Flat Red (2019) by Jamie Robertson

Roja Plano (2019) por Jamie Robertson

ALT TEXT: A video of a woman in a red latex skirt dances without shoes to “Coupe Cumbia” by Chief Boima on a red carpet and in front of a red background. The video cuts to different perspectives of her dancing throughout, such as her feet, hips, belly, etc., often up to 3 panels on screen at once in a grid-like pattern.

Jamie Robertson Interview

  • My name is Jamie Robertson, and I'm a visual artist and educator.

    My connection to Houston is that I am born and raised in Houston, Texas, I grew up on the northeast side of Houston, in what was formally, would be, I guess considered North Forest ISD, was the district in our area, so like Scenic Woods, Homestead, that area. Moved a little bit further north to more the suburbs later in life.

    But the art piece that I'm wanting to share with you all today is entitled "Flat Red." "Flat Red" is a video piece from 2019, is a single channel video that sits at the intersection of video art and music video. It is a celebration of culture in the body, this kind of universal rhythm that lives through all African descended people. The dance moves were very much influenced by the sounds of music from the African diaspora, so genres like Afro beat, dance hall, hiphop, reggaeton and Samba, to name a few. I danced to these songs for several hours, and then cut the clips together. And without their original sound, in post I added Chief Boima's "Coupe Cumbia," which to my delight, and literal jaw-drop shock. it synced up perfectly. So the visuals came first, the audio came second. And when we were watching this piece, the audio track was not specifically made for this video at all, it was just a track that I downloaded, maybe, I think at this point, probably like 10, 12 years ago, a free, you know, album that was produced by a bunch of DJs who were just working on things together. And so, this particular track, though, is really interesting, because Coupe Cumbia is this fusion of two places, two sounds. It takes the Coupé-décalé, from Ivory Coast, or the Côte d'Ivoire, in West Africa, and blends it with cumbia from Colombia in South America, infuses them together in this really beautiful way. And I think what makes this sound really interesting is that, depending on your familiarity with these two genres of music, maybe you hear the cumbia more, or maybe you hear Coupé-décalé more, it just depends on what your ear is trained to.

    And so this piece, "Flat Red," is very much inspired by Houston's diverse music scene, and also Houston's nightlife. I really feel that you can get a sense of how much Houston has become an international city by going out to the various clubs and bars that are playing these types of music. It is not uncommon to go to, you know, a place, and have cumbia playing for 30 minutes, and then it switches over into Afro beat and dance hall, and then maybe it goes into like NOLA Bounce, so keeping in this Gulf Coast kind of tradition that's happening. And I think that's a really beautiful thing, and very much speaks to my identity as a Houstonian, and that, you know, these are the musics I wanna dance to, that I like to get down to. And so, you know, that is very much the source of inspiration for this piece.

    Jamie Robertson is a visual artist and educator from Houston, Texas. She earned a BA in art and MFA in Studio Art from the University of Houston. She also holds an MS in Art Therapy from Florida State University. She's a former recipient of the American Art Therapy Association's Pearlie Roberson Award, and Red Bull Arts Microgrant. In 2022, she was selected to participate in ACRE Residency in Wisconsin. Robertson is also one half of the podcast Where I See Me, which examines the presence of Black and Brown people in comics and media. Her creative practice is rooted in the recollection of the personal and collective histories of the African diaspora through lens-based media, with a focus on the Gulf South. Her work was featured in FORECAST 2021, SF Camerawork's Annual Survey Exhibition, Flatland Film Festival, Art League Houston, Florida A & M University's Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, 516 Arts, and internationally, at Contemporary Calgary and Exposure Photography Festival in Canada. Her photobook, "Charting the Afriscape of Leon County, Texas" was published in December 2020 with Fifth Wheel Press. She currently works as a lecturer at Sam Houston State University.

  • Mi nombre es Jamie Robertson, y soy una artista visual y educadora.

    Mi conexión con Houston es que nací y crecí en Houston, Texas, crecí en el lado noreste de Houston, en lo que sería formalmente, supongo que se considera North Forest ISD, que era el distrito en nuestra área, así como Scenic Woods, Homestead, esa región. Posteriormente me mudé un poco más al norte, a los suburbios.

    Pero la obra de arte que quiero compartir con todos ustedes hoy se titula "Flat Red". "Flat Red" es un video del 2019, es un video de un solo canal que está entre un video de arte y un video musical. Es una celebración de la cultura en el cuerpo, esa especie de ritmo universal que vive a través de todos los afrodescendientes. Los movimientos de baile están muy influenciados por los sonidos de la música de la diáspora africana, es decir, géneros como el ritmo africano, baile de salón, el hip-hop, el reggaeton y la samba, por nombrar algunos. Yo bailé estas canciones durante varias horas y luego uní los videos. Y, sin el sonido original, en el montaje añadí "Coupe Cumbia" de Chief Boima, que para mi deleite, y literalmente para mi sorpresa, se sincronizó perfectamente. Así que lo visual fue lo primero, el audio fue lo segundo. Y cuando estábamos viendo esta pieza, la pista de audio no fue hecha específicamente para este video en absoluto, era solo una pista que descargué, tal vez, creo en este punto, probablemente como hace 10, 12 años, un álbum gratuito, que fue producido por un grupo de DJ que estaban trabajando en cosas juntos. Este tema en particular es muy interesante, porque Coupe Cumbia es una fusión de dos lugares, dos sonidos. Se toma el coupé-décalé, de la Costa de Marfil, o Côte d'Ivoire, en África occidental, y se mezcla con la cumbia de Colombia, en Sudamérica, y se fusionan de una manera realmente hermosa. Y creo que lo que hace que este sonido sea tan interesante es que, dependiendo de la familiaridad que se tenga con estos dos géneros musicales, tal vez se escuche más la cumbia, o tal vez se escuche más el coupé-décalé, simplemente depende de cómo esté entrenado el oído.

    Así que esta pieza, "Flat Red", está muy inspirada en la diversa escena musical de Houston, y también en la vida nocturna de Houston. Creo que uno puede hacerse una idea de hasta qué punto Houston se ha convertido en una ciudad internacional yendo a los distintos clubes y bares que tocan este tipo de música. No es raro ir a un local y que suene cumbia durante 30 minutos, y que luego pase al ritmo africano y al baile de salón, y que luego pase al ritmo de Nueva Orleans, manteniendo así la tradición de la Costa del Golfo que está sucediendo. Y creo que es algo realmente hermoso, y que habla mucho de mi identidad como houstoniana, y que, en definitiva, estas son el tipo de música que quiero bailar, que me gustan. Así que, esa es la fuente de inspiración de esta pieza.

    Jamie Robertson es una artista visual y educadora de Houston, Texas. Se licenció en arte y obtuvo una maestría en arte de estudio en la Universidad de Houston. También tiene una maestría en arteterapia de la Universidad Estatal de Florida. Ha recibido el premio de la Asociación Americana de Arteterapia Pearlie Roberson y la microbeca del arte Red Bull. En el 2022, fue seleccionada para participar en la Residencia ACRE en Wisconsin. Robertson también es una de las mitades del podcast "Where I See Me", que examina la presencia de las personas negras y marrones en los cómics y los medios de comunicación. Su práctica creativa se basa en el recuerdo de las historias personales y colectivas de la diáspora africana mediante medios de comunicación basados en la lente, con un enfoque en el sur del Golfo. Su obra ha sido expuesta en FORECAST 2021, en la exposición anual de SF Camerawork, en el festival de cine de Flatland, en Art League Houston, en la galería de bellas artes Foster-Tanner de la Universidad de Florida, en las Artes 516 y, a nivel internacional, en el contemporáneo de Calgary y en el festival de fotografía de exposición de Canadá. Su libro de fotos, "Charting the Afriscape of Leon County, Texas" fue publicado en diciembre del 2020 con Fifth Wheel Press. Actualmente trabaja como profesora en la Universidad Estatal de Sam Houston.

Jamie Robertson is a visual artist and educator from Houston, Texas. She earned a BA in Art and MFA in Studio Art from the University of Houston. She also holds an MS in Art Therapy from Florida State University. She is a former recipient of the American Art Therapy Association's Pearlie Roberson Award and Red Bull Arts Microgrant. In 2022, she was selected to participate in ACRE Residency in Wisconsin. Robertson is also one half of the podcast, Where I See Me, which examines the presence of Black and Brown people in comics and media. Her creative practice is rooted in the recollection of the personal and collective histories of the African Diaspora through lens-based media; with a focus on the Gulf South. Her work was featured in FORECAST 2021: SF Camerawork’s Annual Survey Exhibition, Flatland Film Festival, Art League Houston, Florida A & M University Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, 516 Arts, and internationally at Contemporary Calgary in Exposure Photography Festival in Canada. Her photobook Charting the Afriscape of Leon County, TX was published in December 2020 with Fifth Wheel Press. She currently works as a Lecturer at Sam Houston State University.