Corina’s FunFunFun Fest Chronicles: Day Three

FunFunFun Fest had so many things going on, that I could not even count them on my hands. Aside from the music performances to attend, there were games to be played, Twinkies to be eaten since the Twinkie man seemed unfamiliar with the phrase, “No thanks”, and live art to take in.

SprATX, pronounced Spray-Tee-Ex, is a collection of artists based in Austin. The collective includes street artists, muralists and live artists. Through art, sprATX dedicates their work to impact the community positively. Aside from having clients and carrying on business, they manage a community art project called #atxfreeartfriday. Every Friday they give free pieces of art to members of the community.

At FunFunFun Fest, there was a small pop up shop in the middle, near the Volcom’s Super Collider. The shop had pieces of art for sale by members of sprATX. The pieces were outstanding, each very unique and original. On the walls encasing the shop an artist was doing a live mural. The three walls had their own artists each day, the new one painting over the previous’ work. Atop the pop-up shop was a large canvas. Each side had an artist who would be working on his piece the entirety of the festival. On the side facing the blue and black stages, there was a piece of work that caught my eye, as well as many of the festival goers. It began on Friday, around noon, by artist Cody Schibi.

So, on Saturday, I could not stand the urge to talk to him and ask him about his work any longer. I went to the pop-up shop and one of the coordinators of sprATX, Heath Speakman, allowed me to climb atop the shop to have a sit down with Cody.

Cody next to his mural.

Cody Schibi has been doing art all his life, but as of about five years, he has been able to make a career out of it. He specializes in what he calls horror art. It’s a type of art that I love and find very fascinating. It’s a little disturbing, but overall mesmerizing. Another mesmerizing thing about this artist is that, according to his website, he loves gummy bears. He’s just like us. This particular installment was to last all three days. Friday was cut short however because his canvas, a good fifteen feet in the air, did not have a railing and was considering a safety hazard. It was fixed come Saturday and he was off. He explained to me that he would probably complete it by Saturday sundown. Since he is a self-claimed perfectionist, he said he would just add the smallest details on Sunday. Sure enough, today when I walked by the piece, he was not there and the piece was completed. It looks great. He told me that it was a little last minute, but when he was told of the project he ran with it. The monster depicted ha three heads and arms in honor of FunFunFun. Each arm is holding a letter, the one on the left has ‘F’, the middle has ‘U’ and you may have guessed what the last arm is holding if you catch onto things fast. ’N’, the monster is holding the letter ‘N’.

The final piece.

I spoke more with Heath after my mini interview with Cody. He informed me that sprATX is very involved in the music scene. They have done pieces for this past year’s ACL, and have been booked for SXSW next year. There biggest source of information is Instagram, since it is the more visually oriented of the social medias. Each of the artist’s live work has there Instagram name atop in chalk. They also have their main gallery at 501 Perdernales Austin, TX.

With Heath, one of the sprATX coordinators.

Be sure to check out sprATX on intagram @spratx, as well as Cody Schibi’s work on his website, www.codyschibi.com.

By Corina Carrizales