chris cogburn

Chris Cogburn is a percussionist music performer as well as an educator and festival organizer; currently he lives in Austin, Texas. His biggest interest is in inter-media collaborations that involve poets and musicians from different backgrounds. His largest ongoing project is the No Idea Festival that was begun in the summer of 2003. The No Idea Festival is an annual music festival of improvised music that showcases a handful of Texas musicians working in collaboration with composers from around the world.

Self Portrait'09

This self portrait is an observation of the uneventful tasks done on a daily basis. Things that can be mundane and boring but which still require us to devote some time to each day. The tasks at hand are shown in a Cubist-like manner where multiple perspectives are viewed simultaneously in a single picture plane.

Self

Self portrait in oil. This was a study on glazes to see how light and multiple layers of colors interact with each other.

Stream of Consciousness

Ok so far this first project seems to be coming along pretty well. The 'stream of consciousness' theme appears to be a bit of a double edged sword for me, for one I really enjoy the freedom and openness of the subject matter allowing for anything to come together. But that also turned into a problem in that I am not totally familiar with Final Cut yet and don't have all the tools I need to put on screen what I want. Not a huge problem, this is just that phase I think we go through as artist whenever dealing with a new medium. That uncomfortable area that comes with the learning process, it both frustrates and motivates. Over all I think I would like to revisit this project or theme at the end of the semester when I'll have a better grasp of the program.

Bluescreen

The "bluescreen" exercise that we did in class last Wednesday was pretty neat. I've never worked with Final Cut before but have with other video editing programs and it's good to know there's not a whole lot of difference. Our intent was to layer two clips of footage that would read as a single event taking place. Overall I think it came out successful, our final "idea" gets across but it's not totally believable as something happening in one "reality". I look forward to working further with the function of the blue screed.

"Window Dressing" from the All Ladies Video Review

"Window Dressing" was one of several media based art piece on display at the All Ladies Video Review exhibit at the UTSA Satellite Space art gallery. The exhibit consists of a collection of works from several female artists that express themselves through video media and all happen to be based out of the south Texas region. The exhibit is on display from Jan. 1 – 25, I visited on Jan. 14.

The piece "Window Dressing," by Julia Barbosa Landois, depicts a woman dressing wounds on her feet by an open window.  Nearby a bust of the Virgin Mary rests with a rose draped over. The viewer steps into the females perspective as only her feet and hands enter the picture frame from behind the camera.   Church bells can be heard in the distance along with various sounds of city traffic. 

Initially I thought that the wounds were the result of the woman wearing shoes that were too small for her feet for too long. This, along with the painted finger and toe nails, lead me to think maybe this is a recovery ritual undergone as a result of becoming the “ideal woman” in society. As the piece progresses you notice the bandages are also on the wrists as well, this along with the church bells and the Virgin figurine lead to the awareness of the religious connotation. The wounds reference the wounds of Christ through Stigmata, and the red of the rose and paint referencing the blood of Christ. Here the artist is portraying a study of beliefs, religion, and maybe the personal struggles and sacrifices undergone in the modern world.