Chris Cunningham
jaqapparatus 1 launches at Audi City London


From his formative years sculpting alien heads to his recent “jaqapparatus 1” robotic performance-art installation, seminal music video director-turned-artist Chris Cunningham retraces his varied and critically acclaimed career in this personal, self-directed short. One of an elite group of directors alongside Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Jonathan Glazer who redefined MTV in the 1990s, Cunningham elevated the pop promo to a burgeoning art form with daring and disturbing music videos for the likes of Aphex Twin, Björk and Madonna. While his peers graduated to the big screen, Cunningham went underground, quit making promos and commercials, and spent the best part of a decade experimenting with fusions of film, music, art and technology that culminated in a string of live audio-visual performances at festivals in Japan and Europe. For “jaqapparatus 1”, his first installation unveiled last month at the Audi City London high-tech concept store—a shadowy, sci-fi set involving two laser-firing robots locked in what seemed like a brutal mating ritual-cum-war—Cunningham cast two Talos motion-controlled camera rigs as his anthropomorphized protagonists. “Mounted on the robots heads are powerful lasers which they use to attack, repel and communicate with each other,” explains Cunningham, “a kind of duel, a surreal mating display which sees each machine trying to dominate the other.”
#installation #chris cunningham
Chris Cunninghamjaqapparatus 1 launches at Audi City London From his formative years sculpting alien heads to his recent “jaqapparatus 1” robotic performance-art installation, seminal music video director-turned-artist Chris Cunningham retraces his varied and critically acclaimed career in this personal, self-directed short. One of an elite group of directors alongside Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Jonathan Glazer who redefined MTV in the 1990s, Cunningham elevated the pop promo to a burgeoning art form with daring and disturbing music videos for the likes of Aphex Twin, Björk and Madonna. While his peers graduated to the big screen, Cunningham went underground, quit making promos and commercials, and spent the best part of a decade experimenting with fusions of film, music, art and technology that culminated in a string of live audio-visual performances at festivals in Japan and Europe. For “jaqapparatus 1”, his first installation unveiled last month at the Audi City London high-tech concept store—a shadowy, sci-fi set involving two laser-firing robots locked in what seemed like a brutal mating ritual-cum-war—Cunningham cast two Talos motion-controlled camera rigs as his anthropomorphized protagonists. “Mounted on the robots heads are powerful lasers which they use to attack, repel and communicate with each other,” explains Cunningham, “a kind of duel, a surreal mating display which sees each machine trying to dominate the other.”

Chris Cunningham x Audi

Tonight and tomorrow there will be a few tickets at the door for those who show up.

Don’t miss this incredible performative, kinetic sculpture from Chris Cunningham.

Please come to 74-75 Piccadilly, London

Thursday, July 19th at 6 pm or 8 pm

Friday, July 20th at 6 pm or 8 pm
#london #now #ticket #chris cunningham #tonight #tomorrow #audi #piccadilly
Chris Cunningham x Audi Tonight and tomorrow there will be a few tickets at the door for those who show up. Don’t miss this incredible performative, kinetic sculpture from Chris Cunningham. Please come to 74-75 Piccadilly, London Thursday, July 19th at 6 pm or 8 pm Friday, July 20th at 6 pm or 8 pm

Chris Cunningham x Aphex Twin

Remember this video directed by Chris Cunningham?  See full video here.

Fast fact, the French term for window shopping is faire du lèche-vitrine, which literally translates to “licking the windows”.  

To get free tickets to see Chris Cunningham’s latest work at Audi City London on July 19th & 20th follow @audicity on Twitter and wait for our special tweet.

#music #technology #aphex twin #chris cunningham #audi #london #windowlicker #window shopping #win
Chris Cunningham x Aphex Twin Remember this video directed by Chris Cunningham?  See full video here. Fast fact, the French term for window shopping is faire du lèche-vitrine, which literally translates to “licking the windows”.   To get free tickets to see Chris Cunningham’s latest work at Audi City London on July 19th & 20th follow @audicity on Twitter and wait for our special tweet.

Flex x Chris Cunningham 

This incredible video installation Flex was commissioned by the Anthony d’Offay Gallery for the Apocalypse: Beauty & Horror in Contemporary Art exhibition curated by Norman Rosenthal  and Max Wigram at the Royal Academy of Arts.  

In 2007, an excerpt from Flex was shown in the Barbican’s exhibition Seduced: Art and Sex from Antiquity to Now curated by Martin Kemp, Marina Wallace and Joanne Bernstein. The work was shown alongside other pieces by Bacon, Klimt, Rembrandt, Rodin and Picasso.

To get free tickets to see Chris Cunningham’s latest work at Audi City London on July 19th & 20th follow @audicity on Twitter and wait for our special tweet.

(via anqelic-deactivated20121227)

#art #film #video #gif #flex #chris cunningham #royal academy of arts #rosenthal #anthony d'offay #max wigram #sex #figures #body #video art #bacon #klimt #rembrandt #rodin #picasso
Flex x Chris Cunningham  This incredible video installation Flex was commissioned by the Anthony d’Offay Gallery for the Apocalypse: Beauty & Horror in Contemporary Art exhibition curated by Norman Rosenthal  and Max Wigram at the Royal Academy of Arts.   In 2007, an excerpt from Flex was shown in the Barbican’s exhibition Seduced: Art and Sex from Antiquity to Now curated by Martin Kemp, Marina Wallace and Joanne Bernstein. The work was shown alongside other pieces by Bacon, Klimt, Rembrandt, Rodin and Picasso. To get free tickets to see Chris Cunningham’s latest work at Audi City London on July 19th & 20th follow @audicity on Twitter and wait for our special tweet.

Monkey Drummer

Do we come from monkeys and are we turning into machines? This short film, Monkey Drummer, by Chris Cunningham, shows a figure with a monkey head and human appendages mechanically drumming a frenetic rhythm.  Each body part moves in an authentically human way but seems to be controlled by a machine.  

monkeydrummer from Mufzewell on Vimeo.

The film premiered at the Venice Biennale of Art in 2001.  The music is made by Aphex Twin and is the tenth track on their album, drukqs.  Sigtryggur Baldursson or “Siggi” of the Sugarcubes was shot several times drumming and then his torso was cut out in post production to be replaced by the robotic trunk.  

Win tickets to see Chris Cunningham’s latest work here.

#film #robots #machine #human #music #drum #drums #chris cunningham #cunningham #siggi #sugarcubes
Monkey Drummer Do we come from monkeys and are we turning into machines? This short film, Monkey Drummer, by Chris Cunningham, shows a figure with a monkey head and human appendages mechanically drumming a frenetic rhythm.  Each body part moves in an authentically human way but seems to be controlled by a machine.   monkeydrummer from Mufzewell on Vimeo. The film premiered at the Venice Biennale of Art in 2001.  The music is made by Aphex Twin and is the tenth track on their album, drukqs.  Sigtryggur Baldursson or “Siggi” of the Sugarcubes was shot several times drumming and then his torso was cut out in post production to be replaced by the robotic trunk.   Win tickets to see Chris Cunningham’s latest work here.

Portishead x Chris Cunningham

This GIF is a clip from Chris Cunningham’s music video for the song “Only You” by Portishead.  The film showed gravity defying ethereal movements. Beth Gibbons and a young boy were shot in underwater tanks and then digitally reinserted into a street scene.  The lack of any bubbles and distinct sharpness of the light, make it almost impossible to make sense of visually.

To get free tickets to see Chris Cunningham’s latest work at Audi City London on July 19th & 20th follow @audicity on Twitter.

See the full video here.
#GIF #music #film #chris cunningham #cunningham #portishead #installation #flow #city #music video #shoes #shoe #digital #effects
Portishead x Chris Cunningham This GIF is a clip from Chris Cunningham’s music video for the song “Only You” by Portishead.  The film showed gravity defying ethereal movements. Beth Gibbons and a young boy were shot in underwater tanks and then digitally reinserted into a street scene.  The lack of any bubbles and distinct sharpness of the light, make it almost impossible to make sense of visually. To get free tickets to see Chris Cunningham’s latest work at Audi City London on July 19th & 20th follow @audicity on Twitter. See the full video here.

Chris Cunningham x Audi City

Chris Cunningham is a relentlessly experimental creator who defies categorisation. His work is shaped by the sci-fi films and electronic music he devoured in his youth.  The frenetic, wildly inventive music videos he made for Aphex Twin ( “Windowlicker”, “Come to Daddy”) and Bjork ( “All Is Full of Love”) redefined the form and has influenced high fashion, advertising, blockbuster movies and low-budget horror flicks alike over the last decade.

In recent years he has moved further away from the music video genre and now creates independent video works, which no longer have their starting point as commissions. His video and sound art has been shown in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Venice Bienalle, the Barbican, the Anthony D’offay gallery amongst others and his live show at The Royal Opera House, The Roundhouse and Royal Festival Hall.

Chris has created his own disturbing visual language, that pits the grotesque imperfections of human anatomy against high technology embodied in robots and hallucinatory motion effects.  

Always driven forward by its ethos of Vorsprung durch Technik, Audi City is a new venture that uses technology to create space in the city centre. For five days in Mayfair, Audi reveals a site-specific installation of Chris Cunningham’s latest work.  Enormous industrial robots veer around one another in a mysterious room.  Their motors are syncopated with the room’s metronome and they embark on a frenetic interchange over a mechanical ‘brain’. 

Stay tuned for more information on the installation and how YOU can win tickets to experience this artwork.

Follow us on Twitter here.

#art #design #architecture #music #film #music video #filmmaker #sculpture #robots #robot #kinetic #audi #audi city #innovation #space #city #installation #cunningham #chris cunningham #bjork #aphex twin #autechre #squarepusher #madonna #ridley scott #stanley kubrick #kubrick #d'offay
Chris Cunningham x Audi City Chris Cunningham is a relentlessly experimental creator who defies categorisation. His work is shaped by the sci-fi films and electronic music he devoured in his youth.  The frenetic, wildly inventive music videos he made for Aphex Twin ( “Windowlicker”, “Come to Daddy”) and Bjork ( “All Is Full of Love”) redefined the form and has influenced high fashion, advertising, blockbuster movies and low-budget horror flicks alike over the last decade. In recent years he has moved further away from the music video genre and now creates independent video works, which no longer have their starting point as commissions. His video and sound art has been shown in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Venice Bienalle, the Barbican, the Anthony D’offay gallery amongst others and his live show at The Royal Opera House, The Roundhouse and Royal Festival Hall. Chris has created his own disturbing visual language, that pits the grotesque imperfections of human anatomy against high technology embodied in robots and hallucinatory motion effects.   Always driven forward by its ethos of Vorsprung durch Technik, Audi City is a new venture that uses technology to create space in the city centre. For five days in Mayfair, Audi reveals a site-specific installation of Chris Cunningham’s latest work.  Enormous industrial robots veer around one another in a mysterious room.  Their motors are syncopated with the room’s metronome and they embark on a frenetic interchange over a mechanical ‘brain’.  Stay tuned for more information on the installation and how YOU can win tickets to experience this artwork. Follow us on Twitter here.