This week’s guest is somebody I connected with on a so many levels, that I am not sure I can accurately breakdown the points in our discussion. It’s fluid, it’s deep, it’s funny, and it goes in and out of dark and light mental spaces. Bezmiar is an individual that approaches both his craft, and his life with a piercing clarity, and I think there is an incredible depth of insight for anybody that wants to understand the mind, and path of an artist.
While I’ve shared some of his work as static images and Youtube embeds, for the full dive into his work, please be sure to visit his Twitter (which I can no longer embed tweets from on Substack), Instagram, Foundation, and OBJKT profiles. There is a lot to take in and experience. Please take your time, I assure you it’s worth it.
Bezmiar’s story begins with a whole lot of everything, and not necessarily one specific thing. Like most artists of his caliber, he was interested in multiple creative mediums, including visual art and music very early on. Eventually, in school he found himself studying Psychology, and towards the end of that cycle, he decided it was not for him, and dropped it.
The pivotal moment is really hilarious, considering it was Finish Your Exams, or Go to a Nine Inch Nails show. I find it funny, but also very appropriate that this was how his departure from his academic track began, given the context of Reznor’s music. In fact, maybe it was his arrival at his current path more than a departure. He went back to his passions, and the need to enjoy what he was doing with his life.
I loved hearing that he had a nurturing background from his family, when it came to art. With early exposure to both design and art, as well as to computers, I found a very relatable cultural art & tech background. I also feel like the 90s were an incredible time for those of us that experienced the formative years of what the internet and gaming has come to be today.
He states that it was post-Psychology (re: seeing Trent Reznor live), that he started going down his own path. I think it’s really important for us as creatives to be able to pin point when shifts occur - even if it’s in hindsight, these transitions are very telling of who we are and who we are becoming.
What’s also fascinating here to me, is that he chose to take it seriously enough, that he went back to school to learn design. That’s a form of dedication that is highly important with visual arts, because unlike our formative years where we get molded into our core identities, disciplines are where we actually learn to give form to our ideas. It’s also important to note that Bezmiar has a level of retention with what he learned in school - he took the tools he was exposed to, and put them to their intended use.
“When you can’t know, just do what everybody else does right now. Just find how this works, and the rules behind it, and then break it.”
-Bezmiar’s dad
Bezmiar exhibits both a very pragmatic approach to his life and work, but an ability to also work outside of the predefined lines. He states that artists can often “mistake ignorance for rebelliousness,” and his intentionality really shines here in contrast. His ability to give life to his ideas is a product of choosing to understand contexts fully, before executing the process.
Starting to discuss his intentions with his work, we traverse a vast landscape of topics. At the start of this is the foundational understanding that he “builds his own rules” in his work. I fucking love this notion so much. Listening to Bezmiar explain how his process works is purely a pleasure. It’s so honest and forthcoming. Get settled in around 25 minutes, because that’s really where the deep dive begins.
It would be absurd for me to paraphrase everything he’s saying about his personal experiences, motivations, and technical processes - so I’ll let you listen to it all for yourself. Much like the rest of the episode, this is a very fluid ride, but specifically through topics like dreams and conceptual frameworks.
A few things I love very much about our connection include a shared love of geometry & composition, symbology & abstraction, and dream matter. As he breaks down his creative and technical process, I imagine Bezmiar as a magician that is floating multiple objects in his periphery as he transmutes them all at a steady pace into a precious metal. In fact most of his work speaks to me of something arcane, or relics from other realities that are demanding to be understood by the viewer. It all feels very gripping on a supernatural level.
Back in the less esoteric realm, here on planet earth, I think Bezmiar makes a really good point about what it means to be a rebel in art. Most folks are not being rebellious, they’re simply creating things without meaning, that also miss the point of being disruptive. This topic also brings us to the discussion of what modern times are like; “nothing means anything” is a sentiment that is profound in its simplicity.
The balance between creating a product vs creating a piece of art is also a point that I found extremely important, given how the digital age we live in tends to blur the lines between the two. Bezmiar’s personal journey, and his ability to process his past is insightful in this context as well, because he has chosen to give meaning to his life and subsequently, his art. He is able to build products, and create personal art separately, thus striking a healthy balance.
There is a lot of information to parse with Bezmiar, both in his art, and in what he has to say. He does not waste time; his precision with everything is truly inspiring to me. And his appreciation of physical art just amplifies this for me as well. To accept and work with analogue and digital mediums, as well as selling art in digital marketplaces (yes, I also mean NFTs), exhibits versatility. But his approach to it all highlights how he does it all without compromise of integrity or effort.
Now it’s no secret that I absolutely adore physical art, and hold it in high regard. Hearing Bezmiar speak about how he would like to see his work displayed is fascinating, and really motivational for me. Can you imagine his work being projected on massive walls, like the sides of buildings in public? Holy shit. Epic.
I could keep writing about my thoughts on our conversation and who Bezmiar is, but I am going to sum it up and let you decide what to get out of it all. I am greatly humbled by his approach to and intention with his art, his intelligence and thoughtfulness, and his dark sense of humor as well. I truly hope you get as much out of our conversation as I did; I am leaving our session feeling fulfilled, inspired, and motivated to do better with everything I do in life.
The next Transmission from the Void will be with the fantastic raiaite.rob AKA Roberta! I want to say I’ve been on a roll with all of these fantastic guests, but that’s just true since the very first one. Go check out Roberta’s work, and I’ll see you next week!
Transmission #28 - Bezmiar