Justin Beard
Hello my Name is...
Justin Beard
I was born in....
Boulder Colorado
I currently live in....
Denver Colorado
It all started when....
It all started the day after I graduated High School. My parents asked me what I was going to do for college. I told them I wasn’t going to go and that I was going to skateboard for the rest of my life. Their response was that if I didn’t go by the end of that summer they would never pay for it. So I thought I had better go. I was originally going to be a photographer, and then it turned into graphic design. After that I got into ceramics, then figure sculpture and painting. Then I went to Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design.
My work is...
It’s hard for me to put into words; but I read something from the UCLA’s master’s program catalog that explains it better than I can. It goes like this.
“New Genres”
“The New Genres curriculum includes, performance, installation, projected image, video, film, audio, digital, hybrid and emerging art forms. New Genres is a practice, which begins with ideas and then moves to the appropriate form or media for that particular idea, sometimes inventing entirely new sites for cultural production, new methodologies, technologies, or genres in the process. The area gives emphases to questioning preconceived notions of the role of art in culture and its relationship to a specific form or medium.”
My ideal work environment...
I feel my ideal work environment could be anywhere. I love serendipitous discovery. Meaning that I love it when I just stumble on things that spark ideas. In order for this to happen I need to be out and about participating with the world. Not only does it help me get ideas but also it helps me find solutions to ideas.
I spend my days/nights...
On most days I wake up around six and get to work by seven. I work as a handyman at Rocky Mountain College Of Art & Design. I’m usually painting or patching holes or something. I love it because it is a job where I’m able to daydream and think about things. I get off work about three thirty and go to the studio. Lately in I’ve been making props for a video project I’ve been working on. After that I meet up with my girlfriend and we get some dinner over a few relaxing drinks. Then we go home and maybe watch a T.V. program and got to bed.
I'm under the influence of...
I’m under the influence of a lot of people. Some visual artists that come to mind are people like, Bruce Nauman, Chris Burden, Robert Rauschenberg, and Charles Ray. I love these people because they alllowed themselves to work in such a wide variety of mediums. I love the Beatles. I think they were masters of form and content. I like how the sound of many of their songs, works with their lyrics. The song Mr. Kite is a perfect example.
Speeder Bike
Insulation Foam, PVC Pipe, Big League
Chew Bubble Gum, Coffee
My favorite tool of the trade...
I never know what I’m going to be working with next; but there tends to be a lot of found objects and motors in my work. I like my work to at times, to be interactive. I love using humor. I think humor is very attractive.
If you were to go through my trash you might find...
Well that’s always changing to, but right now you would find Styrofoam, newspaper, flour, beer cans, plaster, cigarette butts, and a couple of mice.
Smoke Booth
Vinyl, Wood, PVC, Sketch Books, Vacuum, Rubber, Air Filter,
Silk Screen, Motion Detector, Cigarettes, Ashtray,
Cigarette Smoke-Stained Paper
