Tonight MTV premiered the music video painting for Kanye West’s new single “Power.” Kanye started to hype the one minute forty-three second video/painting hybrid yesterday on his blog and Twitter account. He constantly made sure to specifiy that the final product would not be a music video but instead a “painting”. The video begins with a close-up of Kanye’s face with two lines of parallel pillars behind him. As the track plays, the camera slowly pans outward to reveal scantily-clad women donning horns, canes, and wings. Almost immediately you realize that this is not a traditional music video but instead a slow moving painting taking place in the clouds among angels and demons. After only one verse the video draws to its conclusion when the camera starts to sporatically dart around the scene. Then the mystical creatures disappear, two men fly through the air with swords aimed for Kanye’s head (and another one dangling above him through a halo ring), and the letters P-O-W-E-R filled with images from the video take over the screen.
Artist Marco Brambilla directed the video; he successfully invokes Michelangelo’s frescos in the Sistine Chapel, his source for inspiration, by placing historical characters and creatures in the neoclassical scenery. Kanye approaced Brambilla after watching his tremendous specticle “Civilization.” Click here for a brief behind-the-scenes look at the making of the “Power” video. (NSFW warning: It does contain minor instances of nudity.)
I have one word to describe what Kanye has done here: interesting. It’s definitely a bold risk for a music video for two obvious reasons. One, it’s not really a music video, it’s a “painting”; and two, it does not encompass the entire song. That said, the art direction is spectacular and the featured goddesses are a nice treat. I also like the way it was filmed; the slow panning, the quick darting shots, and the awesome illusion on the eyes that made it look like Kanye was moving ever-so-slightly towards us all made for a high value viewing. I am disappointed that “Power” will not be getting a standard music video that it so rightfully deserves. I’d almost rather purchase an enlarged poster of this living portrait than watch it in video form. But this is what Kanye wanted, and Kanye gets what Kanye wants. Unconventional as it may be, the “painting” proves to be stylistically impressive and easy on the eyes.
P.S. – That poster idea got me thinking. Watch the video in HD, take a screen cap of your favorite part, and now you have an groovy background image for your computer. You’re welcome. Continue reading Kanye West’s “Power”: “it’s not a video…it’s a painting”