Popping culture: John Cameron Mitchell meets Sigur Rós

When Sigur Rós released their last album, Valtari, they decided to go a different route in the creation of videos for the album’s songs. They gave a group of artists and directors similar budgets and gave them carte blanche to create what they felt best encapsulated the feel of the songs they were given.

On their website, the band members are quoted as saying:

“We never meant our music to come with a pre-programmed emotional response. we don’t want to tell anyone how to feel and what to take from it. with the films, we have literally no idea what the directors are going to come back with. none of them know what the others are doing, so hopefully it could be interesting.”

One of the most talked-about videos to come out of this collaboration was a video by Alma Har’el featuring a very naked Shia LaBeouf.

But the most recent release is perhaps the best of the bunch, with a video written by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig & The Angry Inch) and directed by Dash Shaw. The duo are currently working on an animated feature.

The video looks like an animation created by the love child of David Hockney and Paul Gaugin. Check it out.

Journalist, writer, blogger, producer.

Keep Reading

Sun

Rosalía’s ‘Lux’ tour taught me things I didn’t even know I could know

After years of pining, I finally went to the Catalan superstar’s concert. I wasn’t ready for what it did to me
The protagonists of Blood Lines embracing

The big twist in ‘Blood Lines’ is more than shocking

Gail Maurice’s queer Métis romance takes a massive risk—letting it dig deep into the pain and loss perpetuated by colonial structures
A still from Girls Like Girls

‘Girls Like Girls’ once meant everything to me. I’ve outgrown it

Hayley Kiyoko’s new movie tries to recapture the magic of the mid-2010s music video it’s based on. But time has dulled its revolutionary edge
John Early in Maddie's Secret holding two jars above an open box

‘Maddie’s Secret’ is the movie about eating disorders we need

John Early’s pastiche of after-school specials mixes belly laughs with gut punches. It’s a rare masterwork
Advertisement