Let me tell you a story.

Kelsey Kincannon is one of my favorite artists. He’s also a good friend. The fact that he lives so far away prevents us from hanging out as often as we could, but I definitely follow up with him from time to time. I’ll elaborate on how unique Kelsey is as an artist by telling you a bit about Kelsey the person.

If I remember correctly, it was in 2011 when Kelsey invited me to my first burn. Burning Flipside is the Texas version of Burning Man, and I was excited about attending after Kelsey told me all about it. We used to deejay together at a local club in the Dallas area on the weekends, so music was something we were both passionate about. A non-stop party with oddities, free booze, and thumping music was always something we could relate to. So the day came when we set out towards South Texas for Burning Flipside. We were able to get this meth lab on wheels as our home away from home for a few days. After making a quick trip to Czech Stop, we were on our way for adventures. Arriving no less than 5 hours later, we were greeted by the most interesting people I had ever met.

We registered as a sound camp, which basically allowed us to put up these gigantic speakers to blast music all night long. Would it be as exciting as I imagined? Crowds of people would gather all around us as we played music that nobody had even heard before; dancing the night away to the same 133 bpm music over and over. Well, one can dream. The Illuminarium sound camp was Kelsey’s brain child, and while I raised an eyebrow to its potential, we set up as best we could to draw in the crowd with our elaborate camp props.

The oddities of Burning Flipside stretched out as far as the eyes can see. You will have to excuse the quality of some of these photos as they were taken with the original iPhone at the time, but I’ve seen things that were the definition of WTF. Kelsey was a veteran of this whole experience, so everything I was experiencing for the first time was already a “been there, done that” for him.

Then there’s this truss tower here. This damn tower had an area for people to climb up where they could relax at the very top. If you even made it to the top, you would see that the floor was just a few pieces of wood that could hold a maximum of 8 people at a time. I have no idea where they came up with that number, but I was sure that it was unsafe. I said screw it, and I climbed it anyway. Never once did I look down, but when I arrived up to heaven’s gate, there was a girl there with 5 other people enjoying the view. Now this girl had been up there for several hours (she claims) and was unable to climb down safely because she was intoxicated. She even asked if she could piggy back her way down with me.

I don’t know what ever happened to her. I am assuming she finally made it down one way or another, but the night life was incredible. Kelsey had told me about the craziness that happens throughout Burning Flipside, but I did not comprehend anything he was describing. Maybe he was just terrible with words, but what words could describe people in a metal box with electricity all around them producing musical notes, or people doing some sort of gypsy aerobic yoga?

At every Burning Flipside there are art projects being created everywhere. This effigy is by far one of the coolest I have ever seen. The participants who create things like this are true artists. Kincannon definitely knows where the inspiration is, and I for one am always a seeker of that. Climbing things at Flipside seems to be a given, and so once I reached the top, the only way down was to slide.

I had experienced an array of oddities at this event, but then there’s the subject of real life walking and talking oddities. Again, Kelsey, unfazed by the strangest of the strange, and the weirdest of the weird, and the oddest of the odd. He speaks to people as equals, and can hold a conversation under any duress.

Now, the artistic Kelsey.

Another thing Kelsey is passionate about is Art. His style is in a realm all its own. His art gives off a dirty sense of appeal, and if you’re an art lover with just the right amount of dirty, then you will appreciate it. During the tragic tsunami that really shook up Japan, Kelsey donated a few pieces of his own art work for auction, raising funds to help aid in Japan’s relief.

A sought after artist, Kelsey is always working on his art projects. Making art is what he does, and so it isn’t surprising to see his pieces all around town in the Dallas night life scene.

As far as artists go, Kelsey is one to keep on your radar. It truly is amazing what he can do with very little color, and the iconic images he creates are memorable. In a line of artists in galleries everywhere, Kelsey’s style is truly recognizable, giving that impression every art collector recognizes with value.