Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Why could you look at the show sheet and see
that we're going to talk about Liberty, We're going to
talk about sculpture, We're going to talk about art, We're
gonna talk about anything. And are you could have found
a Belgian rock band. You could have done anything, and
you have to salt.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Our ear drums with Neil freaking Young? Are you kidding me?
It's your own fault? Moving on, Moving on. Many of you.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
May be aware of a spectacular new piece of art
in Aurora, a fifty eight foot gleaming sculpture called Liberty
by the artist Michael Benisty, and it's at Hogan Park
at Highlands Creek, and I just I have.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Not been over there to see it yet, but I
am gonna.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I might even go this weekend because I really really
want to see this in person. I didn't see it
at Burning Man because I haven't been to Burning Man,
but I'd like to go and joining us to talk
about it the man himself, the artist, Michael Benistee, Juyia
Morcha Junga.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
How are you.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Uh spreak yours o bit nizovele anymore? I've been here
for too long, sty I got up so absorbed by
by the beautiful American culture and dream.
Speaker 5 (01:16):
So let's not go to holland Dish on this one.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Okay, So before we start, I.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Would suggest you take your car, you listen to Neil Young,
and you go see Liberty because she is waiting for
you to shine her lights up on your soul and
up on Colorado soul as well.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
So you're you're saying that Neil Young is a good thing?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
What is that what you're saying?
Speaker 5 (01:37):
Well, I'm from that generation.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So so am I good?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Oh man? I bet you and I are probably the
same age.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Okay, before we talk about Liberty for a second, I
am kind of interested in your in your story. Right,
So you were born in Belgium. Tell me a little
about that. Tell me how you got here, tell me
why you got here.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Wow, I'm gonna make this real short because I don't
think you're you're listening will want to listen to my
life story. So yeah, originally from Belgium. I grew up
with a whole you know, as all Europeans did, with
the Hollywood, with the movies, with the dream of you know,
coming one day to America. I ended up in New
York because born in Belgium.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
It's great. It's rainy, so nothing fun.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Out there except great chocolate and great beer if you're
into that.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Ended up in New York and ended up actually living.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Across the Statue of Liberty, so kind of saw her
on a daily basis, And yeah, been in awe and
inspired by her since then.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And I've always told myself that.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
At some point, I took a long time before I
got to creating sculptures.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
I used to do hair.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I had a hair salon in New York, and I
went into photography and I worked into fashion, kind of
found myself into this shallow world of the fashion industry.
I didn't like it, and then I started doing jewelry
upon doing some sculptures, and then they just enlarged themselves
and enlarge themselves, and then I ended up at Burning Men,
and that's where I really really realized that I.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Could go really big.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
And everything big out there is still small because it's
such a vast desert. So yeah, long story short, coming
back to Liberty kind of, yeah, realize what I've always
told myself that I wanted to do, which was kind
of not a replica because she's unreplicable because she's a
beauty on her own, but kind of always wanted to
(03:29):
tap into that light and you know, freedom because America
accepted me and I came here and I kind of
realized most of my dreams.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
As hard as some days, you know are, So I'm.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Very happy to see her, you know, shine her.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Light in Colorado now at the Aurora Islands.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, and I have I have.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Two other sculptures there there as well. So I would
suggest for everybody to, yeah, drive their car, listen to
some Neil Young and.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And show the art of Cloud there because it's a
really beautiful place.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So there's two other of your sculptures in that same
display in the Aurora Highlands or two others just somewhere
in Colorado now.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Actually it's all part of the Aurora, the Aurora Highlands
Holgan Park.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Ok. Yeah. I started working with Carla, which is a
CEO of the Aurora Islands.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
Yeah, and she's an avid burner.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
And then she started acquiring the first one, which is
broken but together, which is kind of a piece and
original piece that I brought to Bernie Mann in twenty nineteen,
and it's a story about love and relationships and kind
of showing the whole spectrum of love and relationships as
we know it all starts with beauty and magic and
the butterflies, and then we go through the whole spectrum
(04:45):
of the love story, which brings us through all of
the emotions and emotions of what a love story contains.
And those are kind of two figures holding each other,
looking at each other in the eyes, but they completely
shat rather than broken, so they're still standing strong, you know,
into themselves.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
But it all has this this it also has.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
The shattered pieces into them which kind of you know
that like I said before, like like for showing the
whole spectrum of a love story and how it goes
in real life, not in not in the Disney movies.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Folks, if you go to my website at Rosskominsky dot
com and just look in the guest section, I've got
Michael Benisty's name, I've got his website, I've got his
website is linked there so be easy for you to find.
I've also got articles about liberty, and of course his
website is Michael Benisty so B E N I S
T y dot com. You can obviously go there directly
(05:42):
and see some this incredible art let me let me
ask you, Michael about the the.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Non artsy part of art for a second. So when
you're gonna.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Do something like this, and by the way, folks, liberty
is Liberty is fifty eight feet tall, right, So Liberty
is much bigger than Bluecifer, much bigger than the blue bear. Right,
Liberty is enormous. So my question for you, Michael, is
it's going to cost some money to make one of
(06:12):
these things and a bunch of your time. Of course,
when when you are going to embark on a project
like Liberty or Broken but together, do you have to
fund all that yourself and then hope someone buys it
later or are they commissions or how does that work?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You pretty much said it. I usually go all in.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I used to have investors on my first pieces because
I wasn't really making that money to build those pieces,
because yes, those pieces are quite.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
The budget to begin with.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
But I've always believed in what I put out there.
And it's never about, you know, building something that blins,
blinks and that looks shiny and beautiful. It's always been
about how people and it's not even all has been
is really the reward lies in the story.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
And the experience that it creates for others. Of course,
it's a business.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
I have to make money with it because that's the
only way that I can keep on building and keep
on showing new pieces.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
At this moment in.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Time, I'm pretty much self invested, and I'm always taking
a big risk, putting a lot of money into it
and hopefully somebody buys it.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So far, so good. I tap on.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Woods because I've been kind of really lucky that I've
always ended up finding a buyer for all of the
pieces that I present.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
So what was fun?
Speaker 1 (07:37):
What was the what was the first piece that you
did where you put yourself in that position of taking
a really significant financial risk with your with your own money,
to to give it a try and hope that you
could sell it later.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
It all really started at Burning Man.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
I kind of went all in because those that that
was the time that I would starting to build, you know,
really large scale pieces, these these shiny polish mirror steel pieces.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And it's not just about yeah, I like to come.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Back to what I said before, I use mirror polish
stainless steel.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
It reflects first of all, all of its surroundings.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
I'm sure some of you who listeners may have been
to that desert during burning men or not. But it's
like you're on Mars, and it reflects, you know, the
polish steel reflects all of its lights and colors, and
you know, the sunrises, the sunsets, and also when people
the viewer comes closer, the closer they get to it,
(08:38):
they also see themselves in it. So it's not just
a reflection of what they see, it's a reflection of themselves.
And because I've tapped mainly and mostly into you know,
love and togetherness and spirituality, it kind of touches them
in different ways.
Speaker 5 (08:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I try to pierce. It's kind of my motto. I
try to really touch hearts and minds with the that
I create. But also once they're there, and I have
a lot.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Of weddings, actually most of the most of the years
that I bring the couples that I've I've built and
shared out there, we end up having a lot of
weddings and a lot of you know, spiritual spiritual yoga
sessions with sunrisers and sunsets. So it's really creating an
experience for all to you know, tune into and to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
Wow, Really where where I've always been with that and
trying to keep in that in that direction tremendous.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
We're talking with Michael Benisty.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
He's the artist who made the fifty eight foot sculpture
called Liberty that's now in Aurora at Hogan Park at
Highlands Creek, not not too far off of I seventy
near the airport over there. How many how many pieces
is Liberty made out of?
Speaker 4 (09:53):
She comes in two pieces, the base and then the
top parts, and we try to really build her with
as as seamless as you know, where where they're, where
they connect, to try to make it as seamless as possible.
And even when I brought her to Bernie Men as
a first I went through a couple of headaches with
the Burning Man orc because she was so tall and
(10:15):
so big that they made me build another additional structure
underneath it, underneath her to make sure that she would
be stable enough to not tip. Even though I was
trying to explain to them that you know, this thing
where he's thirty seven zero pounds, we can have a
tornado or you know, an earthquake here. The only thing
that is going to remain is her, but nor move,
(10:39):
and that you know, applies as well to where she
is now at the Aurora in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
So wow, only I thought I thought you were to
say fifteen pieces or twenty pieces, but it's two pieces.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
That's unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yeah, and that's the thing. I kept her as slim
as possible because I read.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
Some comments and people were like, oh my god, you
know she saw she's so slim, she's so like.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You know, she's not like the original. I mean, there's always.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Going to be critics. I take the takes as they
are as they come. Most people love her. But the
only thing that people have to keep in mind is
that those pieces have to be put on trucks and
they have to be still created and moved around, you know,
to be able to get to one point point A
to point B. So sometimes people don't understand why I'm
(11:25):
kind of structuring it all and it's engineer in a
way where we're not only thinking about the visual, well
also have to think about, you know, how to move
those pieces, how to put them in create.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Sometimes they're being shipped around.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
The world, so it has to go on on cargo
and containers and shipping boats.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
So it's kind of a whole you know, a whole thing.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
And also the more pieces you have and create, the
more seams you're going to have. And I was trying
to keep her as seamless as possible, to look as
a whole and as one without seeing many you know,
like a lego like lego or fubes on top of
each other.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Just giving you engineering specifications.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yeah, yeah, no, but I'm a nerd. I'm a nerd,
so so I like it.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
A couple of listener questions for you, what do you
think of Bluecifer?
Speaker 4 (12:12):
I read many things about Bluecifer, and there's a whole
you know, conspiracies as well out there, and people have
a lot of you know, that's the beauty of art.
I think it's really you can drop something and then
people are going to create their own stories and you know,
with their own beliefs and backgrounds.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
I think it's beautiful. Yeah, I think it's beautiful. Does
it compete with Liberty? I don't think so.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
But they're both different, you know, they're both different and
beautiful in their own in their own entities and ways,
so there's no you know, there's no comparing the vote
of them. And I hope Liberty will be as well.
Recepted and become kind of how do you call that?
Speaker 1 (12:54):
That?
Speaker 4 (12:54):
In time, she will become a staple of you know,
the all. I believe she will because she, you know,
she carries.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
The message of light and hope and freedom.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
And I tried to keep her as the original because
I saw the original and we all grew up with
the original one, because she's an eight Wonder of the
world as well, the one in New York.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
So I didn't want to change her too much.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
But yes, coming back to what I said, I had
to slimmer down from the bottom just to be able to,
you know, move it around and not have twenty scenes
and pieces coming being stacked on top.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Of each other.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
All right, one more listener question for you.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
If I want to get into making sculptures, do you
have any advice? I think he's this listener is thinking
about bronze, but small sculptures, not the big stuff you're doing.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
But what advice would you give to someone who's interested
in that?
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Honestly, I came from a completely other world and when
I was even I told my mom. At first, I staid, Mom,
I'm gonna I'm gonna change job. I'm going to create
large scale sculptures, and she started laughing. She's like, okay, yes,
good luck, and don't ask me. Don't come ask me
for money.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Every week to pay. I was like, okay, you know,
this is just what I want to do.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
I'm not happy with what I've been doing for years now,
I'm just going to go for it.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
There's there's there's no right you know, there's no textbook.
And then to me, I think.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
We all are artists at hard so I would suggest
and I would kind of tell them that that listener
that asks this question and anybody else that listens, I
just follow, you know, follow your path and your dreams. Start,
start doing it on the side or as a hobby
or as in your garage as I did.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
And flow so and start to start.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
There's no starting points.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
You just have to start at some point if that's
really what you want to do, whether it's brands, metal,
other materials.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
We only here for a blimp of.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Time, So do what you like doing and if you
can make money along the way. And usually, you know,
if you start something with passion, money usually flows after that.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Not always, of course, but I like it, you know
what one loves to do, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
I think, you know, you say we're all artists in
our own way. I don't think I am.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I think I have almost no artistic ability at all.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
But I love art, so I'm glad.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I can see it, even though even though I can't
make it.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Even the nerds are.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Even the nerds.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
And also i'm I'm it's far from clear to me
that Neil Young is an artist. But all right now,
my my last question for you, Michael, is going going
back to, uh, the biggest topic on the show yesterday.
How how cooked do you like your chocolate chip cookies?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So from from zero to eleven?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
If zero is raw cookie dough and eleven is a
chocolate chip cookie, that's that's burnt. How how much do
you like your chocolate chip cookies cooked?
Speaker 5 (15:52):
Wow?
Speaker 4 (15:53):
I would get close to a ten, like not foody, burned,
very christy.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
And then would you would you dunk it in milk
or tea or something or just eat it just like that?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I think I would just eat it like that.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
This is too dry and I can't swallow it.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
I definitely need to take a little bit in that
milk next to me.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
It's funny, you know, because my my producer dragon.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
He just you were zero you yeah, hero, His answer
is zero, But he just thought that you are the
greatest person ever because of your love of Neil Young
until your cookie, until you're until your cookie answer.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And now he's rethinking the whole thing.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Michael Veynisty is just a remarkable artist.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
His website Michael Venisty dot com. And if you forget
any of that, you can go to Rosskimisky dot com
and I've got it all linked.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Go over to UH to Aurora, to the.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Aurora Highlands and and check out this incredible sculpture. Maybe
I'll see you there. It's Hogan Hogan Park at Highlands Creek. Michael,
thank you for your time and congratulations on turning your
your into such a big success.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Thank you, thank you for having me and you guys
keep on playing it like the dragons you are.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, very good. Thank you, Michael Dewey. As they say,
Why could you look at the show sheet and see
that we're going to talk about Liberty, We're going to
talk about sculpture, We're going to talk about art, We're
gonna talk about anything. And are you could have found
a Belgian rock band. You could have done anything, and
you have to salt.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Our ear drums with Neil freaking Young? Are you kidding me?
It's your own fault? Moving on, Moving on. Many of you.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
May be aware of a spectacular new piece of art
in Aurora, a fifty eight foot gleaming sculpture called Liberty
by the artist Michael Benisty, and it's at Hogan Park
at Highlands Creek, and I just I have.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Not been over there to see it yet, but I
am gonna.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I might even go this weekend because I really really
want to see this in person. I didn't see it
at Burning Man because I haven't been to Burning Man,
but I'd like to go and joining us to talk
about it the man himself, the artist, Michael Benistee, Juyia
Morcha Junga.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
How are you.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Uh spreak yours o bit nizovele anymore? I've been here
for too long, sty I got up so absorbed by
by the beautiful American culture and dream.
Speaker 5 (01:16):
So let's not go to holland Dish on this one.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Okay, So before we start, I.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Would suggest you take your car, you listen to Neil Young,
and you go see Liberty because she is waiting for
you to shine her lights up on your soul and
up on Colorado soul as well.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
So you're you're saying that Neil Young is a good thing?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
What is that what you're saying?
Speaker 5 (01:37):
Well, I'm from that generation.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So so am I good?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Oh man? I bet you and I are probably the
same age.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Okay, before we talk about Liberty for a second, I
am kind of interested in your in your story. Right,
So you were born in Belgium. Tell me a little
about that. Tell me how you got here, tell me
why you got here.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Wow, I'm gonna make this real short because I don't
think you're you're listening will want to listen to my
life story. So yeah, originally from Belgium. I grew up
with a whole you know, as all Europeans did, with
the Hollywood, with the movies, with the dream of you know,
coming one day to America. I ended up in New
York because born in Belgium.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
It's great. It's rainy, so nothing fun.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Out there except great chocolate and great beer if you're
into that.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Ended up in New York and ended up actually living.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Across the Statue of Liberty, so kind of saw her
on a daily basis, And yeah, been in awe and
inspired by her since then.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And I've always told myself that.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
At some point, I took a long time before I
got to creating sculptures.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
I used to do hair.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I had a hair salon in New York, and I
went into photography and I worked into fashion, kind of
found myself into this shallow world of the fashion industry.
I didn't like it, and then I started doing jewelry
upon doing some sculptures, and then they just enlarged themselves
and enlarge themselves, and then I ended up at Burning Men,
and that's where I really really realized that I.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Could go really big.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
And everything big out there is still small because it's
such a vast desert. So yeah, long story short, coming
back to Liberty kind of, yeah, realize what I've always
told myself that I wanted to do, which was kind
of not a replica because she's unreplicable because she's a
beauty on her own, but kind of always wanted to
(03:29):
tap into that light and you know, freedom because America
accepted me and I came here and I kind of
realized most of my dreams.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
As hard as some days, you know are, So I'm.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Very happy to see her, you know, shine her.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Light in Colorado now at the Aurora Islands.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, and I have I have.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Two other sculptures there there as well. So I would
suggest for everybody to, yeah, drive their car, listen to
some Neil Young and.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And show the art of Cloud there because it's a
really beautiful place.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So there's two other of your sculptures in that same
display in the Aurora Highlands or two others just somewhere
in Colorado now.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Actually it's all part of the Aurora, the Aurora Highlands
Holgan Park.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Ok. Yeah. I started working with Carla, which is a
CEO of the Aurora Islands.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
Yeah, and she's an avid burner.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
And then she started acquiring the first one, which is
broken but together, which is kind of a piece and
original piece that I brought to Bernie Mann in twenty nineteen,
and it's a story about love and relationships and kind
of showing the whole spectrum of love and relationships as
we know it all starts with beauty and magic and
the butterflies, and then we go through the whole spectrum
(04:45):
of the love story, which brings us through all of
the emotions and emotions of what a love story contains.
And those are kind of two figures holding each other,
looking at each other in the eyes, but they completely
shat rather than broken, so they're still standing strong, you know,
into themselves.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
But it all has this this it also has.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
The shattered pieces into them which kind of you know
that like I said before, like like for showing the
whole spectrum of a love story and how it goes
in real life, not in not in the Disney movies.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Folks, if you go to my website at Rosskominsky dot
com and just look in the guest section, I've got
Michael Benisty's name, I've got his website, I've got his
website is linked there so be easy for you to find.
I've also got articles about liberty, and of course his
website is Michael Benisty so B E N I S
T y dot com. You can obviously go there directly
(05:42):
and see some this incredible art let me let me
ask you, Michael about the the.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Non artsy part of art for a second. So when
you're gonna.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Do something like this, and by the way, folks, liberty
is Liberty is fifty eight feet tall, right, So Liberty
is much bigger than Bluecifer, much bigger than the blue bear. Right,
Liberty is enormous. So my question for you, Michael, is
it's going to cost some money to make one of
(06:12):
these things and a bunch of your time. Of course,
when when you are going to embark on a project
like Liberty or Broken but together, do you have to
fund all that yourself and then hope someone buys it
later or are they commissions or how does that work?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You pretty much said it. I usually go all in.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I used to have investors on my first pieces because
I wasn't really making that money to build those pieces,
because yes, those pieces are quite.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
The budget to begin with.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
But I've always believed in what I put out there.
And it's never about, you know, building something that blins,
blinks and that looks shiny and beautiful. It's always been
about how people and it's not even all has been
is really the reward lies in the story.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
And the experience that it creates for others. Of course,
it's a business.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
I have to make money with it because that's the
only way that I can keep on building and keep
on showing new pieces.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
At this moment in.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Time, I'm pretty much self invested, and I'm always taking
a big risk, putting a lot of money into it
and hopefully somebody buys it.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So far, so good. I tap on.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Woods because I've been kind of really lucky that I've
always ended up finding a buyer for all of the
pieces that I present.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
So what was fun?
Speaker 1 (07:37):
What was the what was the first piece that you
did where you put yourself in that position of taking
a really significant financial risk with your with your own money,
to to give it a try and hope that you
could sell it later.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
It all really started at Burning Man.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
I kind of went all in because those that that
was the time that I would starting to build, you know,
really large scale pieces, these these shiny polish mirror steel pieces.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And it's not just about yeah, I like to come.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Back to what I said before, I use mirror polish
stainless steel.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
It reflects first of all, all of its surroundings.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
I'm sure some of you who listeners may have been
to that desert during burning men or not. But it's
like you're on Mars, and it reflects, you know, the
polish steel reflects all of its lights and colors, and
you know, the sunrises, the sunsets, and also when people
the viewer comes closer, the closer they get to it,
(08:38):
they also see themselves in it. So it's not just
a reflection of what they see, it's a reflection of themselves.
And because I've tapped mainly and mostly into you know,
love and togetherness and spirituality, it kind of touches them
in different ways.
Speaker 5 (08:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I try to pierce. It's kind of my motto. I
try to really touch hearts and minds with the that
I create. But also once they're there, and I have
a lot.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Of weddings, actually most of the most of the years
that I bring the couples that I've I've built and
shared out there, we end up having a lot of
weddings and a lot of you know, spiritual spiritual yoga
sessions with sunrisers and sunsets. So it's really creating an
experience for all to you know, tune into and to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
Wow, Really where where I've always been with that and
trying to keep in that in that direction tremendous.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
We're talking with Michael Benisty.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
He's the artist who made the fifty eight foot sculpture
called Liberty that's now in Aurora at Hogan Park at
Highlands Creek, not not too far off of I seventy
near the airport over there. How many how many pieces
is Liberty made out of?
Speaker 4 (09:53):
She comes in two pieces, the base and then the
top parts, and we try to really build her with
as as seamless as you know, where where they're, where
they connect, to try to make it as seamless as possible.
And even when I brought her to Bernie Men as
a first I went through a couple of headaches with
the Burning Man orc because she was so tall and
(10:15):
so big that they made me build another additional structure
underneath it, underneath her to make sure that she would
be stable enough to not tip. Even though I was
trying to explain to them that you know, this thing
where he's thirty seven zero pounds, we can have a
tornado or you know, an earthquake here. The only thing
that is going to remain is her, but nor move,
(10:39):
and that you know, applies as well to where she
is now at the Aurora in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
So wow, only I thought I thought you were to
say fifteen pieces or twenty pieces, but it's two pieces.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
That's unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yeah, and that's the thing. I kept her as slim
as possible because I read.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
Some comments and people were like, oh my god, you
know she saw she's so slim, she's so like.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You know, she's not like the original. I mean, there's always.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Going to be critics. I take the takes as they
are as they come. Most people love her. But the
only thing that people have to keep in mind is
that those pieces have to be put on trucks and
they have to be still created and moved around, you know,
to be able to get to one point point A
to point B. So sometimes people don't understand why I'm
(11:25):
kind of structuring it all and it's engineer in a
way where we're not only thinking about the visual, well
also have to think about, you know, how to move
those pieces, how to put them in create.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Sometimes they're being shipped around.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
The world, so it has to go on on cargo
and containers and shipping boats.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
So it's kind of a whole you know, a whole thing.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
And also the more pieces you have and create, the
more seams you're going to have. And I was trying
to keep her as seamless as possible, to look as
a whole and as one without seeing many you know,
like a lego like lego or fubes on top of
each other.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Just giving you engineering specifications.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yeah, yeah, no, but I'm a nerd. I'm a nerd,
so so I like it.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
A couple of listener questions for you, what do you
think of Bluecifer?
Speaker 4 (12:12):
I read many things about Bluecifer, and there's a whole
you know, conspiracies as well out there, and people have
a lot of you know, that's the beauty of art.
I think it's really you can drop something and then
people are going to create their own stories and you know,
with their own beliefs and backgrounds.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
I think it's beautiful. Yeah, I think it's beautiful. Does
it compete with Liberty? I don't think so.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
But they're both different, you know, they're both different and
beautiful in their own in their own entities and ways,
so there's no you know, there's no comparing the vote
of them. And I hope Liberty will be as well.
Recepted and become kind of how do you call that?
Speaker 1 (12:54):
That?
Speaker 4 (12:54):
In time, she will become a staple of you know,
the all. I believe she will because she, you know,
she carries.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
The message of light and hope and freedom.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
And I tried to keep her as the original because
I saw the original and we all grew up with
the original one, because she's an eight Wonder of the
world as well, the one in New York.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
So I didn't want to change her too much.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
But yes, coming back to what I said, I had
to slimmer down from the bottom just to be able to,
you know, move it around and not have twenty scenes
and pieces coming being stacked on top.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Of each other.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
All right, one more listener question for you.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
If I want to get into making sculptures, do you
have any advice? I think he's this listener is thinking
about bronze, but small sculptures, not the big stuff you're doing.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
But what advice would you give to someone who's interested
in that?
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Honestly, I came from a completely other world and when
I was even I told my mom. At first, I staid, Mom,
I'm gonna I'm gonna change job. I'm going to create
large scale sculptures, and she started laughing. She's like, okay, yes,
good luck, and don't ask me. Don't come ask me
for money.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Every week to pay. I was like, okay, you know,
this is just what I want to do.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
I'm not happy with what I've been doing for years now,
I'm just going to go for it.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
There's there's there's no right you know, there's no textbook.
And then to me, I think.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
We all are artists at hard so I would suggest
and I would kind of tell them that that listener
that asks this question and anybody else that listens, I
just follow, you know, follow your path and your dreams. Start,
start doing it on the side or as a hobby
or as in your garage as I did.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
And flow so and start to start.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
There's no starting points.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
You just have to start at some point if that's
really what you want to do, whether it's brands, metal,
other materials.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
We only here for a blimp of.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Time, So do what you like doing and if you
can make money along the way. And usually, you know,
if you start something with passion, money usually flows after that.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Not always, of course, but I like it, you know
what one loves to do, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
I think, you know, you say we're all artists in
our own way. I don't think I am.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I think I have almost no artistic ability at all.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
But I love art, so I'm glad.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I can see it, even though even though I can't
make it.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Even the nerds are.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Even the nerds.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
And also i'm I'm it's far from clear to me
that Neil Young is an artist. But all right now,
my my last question for you, Michael, is going going
back to, uh, the biggest topic on the show yesterday.
How how cooked do you like your chocolate chip cookies?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So from from zero to eleven?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
If zero is raw cookie dough and eleven is a
chocolate chip cookie, that's that's burnt. How how much do
you like your chocolate chip cookies cooked?
Speaker 5 (15:52):
Wow?
Speaker 4 (15:53):
I would get close to a ten, like not foody, burned,
very christy.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
And then would you would you dunk it in milk
or tea or something or just eat it just like that?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I think I would just eat it like that.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
This is too dry and I can't swallow it.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
I definitely need to take a little bit in that
milk next to me.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
It's funny, you know, because my my producer dragon.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
He just you were zero you yeah, hero, His answer
is zero, But he just thought that you are the
greatest person ever because of your love of Neil Young
until your cookie, until you're until your cookie answer.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And now he's rethinking the whole thing.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Michael Veynisty is just a remarkable artist.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
His website Michael Venisty dot com. And if you forget
any of that, you can go to Rosskimisky dot com
and I've got it all linked.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Go over to UH to Aurora, to the.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Aurora Highlands and and check out this incredible sculpture. Maybe
I'll see you there. It's Hogan Hogan Park at Highlands Creek. Michael,
thank you for your time and congratulations on turning your
your into such a big success.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Thank you, thank you for having me and you guys
keep on playing it like the dragons you are.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, very good. Thank you, Michael Dewey. As they say,
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com