When Sigur Ros asked a group of directors and artists to each produce a music video for a track from their brilliant latest album Valtari, the response was phenomenal. Each video stands out. The complete list of videos can be found here.
Valtari Film Experiment Videos. I'd recommend watching them all. However, today I want to talk about this one. The title track from the album, hence also called Valtari, is a moving piece, full of grace and echoing sentiment to the ethereal.
Valtari Film Experiment Videos. I'd recommend watching them all. However, today I want to talk about this one. The title track from the album, hence also called Valtari, is a moving piece, full of grace and echoing sentiment to the ethereal.
Christian Larson, photo to the left (from his website, linked), was given the task of producing an artistic representation of the music to this awe inspiring track. Rather than choosing some cliche mountains or birds on the wing, which are beautiful in their own right, Christian took the liberty of exploring something a little more inward facing.
What begins as a blank and weather bitten landscape, featuring an old and industrial looking gargantuan building, the scene moves to a hooded figure in white. The introduction of this feeling enticed by these images is clear to me. We are speaking in metaphor. The faceless hooded figure, dressed in white, the bad weather, the empty building, battered by time... it reminds me of fear, and then peaceful awareness.
We are then drawn inside. Into the innards of the building, further into the realms of personality perhaps, but never the less, we find a dancer. Mucky and clothed in simple trousers only, the slim but muscular male figure begins to somersault and twist to the sound of the strings. We see the figure from outdoors, now also inside, a woman, as she passionately removes old and dry cracked paint from the corridor wall as she ventures further inside. Examining integrity, peeling away the facade of old and unused, feeling the truth behind the illusion created by perception of what is right.
The figure dances within the confines of an empty room, tall and spacious, with old rusted pipes and methods of delivery lying wasted in various alcoves. He spies the newcomer, the woman, dancing like a ballerina on an elevated platform. She captivates him instantly with her presence as the music begins to shift. Suddenly, their dancing begins to flow, together, separately on their individual platforms, equal, but joined intimately through feeling.
In an instant, she is gone, and to his dismay, he turns and searches for what is missing. And there she is, in his doorway. Jonsi begins to sing and the couple begin to dance in unison, together, following the moves each other are flowing with. Then, they embrace. What follows is an intimate display of desire and passion, wanting and fascination. Self control, strength and instinct are key to this dance. Sometimes the actions are clumsy, and this is enjoyed, the flow remains. They get to know each other, their pace, their wisdom of the dance. Over time, the decision is made, and the new comer, the female dancer, removes her outer clothing to reveal herself as naked as the man, in simple trousers. And they continue to dance. As she has seen his domain, learned his flow, enlightened his passion, she joins him in true intimacy, without gown or mask. They become the same dance and it is the most beautiful video I have seen in a very long time.
What begins as a blank and weather bitten landscape, featuring an old and industrial looking gargantuan building, the scene moves to a hooded figure in white. The introduction of this feeling enticed by these images is clear to me. We are speaking in metaphor. The faceless hooded figure, dressed in white, the bad weather, the empty building, battered by time... it reminds me of fear, and then peaceful awareness.
We are then drawn inside. Into the innards of the building, further into the realms of personality perhaps, but never the less, we find a dancer. Mucky and clothed in simple trousers only, the slim but muscular male figure begins to somersault and twist to the sound of the strings. We see the figure from outdoors, now also inside, a woman, as she passionately removes old and dry cracked paint from the corridor wall as she ventures further inside. Examining integrity, peeling away the facade of old and unused, feeling the truth behind the illusion created by perception of what is right.
The figure dances within the confines of an empty room, tall and spacious, with old rusted pipes and methods of delivery lying wasted in various alcoves. He spies the newcomer, the woman, dancing like a ballerina on an elevated platform. She captivates him instantly with her presence as the music begins to shift. Suddenly, their dancing begins to flow, together, separately on their individual platforms, equal, but joined intimately through feeling.
In an instant, she is gone, and to his dismay, he turns and searches for what is missing. And there she is, in his doorway. Jonsi begins to sing and the couple begin to dance in unison, together, following the moves each other are flowing with. Then, they embrace. What follows is an intimate display of desire and passion, wanting and fascination. Self control, strength and instinct are key to this dance. Sometimes the actions are clumsy, and this is enjoyed, the flow remains. They get to know each other, their pace, their wisdom of the dance. Over time, the decision is made, and the new comer, the female dancer, removes her outer clothing to reveal herself as naked as the man, in simple trousers. And they continue to dance. As she has seen his domain, learned his flow, enlightened his passion, she joins him in true intimacy, without gown or mask. They become the same dance and it is the most beautiful video I have seen in a very long time.
Sigur Rós - Valtari
Sigur Rós 'Valtari' Mystery Film Experiment: Valtari by Christian Larson
Written & Directed by Christian Larson. Choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Cinematography by Mattias Montero, Costume Designer Lydia Kovacs, Produced by Noreen Khan.
sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/videos/valtari-larson/
Taken from the "valtari mystery film experiment" - more details: sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/videos/
Valtari is available to purchase now: sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/buy/
Sigur Rós 'Valtari' Mystery Film Experiment: Valtari by Christian Larson
Written & Directed by Christian Larson. Choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Cinematography by Mattias Montero, Costume Designer Lydia Kovacs, Produced by Noreen Khan.
sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/videos/valtari-larson/
Taken from the "valtari mystery film experiment" - more details: sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/videos/
Valtari is available to purchase now: sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/buy/
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