eCommons

 

Osburn, Ed

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Digital access to this material is pending artist's approval. Materials may be viewed onsite at the Goldsen Archive, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Kroch Library, Cornell University.

I work in a variety of media and formats including video, performance, and sculpture, but my primary focus is on kinetic, sound-based installations that incorporate movement and audio in a way that appears organic in nature and has a tangible physical presence. This combination creates a particular aura for each work that is lifelike and alluring. While my works are usually presented in the contexts of sound art or technology-based arts, they are not themselves concerned with displaying particular characteristics of new technologies. Rather, they use as a starting point the idea of sound as a effective medium to monitor activity over time. From this basis, I develop complex systems of motion and sound that are both visually and aurally absorbing. By focusing on the slowly shifting behavioral characteristics of the works instead of their technical machinations, I am able to produce pieces that hold attention over long periods. It is this aspect of the work that is most compelling to me and one that provides rich areas of exploration.

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    2005 Rockefeller New Media Foundation Proposal
    Osburn, Ed (2009-03-13T16:41:51Z)
    Wandering Eye is an interactive, multi-channel video installation that generates live images and sounds from video input gathered by an array of lenses in motion: motorized surveillance and chip cameras that are deployed in and around the installation space. This material is filtered, transformed, and then broadcast through a set of video projectors equipped with lenses and mirrors to move the projected images across multiple locations in the exhibition space. In addition, the video imagery is used as input for a soundscore that is produced in real time; this soundscore is played through a set of speakers that pivot and move to direct the sound to various points in the exhibition space. Intended to be both subtle and intuitively engaging, Wandering Eye presents a visitor with a slippery interactive environment - one that appears both inviting and unsettling and rewards extended participation.