himself and didn’t want to try to improve his work
LikeLike
Barney Patterson‘s works and the creation process is the area that I have never set foot in before, I can feel the power of his work in the field of the concert. I want to say, as a traditional narrative supporter, I have a different way of “controlling the feeling and rhythm”, of course, I will learn a lot in his work.
I’m happy to see that this is totally different from my idea.
LikeLike
I really enjoyed Barney’s presentation, and I thought it was really interesting to learn about the behind the scenes story of what Susboy is, and how he came to be. What a great idea Barney had in creating a persona to represent the work in itself, and not have any associations related to the backlash that make come from the themes presented in the art. I really thought it was special how he managed to create this online persona, and how he was able to have the art breathe through him.
I also really liked how open and honest Barney was about the journey he went on after Cal Arts, and how he was able to find his voice in a field of art and animation where his own passion for his work could be appreciated. I loved the visuals he presented, and I thought it was interesting how source images played such a huge role in the social aspect of constantly providing your “followers” or audience new material on a daily basis. I also liked the material because it was fun, unapologetic, and ready for disposal.
Overall, I thought this was one of my favorite seminars of the semester, mostly because it provided fresh materials set to a modern soundtrack.
LikeLike
Because I was grew up in a house that parents didn’t allow me to go outside much, especially at night. So since I was a little, I longed for the cultures of dance clubs and those music scenes. So I had fun listening to Susboys presentation, they are very like cool artists of our ages. I wonder what programs in Calarts they went.
I liked their 80s style design, and very amazed that how they organized many screens that shows same time.
I think the animations performance in concert, dance scenes, and any other music performance is one that should be more paid attention to.
I really wanted to go to the USC dorm party, and see dorm roof screen animation. Please please if you have a chance, do this again in USC.
LikeLike
I’m not sure how to feel about Sus Boy’s experimental image making. It seems he is intentionally trying to create garish work under a guise of fun, humorous material. While I did find it interesting what Barney Patterson said about his images belonging to the vast network of image data on internet and therefore becoming an entity which becomes a figment of the internet, it almost sounds like an excuse to relinquish any responsibility connected to the content of his art. And I wonder how familiar Barney is with the thug life Sus Boy represents, if at all, and at what point as an artist, is that misrepresentation and glorification of the “thug life” which certainly has negative ramifications on society, the responsibility of the artist. Especially now with increasing police brutality, it is dangerous to connect troublemakers/thugs/delinquents directly to opposition of police action. Also the Sus Boy clothing is rather masochistic which is certainly not an inherent trait of the thug life but encourages others to believe it is.
LikeLike
It was interesting to hear how Barney Patterson created the alter-ego of ‘Sus Boy’. Sometimes the most fun and interesting ideas are the ones you create when you’re just playing around, which it seems like what he did when he started the character on Instagram. Barney emphasized a few times that he and his crew are making the most of what’s going on, to keep up with the momentum, and roll with it. I hadn’t seen a presentation like this before, I love house/techno music so it was fun to watch the ‘behind the scenes’ of how to make the venue just explode. He takes his projects seriously, but I do find it odd that he uses simply stock footage for his work. I understand that it makes it easier and quicker to produce, which is what they’re about, but I wonder what kind of awesome work they could create if they spent a little more time on it and doing originals.
LikeLike
You know that famous saying “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” well in terms of the love and passion for music that’s true but in terms of personality, character, (you name it) Barney fell and rolled far from the tree!! Just knowing he is Susboy alone provided the contrast.
Barney Patterson’s talk was interesting but one thing I took from his presentation was that “good ideas come when you’re having fun”.
I found his pipeline of how his approaches a project actually smart but I can’t help but wonder if he’ll ramp up his pipeline in terms of quality if competition ever arises.
The skeleton opening the top of the dome is my favorite piece, the only thing I’ll add to it will be in terms of quality.
In all, his presentation and approach to projects were helpful.
LikeLike
Sus Boy gave us a good example that how to expand your character through the internet. It is really smart that create a character who people can see everywhere first. Internet is a fast access for us to show what can we do and express ourselves. People will be curies about it and want to know and see more. And clients may come along with this curiosity.
I’m not a rock fan, so I don’t know how to appreciate their art works. Yet it’s no doubt that they were pretty success at what they are doing right now, and really enjoy it. I agree with the point that “the less is more” too. In the place that is crowded and noisy, it is unnecessary to add things more complicated to it. A simple big round smile sometimes will just enough for it.
LikeLike
I appreciate Sus Boy’s presentation, but I don’t really enjoyed it. He mentioned that making art is about building out a world for the artist himself. I understand it was his conscious decision to get away from the confines of business in order to do something that was purely artistic. It’s been interesting to see how that’s garnered more attention, and people have been inspired to want to work with it. It’s more about entertaining his idea and concept.
LikeLike
Barney’s works especially cool! very cool! I really like their music style and stage style, I have seen many musicals have seen a lot of the stage show, but this unique style of design in the 1980s and sang in the dance scene just fascinated me, very interesting idea I liked him very much on his own journey after California Art effort, his own work and the work has a very enthusiastic, and I hope in the future the way I keep my artistic passion.
LikeLike
Barney Patterson demonstrated the possibilities of utilizing low-resolution pictures to deal with image making! Really unique and personal expression! I can never imagine how to compile all these images to make a platform design. Just like he said, SUSBOY want to turn weakness into strength and they are really successful. Loose image sequence and symbols makes everything so wrong but so right at the same time. And the balance point between two extreme spots needs to be considered precisely and efficiently because most of their cases had time pressure and limitation. What’s more, their works and conception are applied to clothing websites and pixel mapping which showed importance of insisting on making own artworks without hesitation. Really strong characteristics!
LikeLike
Sus’s presentation is nice and he is also nice and cool. But I do not like some of his style He loves to make the art pure which means to make his own life as art. Thus way needs him to give up something normal and to become extraordinary. However I do not agree with him, however, everyone can have his or her own definition of art. So it’s been interesting to see how other people work on art and make their own productions and people have been inspired to want to work with it. It’s more about entertaining his idea and concept.
Thanks for Sus’s presentation, anyway.
LikeLike
I really like his 80s design, it was amazing to see that 80s elements be shown on screen.
These style combine with the electrical club music kind of express a wired feeling with I appreciate and love it. It is kind of interesting that he using low-resolution images , honestly, I have never seen that before. Maybe that is his concept, turning weakness into strength. Speaking of that, I can understand why he wanna keep the flaw in his work, maybe that is his concept, his attitude towards art.
LikeLike
I am so glad to meet Barney Patterson and be able to meet SUS boys and see it’s works. I love how he can use the most simple and least time assuming way to create the visual images and movements that is very strong and has an almost aggressive impact on his audience. It just like what we have learned from Mick and Candace’s 555 class, that you will have to work smart not just work hard. Amount all his work; my favorite piece is that projection on the dorm. The only thing that I have in mind about all his work is that, he is brilliant on editing, graphic design and ideas, but he will need more skills on using software and be more careful about refining his images. It is just my own opinion. I know that his team has already started to work on learning new software. I am looking forward to see SUS boy’s new work!
LikeLike
Barney Patterson’s show is absolutely unique and have every personal style. It’s really cool and I love it.
In fact, I don’t have many chance to met those kind of art format, cause compare to attend parties or festival, I prefer to stay at home alone. However, after I saw his work, I’m considering to go to some club or concert. I think maybe I can get some inspiration from that.
Barney Patterson’s work have really special function. He fit the picture with the music very well, and it’s really can arouse people’s mood, and let them immerse into a certain kind of atmosphere. It’s a really great ability and not every artist can did it. I still can remember the scene that a skeleton raise up the sky, It’s fantastic!
LikeLike
That EDM scene is definitely not my cup of tea. From what I gather, its music is comprised exclusively of sampling from other music genres, the fans aren’t particularly bright people, they are not concerned with being politically correct, they try to be offensive for the sake of shock, and are essentially appropriating a culture that is not their own just to be “cool” and “edgy.” The art reflects that attitude. I understand that there is freedom in anonymity but that is a double-edged sword. I think the problem with a collective, anonymous persona is that there is no one person to be held accountable if there is something that is more damaging than anything. There is a reason we sign our name to our work–to be held accountable for what we put out there. That video piece with a fragmented person in black face is highly offensive. The apparel with the woman in the dog collar was very misogynistic.
LikeLike
For me, Barney Patterson has very different visual style as my experience. At first, I can not understand this kind of visual style. But after his successful speech, I probably can understand it. It is just a different aesthetic fomat. I found that I put my self into my own aesthetic habit for a long time, it is not a good thing. We can not think that the very blue sky, very green grass and very red fire are incorrect. The tone of frame is not only one way to delivery. By the way, I really wish I can be born in an artist family~
LikeLike
This is my first time to know Barney Patterson and his crazy art.
He looks a little bit shy when he introduces his live art in front of us, but, after he showed his visual music artworks, I know he is a crazy person inside. I love his art attitude, he is so open to put all his art imagination at one pieces of art video. The atmosphere of live music is really good and easy to involved in.
Especially for the big dorm of mapping projection, It is really technique to changing different scenes inside the dorm and changing people’s feeling from different place. It is really fun to make art work directly influence people’s life. I am appreciate that he is so firm to his own art form and find his own way to explain his mind.
LikeLike
SUSBOY! I’d say I am so happy he can come here to give us a speech. Because he lets me think a very fatal question: How can I be online famous?
Yes, I want to be online famous, I will be very happy about having many people like my works and like me as a person.
So I start making gifs everyday, and post them on Instagram. Yes, so far, I’ve been continuing doing it for more than one month. And my followers are from 140 to 293. I am very happy about what I have right now. I remember when I post the gif about the popular condom challenge in 2d animation, I got my first 100+ likes. That is a very exciting moment.
I think if I have more time to do it, like posts 2 gifs per day, I will be more successful~ And I am start making my own character, a pink unicorn. He seems like have the pertencial to be online popular. I hope it could be, someday haha.
So far, so good. I think I am going to post more, its a good practice of 2d animating, also i can have a place to show my creative mind.
Thanks Susboy and Christine’s Gesture movement class to give me this idea to make gifs. And thank you to everyone who’s very supportive.
LikeLike
What I really love about this talk is Barney showed us how 3D can be utilized in AE and how their works deliever the message to the audience. I believe he is somehow influenced by Mike Patterson, and integrated with music with visual elements to create works that can make people feel they are in an environment. I also feel Barney has crazy element inside, and I can tell it by looking their works. Good Talk!
LikeLike
Make it from anywhere, cheap, fast, and big. Seems like a business model to me more than an artistic vision. However perhaps this will lead Barney into new directions. One never should question the inspiration, it is what you do with the inspiration that is important. I did find the large scale projection pipeline that he presented interesting.
LikeLike
what I want to say is, the best way to work is to play and enjoy and try the things I like. there are too many people want to engage on the delicate beautiful and well made work, I like this kind of work too. I appreciate and believe the young people should try many different things and regardless the rules the other people’s stander of good work. just do what really want to do. during this process, so many inspiration, good idea and innovation will appear.
his work is really cool!
LikeLike
Barney Patterson gave us interesting lecture. He is a passionate and creative artist. What I thought amazing about him is that he simply enjoy creating animation and share it with many people. He uses social media to advertise own pieces. He uploads instagram almost everyday and many people like it. Also, he told us that he came up many ideas and let it out of mind fast, sometimes this process is important to explore different style and try new technique.
LikeLike
BARNEY PATTERSON make a good point of “good ideas come when you’re having fun” during his intriguing presentation. His art shows his attitude. His elements in his clips always show a sense of strong aggressively scent.
I like his experience of just rolling with the motivation and see what will be going on next. This will always be a dangerous way especially in the present industry pipeline cuz the producer will control all the stuffs but that is why Barney Patterson surely has a crazy personality in his brain as he can always achieve his own goal pretty smart.
LikeLike