The man behind Kanye West’s latest video “Power” isn’t actually a music video director at all, at least not anymore; he’s Italian video artist Marco Brambilla. Since directing the hugely successful (but mostly awful) Demolition Man in 1993, Brambilla has exhibited video and photography works at the Guggenheim in New York, the SFMOMA, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, also in New York. Below is his more recent work “Civilization“, a permanent installation at the Standard Hotel in New York City. A depiction of heaven, hell and purgatory, it’s comprised of over 300 looped video clips blended together into one massive composition. The video plays in the hotel’s elevators, panning upward or downward depending on your direction.
Apparently Kanye saw the piece at the hotel, and decided he had to work with Brambilla.
About the “Power” video, Brambilla says:
POWER shows a continuous camera move from extreme close-up of Mr. West revealing a neoclassical video tableau showing characters and creatures surrounding him in an abstract environment – all moving in extreme slow motion.
Inspired by Michelangelo’s frescos in the Sistine Chapel, the piece depicts a faux historical moment – an empire on the brink of collapse from its own excess, decadence and corruption.
See the “Power” video HERE
See a higher quality video of “Civilization” HERE
[ via fastcodesign ]