Today I bought a new DVD,featuring the work of Chris Cunningham. The DVD was released as a part of the "Directors Label". Chris Cunningham is the director behind some of the most original music videos and I was eagerly awaiting the release of the DVD. I already knew most of his videos but previously they weren't availible commercially. At a really young age he was allready working a a special effects guy for movies like Alien 3 and Judge Dred. While searching for interseting links on him, I found out, that people here in Germany are writing interpretations on his clips in order to receive a "master" degree.
Many music videos tend to be about escape and illusion — the illusion of fame, wealth, sex, glamour and fantasy. The video for Johnny Cash's "Hurt" isn't about any of those things. It deals with a theme not so common in music videos:reality.
In the short history of music videos, few have had the emotional heft and visual impact of the clip shot by director Mark Romanek in the Tennessee home of the ailing country legend. More
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"Whip It," the 1980 song that was the anthem of the band Devo's rage against a society dehumanized by industry and commercialism, is now the theme of a Procter & Gamble Co. TV campaign for the Swiffer line of home-cleaning products.
In a new version of the tune, Devo lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh substitutes the lyrics "Swiffer's good" for the "Whip it good" of the original...
...Devo agreed to perform the altered version for Swiffer advertisements because, Mr. Mothersbaugh said, "it was so absurd. We like messing with the boundaries between art and commerce." Found at BoingBoing. Read more and watch the clip
The creator of Autechre's Gantz Graf Video talks about his work.
…………..…….where did the idea for Gantz Graf come from?
I can quite firmly say that the genesis of Gantz Graf came from an interesting experience on LSD once, in about 96, 97. If you’ve taken a few trips and seen that kind of geometrical stuff, then the film’s not too dissimilar from [the one I saw] in my head. And the shit I saw was just fucking incredible. I wish I could have one of those virtual film head sets that you could just plug in, have that trip and just record it, cause the material that I had in my head could last me several lifetimes. It’s just bonkers but you forget about it after a while, it becomes a soft memory, just dissipates out and you just can’t remember it anymore.[Read More]