CREATIVE + SYMBOLIC + POWERFUL
Summer of 2010 goes to Drake, Rick Ross, Usher and Nikki Minaj. On the horizon is Kanye West. Kanye always pushes the creative boundaries. Although it's not his intention he distracts us from records like OMG" and the mindless summer anthem "BMF". His current single "Power" is not hit. It may not ever be. However, Kanye always finds a way to grab our attention. The symbolism and religious overtones in "Power" are a bit heavy, they are deliberate and layered with metaphors. It alludes to his fall from grace behind the Carrie Underwood debacle, his moms passing and his immensely overblown ego. "Power" is a testimony to all things he is and is not. A complete contradiction to the the Waka Flaka's and Soulja Boy's. His music and imagery is allegorical and deliberate. It is without a doubt that he is a creative genius. He is a student of the arts who pays close attention to his heart and the pictures he paint. As listeners we can choose to entertained my the music, the message or both.
Generally speaking, I want to hear a great album that's not cooning, selling coke nor eluding to secret societies. These times ahead will be monumental. Music will continue to be a powerful voice. Artists like Kanye intellectualize their voice with a purpose. It's up to you to decide if you TRULY want to hear what is being said. Pay close attention to what "Power" is saying and meaning. It's definitely more than just any music or movement we have seen in quite some time.
Here's a few words from Director Marco Brambilla about the meaning of "Power"
So what exactly is the piece?
Well, it’s a video portrait of Kanye. It starts with a very tight shot introducing him that’s kind of a reinvention of a neoclassical painting. It pulls back from the shot, without any cuts, and we reveal the video canvas, populated by all these characters who are depicted in various stages of undress and decadence. The iconography comes from Roman iconography, Renaissance iconography, and it connects to the sexuality of the music as well. As we reveal the setting for it, there’s a feeling of a moment of transition for him. A fall from grace, if you will. It visualizes power, and him as the icon as power, and then at the end of the piece it challenges the power that I set up at the beginning. It’s an elliptical piece of storytelling.
How did you guys end up using that kind of imagery?
He (Kanye) approached me via my gallery and he wanted to do something that wasn’t a music video. He wanted a video work that would accompany the music. I said, “That’s great, because I don’t do music videos.” I wanted to give it an epic feeling. The song feels very personal, but the orchestration and the production of the track is epic and I wanted to give it something hypersensational and exaggerated.
About "Civilization"
Civilization, a video mural created for the new Standard hotel in New York City, depicts a journey from hell to heaven interpreted through modern film language using computer-enhanced found footage. This epic video mural contains over 300 individual channels of looped video blended into a multi-layered seamless tableau of interconnecting images that illustrate a contemporary, satirical take on the concepts of Heaven and Hell.
Power
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