With a stick-figure medieval battle, a goblin-like creature spawning from a broken television, and a six-foot tall dancing cat among the many unusual scenes shown Friday night at the Heffner Alumni House, over 100 RPI students got a glimpse into the captivating world of surrealist music videos at Dreamscapes and Dark Places. The free event, put on by the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, started with the showing of René Clair’s “Entr’acte,” a staple of 1920s surrealist cinema upon which the 15 indie rock and electronica music videos that followed are founded upon.
The first video shown, Doves’ “Sky Starts Falling,” was the perfect stepping stone from the prologue to the videos showcased throughout the night. With catchy alternative rock as background music, it took the form of a grainy sepia-colored tribute to the world of 1920s surrealism as a conductor orchestrated a troupe of biplanes and petticoat-clad women chatted amongst hovering teacups and drums.
Each of the videos exhibited differing visual themes and styles, yet all invoked a sense of wonderment and awe at the beautifully dreamy sequences presented. The crowd favorite of the night was Björk’s “Triumph of a Heart,” starting off with singer Björk and a clothed cat awkwardly waking up together in bed. The video, directed by Spike Jonze, was both extremely bizarre and very funny.
The event thoroughly illustrated the freedom with which surrealism can be mixed with modern music videos. Running the gamut from videos rollicking through frivolity to dark and complex social commentaries, not all of the videos shared the sweet disposition contained within “Triumph of a Heart.” A few of the darker ones were unabashedly gritty and downright nightmarish, such as Aphex Twin’s “Come to Daddy.” Directed by Chris Cunningham, it followed a pack of demented children worshipping a broken television which eventually spewed forth a demonic form that terrorized a grandmotherly old woman. The twisted video is known for being one of the darkest examples of music video fused with surrealist influences.
EMPAC Curator of Time-Based Arts Kathleen Forde said that the event was appropriate for the RPI students in attendance “as it taps into a lot of different ideas that seem to be percolating on this campus—everything from pop culture and recent technology to music, film, and psychology.”
Personally, I loved Dreamscapes and Dark Places. It was an hour’s worth of great music, the videos were imaginative and stimulating, and I walked away with a whole new perspective on music videos. I liked that each sample was presented without any commentary, leaving the viewers to make their own interpretations on what the artist and director were trying to materialize in each scene. When asked about the possibility of a sequel to Dreamscapes, Forde responded, “I’m not sure if we will have another surrealist music video show. But it would be fun to follow up with another music video show on another theme in an upcoming season of programming ... I’m a bit of a music video junkie, so curating these kinds of programs is super fun for me. I’d happily be up for programming another one in the future.”
The next EMPAC event is “DANCE MOViES 3: Ice Breaker,” which will be shown on March 23. More information can be found at http://empac.rpi.edu/.
