Christopher Cogan has been making films for nearly two decades in a style that could be termed "wrong theater". The films portray strange, sometimes disturbing actions, performed by characters without voices or identity. The viewer is presented visions from a parallel reality, that "do not make sense" in conventional terms.
In an increasingly impatient society that rapidly consumes images, these films create media indigestion. The obscure actions of Cogan's films evade the incessant media machine, and offer ideas that are unappealing to the mindless consumer. The films also stand as a protest to the eradication of mystery that we are witnessing in the 21st century.
Improvisation on the original idea creates spontaneous energy throughout the production. Welcoming chance and embracing "accidents" are key elements. Some themes are fear, humor, control of society, and culture shock. Part of the challenge is to follow through with the idea, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.
Why continue to create 16mm films? Cinema, as we know it, is dead. Culture has an insatiable addiction to the "latest" technology, which for all intents and purposes, has killed film. Projecting a 16mm film in a dark room imitates a kind of spectral presence, that technology can only attempt to imitate.
include a new 16mm film in collaboration with MELTED MEN.
Christopher Cogan's website: www.meltedmen.com
"The rhythm of ELECTREAT is set by fast sequence changes, by slams and stutters of the zoom lens, and by the repercussive sound of the strong visual energy. The theme is adoration of electricity as a fetish - the obsession of a female; frantic, and ripped apart in lust. Electricity becomes her symbol in a cultish realm. Pulling and dragging this obsession to its limits becomes autodestructive for her, and brings us to the ravenous sequence of an exceptional end." - Gilles Royannais, X heures 10, Marseilles, France
This is a high energy film that is guaranteed to wake up your audience.
1996/2007, 16mm, b&w/so, 6m, $20