Artist of the Week: Kyle Beckmann

Our first Artist of the Week. Lie Truthful is all about bringing creative minds together and giving them a forum to share ideas about life, culture, art, and everything in between and beyond. This week we took a look into the photography of Kyle Beckmann.

Kyle W Beckmann was born in Martin County, FL, Nov, 11, 1983, and raised in the Palm Beach County town of Jupiter. Having grown up in a place that was growing on a day-to-day basis, Kyle gained a somewhat slanted view on life and his relationship to his surroundings. Achieving his BFA in photography from Florida Atlantic University in 2007, Kyle uses his knowledge of art, and the viewpoint of an outsider to dismember the values of the culture he grew up in. Whether through his artwork, or through music, which Kyle has been playing the drums for more than 15 years, he makes it a point to show people that once taboo rituals have become commonplace and destructive to positive thinking and moving forward as a whole.




"Whole"

LT: First of all what do you shoot with?
KB: Whatever's handy, Nikon DSLR, Holga, Poloroid. It really all depends on what kinda texture of photo I am going for.

LT: When did you first get into photography?
KB: In Community college, took it as a blow off class and as it turns out, I was kinda good at it and loved being behind a lens.

LT: Does any one photographer or artist have an influence on your work?
KB: Not in the sexual preference standpoint, but Robert Mapplethorpe. He made it so artist could truly represent anything on film or canvas.

LT: What's your motivation for creating?
KB: I really love to evaluate the human reaction. I like to put something up on a wall that makes people cringe, or laugh, or cry. Something everyone can relate to in some way, shape, or form. Basically relying on the true definition of art, evoking the aesthetic experience.

LT: You played in a band for a while, what does music mean to you?
KB: Music medicates the soul, it brings life to the dead parts, and quiets the extremes in me. I honestly dont think I would be the same person if I didn't have my drumkit.

LT: Top 5: Songs that get stuck in your head.
KB: In no particular order, Citizen Cope / Sideways, Jimmy Eat World / Allways Be, Boys Like Girls / Hero/heroine, Radiohead / Reckoner, Wolfmother / joker and the theif.... and oh so many more.

LT: Favorite Book:
KB: I hope they serve beer in hell, Tucker Max

LT: Favorite Movie:
KB: HMMM... tough one, probably Requiem for a Dream. Such a culture classic.

LT: Tell us about "Whole":
KB: "Whole" is a peice about fucking your mind up. I was raised in a place where casual sex was kinda just the thing. But no one ever really thinks about what it does to your soul. It tears it to shreds, chews it for a bit, then spits it back up. I really wanted to capture the essence of the mindfuck if you will, using myself, as i have been there before and know the repercussions personally.

LT: How do you make time for photography?
KB: I dont make time for it, it makes time for me. I dont devote too much time to it until the image pops in my head, then i do anything, Everything, to put it on film.

LT: What do you hope to share with your Art?
KB: I want to share what most people dont want to talk about, and make them start talking. Whether it be Drugs, Sex, Persecution, Bigotry, it doesn't matter, I wanna put it out there. Make it tangible for everyone to relate to.