Lobi – Sranan
noun – love
verb – to love

“A true artist’s duty, as far as I am concerned, is to reflect the times.” – Nina Simone

Hip Hop culture, comic books, cartoons, arcade games and likeminded spirits have shaped Brian Elstak’s childhood. With L.O.B.I. ARCADE, he took visitors into his world and told them stories that are very recognizable to many, but simultaneously offer a new perspective for some. As the title indicates, L.O.B.I. ARCADE was a space (OSCAM) filled with 10 art installations that felt like arcade machines. Each piece reflected a personal and universal theme in a very unique and authentic way. The topics per work ranged from black empowerment, black joy, representation, colonial heritages and migration to personal struggles with paranoia and (dis)belief in mankind. L.O.B.I ARCADE was also an ode to art forms and stories some deem as "low culture", but are actually a very high form of magic. Magic that inspired and reached millions across the globe. Including a young Brian Elstak.

For this project Elstak worked together with carpenter Ellik Bargai who build Elstak’s concept designs. The wooden arcade sculptures were canvases through which stories could be told. These wooden game consoles could not actually be played, but a number of them did have audio-visually supported elements such as music, animations and other visuals.

The works for L.O.B.I. ARCADE were shown together at OSCAM (Amsterdam). Some of the works were also part of other exhibitions. Such as 'Say It Loud' at the Bonnefanten Museum (Maastricht), 'Refresh Amsterdam' and 'The Golden Coach' at the Amsterdam Museum, 'Big Art' (Amsterdam), 'Stories & Vibes’ at 37PK (Haarlem), 'BIJBRIANTHUIS' at WG Kunst (Amsterdam), 'Documenta Fifteen’ in Kassel Germany and at The Black Archives amongst many other locations as stand-alone works.

All 10 art pieces were on full display together at OSCAM in 2021. Collaborators working on these 10 pieces with Elstak were Edmée Loupatty, Ellik Bargai, Hans Jansen, The Flexican, RFx, DenZen, Ella John, The Black Archives, DJ LOVESUPREME, Kohfie Konnect (Terilekst, Tenshun, Jiggy Djé and Frankie Boxcutta), Paul "Bob Mayata" Kempe, Het Borduurburo, Martine van 't Hul (Het Borduurburo), Akwasi Ansah and the entire TEAM LFMC. Artists Dewy Elsinga (Butterfingaz) and Hedy Tjin also displayed new works during L.O.B.I. ARCADE exhibition run at OSCAM.