kagablog

Palm pictures’ ‘The Work of Director’ is a series of dvd’s that showcase innovators behind the lens of music videos. Thanks in no small part to the roster of seven directors in this series, music videos have become increasingly creative, even - Pop forbid! - artful. We zoom in on two of the more extremely original of the bunch..

Frenchman Michel Gondry is one-of-a-kind. Stuck, by own admission, at the wide-eyed age of 12, he is the son of an inventor, and experiences the world with wonderstruck awe. Gondry never even knew there was a box to think outside of. In keeping with his childly nature, and inventive blood, Michel’s works seem to be attempts at matching the sheer mystery the world presents him with - through Michel’s eyes life is a kaleidoscopic series of head-scratch inducing tricks; mind-teasing illusions by the Master illusionist. And of course there’s nothing more challenging, or enjoyable, than out-tricking the Master!

If his quirky name doesn’t ring a bell (mind you, his subsequent ventures into the longer tricks called Movies should - he brought us ‘Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind’, and ‘The Science of sleep’), a quick sample of quintessentially Gondrian images might: A giant grizzly Teddy tearing through cardboard forests on a soccer-ball sized earth, hunting Bjorkie; The White Stripes’ multiplying drum-kits and amps in ‘The Hardest button to button’; Beck carrying a car; and the famous Foo Fighters fable ‘Everlast’, involving Grohl’s giantized hands rescuing the drummer in dis-dress.

‘The Work of Director vol.3 - Michel Gondry’ is crammed to bursting point with the man’s naive genius, Gondry’s videos are unsolveable puzzles, and his greatest virtue is his love of sets; physically constructed illusions and effects embody his videography in favour of the cool, inorganic sheen of CGI. Even more peculiar and rewarding than the numerous vids - to this reviewer at least - are the various documentaries, shorts and interviews that further explore the brilliant, oddball mind that is Gondry.

Come to Daddy..

‘The Work of Director vol.2′ captures the dark inventions of Chris Cunningham. Tellingly, where Gondry repeatedly draws Bjork and The White Stripes into his dazzling playgrounds, Cunningham mostly hangs out with Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, at night.

Invited at 24 to be animatronics & effects supervisor on no-less than Kubrick’s ‘A.I.’ sets (no, not Spielberg: the original, abandoned Kubrick pre-production - ah what could have been!), Cunningham’s always been a force to be reckoned with - exploding onto the scene with the magnificently frightening ‘Come to Daddy’ ala Aphex, he was swiftly being called up by the who’s-who of the music world, but restricted himself to projects he felt passionate about. From the liquid gothic dream of Portishead’s ‘Only you’ to the New York-cracked zombie of Leftfield/Africa Bambaata colab ‘Africa shox’, Cunningham always defies expectation. His masterwork is possibly Aphex Twin’s ‘Windowlicker’, where he singlehandedly perverts the entire Bling-bling culture of Hip-Hop videos and MTV-land: Sheer, eerie genius in motion! As with Gondry’s package, ‘vol.2′ comes with illuminating interviews, extras, and a fantastic 52 page booklet.

Five-minute explosions of art and experiment - must-have stuff!
Check out www.directorslabel.com for more visceral info.

[originally published in Muse magazine]