Arthur Jafa

catalog

Well-known member
it's hard to watch the key film he's made, 'love is the message, the message is death' online properly, cos its a film for galleries really.
 

catalog

Well-known member
what i like about love is the message is the range of material and like he says, the dissonances eg the women twerking next to the police brutality footage. there's also a quick clip from alien and a recurring motif of the sun, with loads of firing sunspots
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
Thanks for all the links. I saw it when it showed in London last year. The Tate were streaming in last weekend but it's more impactful on the big screen for sure.
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
what i like about love is the message is the range of material and like he says, the dissonances eg the women twerking next to the police brutality footage. there's also a quick clip from alien and a recurring motif of the sun, with loads of firing sunspots

My memory from seeing it is that these dissonances make really clear the creativity of black culture as a collective response to suffering. This range of dizzying joyful responses leaps off the screen. If you've got any feeling for black music at all it's incredibly moving.
 

catalog

Well-known member
My memory from seeing it is that these dissonances make really clear the creativity of black culture as a collective response to suffering. This range of dizzying joyful responses leaps off the screen. If you've got any feeling for black music at all it's incredibly moving.
Yeah to me there's a lot of ambiguity in what he's saying with it. Like there's that bit with the kid being told to put his hands on the wall. There's this scent of black on black violence
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
Weird title though. What's that about? - "Love is the message" I get but don't know about the final sentence.
 

catalog

Well-known member
In that interview he says he had it made 80% and then say Kanye do the song on Saturday night live and put it on after thst
 

catalog

Well-known member
But he also says a lot of the power of it is that the video and the song don't really speak of each other, they speak to each other
 

catalog

Well-known member
He likened the process of putting the clips together as similar to carving a statue. And he really knows his art history and critical theory too.
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
The footage reminded me of rap actually. Ceaseless flow, strong images but not really dwelling on any one thing.
 

catalog

Well-known member
Weird title though. What's that about? - "Love is the message" I get but don't know about the final sentence.
He talks about this somewhere, it's two song titles and he says it's the two polarities of black experience in America. Love and death. Sort of like the blm thing innit: if only America could love black people like it loves black culture
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
But he also says a lot of the power of it is that the video and the song don't really speak of each other, they speak to each other

I had a really powerful reaction to it in the gallery. I felt I got an insight into the song that I wouldn't normally have. It made me feel very aware of how it was speaking of and to suffering.
 

catalog

Well-known member
The footage reminded me of rap actually. Ceaseless flow, strong images but not really dwelling on any one thing.
Yeah it's that thing of the key moment. It's a huge amount of work to do that and get it right I think
 
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