i wanna be a housewife

I don't know where the hell this guy came from (Youtube??) - but I like it.

Many more videos HERE, including a cover of Video Games, which is HERE.

OMG! - New Iamamiwhoami

Have they lost their funding, maybe?

My Words Elsewhere

So, it's article recap time for me (and consequently for you).

While listening to Joni Mitchell and experiencing something akin to nostalgia I am pushing you vicariously towards two art/ music articles I wrote a few months ago. The first is an article about a young artist called Katie Surridge, which was published last week on a sort of arts/music/culture website called The Medium Of... It has been edited down to the bare bones of itself, but, hey, that's what editors are for, right? RIIIGGGHHTT???

And the second is one I wrote about that obsession I could not help but share with you again - yes, it's YET ANOTHER outlet for my Iamamiwhoami fixation to explode out of the web page in mandrake-ridden, tinfoil coated, creepy glory. This article, despite being really quite good (if I don't say so myself) I didn't even get a response for, and, consequently, was super miffed about it. Supremely, utterly, profoundly miffed. So HERE IT IS:

(Shit! I shouldn't have said it was great and then let you read it!! What if you hate it? GULP!)
Its kind of a meditation on TV and The Internet and using IAM as an example of how The Internet is taking over from TV in lots of ways because, as I feel about blogs also, they are entirely based on meritocracy, not money.

Anyway, I'm blathering and spoiling it - Here you go:


Time to Change the Channel?

As television ratings slump, one mystifying project causes speculation across the Internet, blurring the lines between those who appear on the screen and those who watch it. But could it provide an answer to our flagging arts and entertainment industries?

Jonna Lee, the singer of the 2010 viral video mystery
known only as I amamiwhoami. Are they the future of the media?
(Courtesy of the Iamamiwhoami Facebook Group)

While some people spent their time flicking through the endless repeats on television this Christmas Season, or picked sides in the rival period drama debate, others looked elsewhere for entertainment. And with the general quality of television shows ranging somewhere between watching Katie Price chomp on a shark’s eye to the lurid inspection of the clinically obese, always with an exploitative lens, it is not hard to see why.

We hear constantly that the music industry is changing, that the BBC have no money to produce good quality programmes, that culture in Britain is at risk from the most recent budget cuts. While this is evident in the cuts to university funding, the Arts and the standard of television as a whole (the cheap to produce cult of reality TV forever rising in dominance), it is clear that artists, television producers and musicians need to start thinking differently about how they can best utilise the media – preferably in the cheapest but most expansive way possible.

One of the most obvious solutions is of course the Internet. While we can now catch up on our favourite programmes on BBC iPlayer, 4OD and ITV Player, as well as numerous streaming sites such as Surf the Channel and Megavideo, this is not sustainable for the television companies, which would ultimately render the catch-up sites useless. If there are no television companies to produce the shows, how on earth will you be able to watch them later, on their respective websites? The newspapers, quick to realise that if the public can read their articles on the website will think otherwise when purchasing a physical copy, have begun to charge for the privilege of browsing the pixelated pages in a way only an Internet browser can.

We are now in the transition period, where one media form is jostling with another, one of much vaster appeal. Television, newspaper, radio, music, postal service, and now book – the Internet is all these things combined, for a fraction of the price and with much more coverage than any of these individual formats could ever encompass. But, like the ratings battle between ITV and the BBC’s ‘coincidentally’ similar costume dramas, is it a war or is it a learning curve?

One such example of how the two can successfully coalesce is the ongoing music/video project known only as Iamamiwhoami. Broadcast exclusively on video-sharing site Youtube, the mysterious videos first appeared on 31^st January 2010, shortly after getting emailed to many top music critics and reviewers. Starting as a series of minute long teasers, the videos centred on dark images of a blonde woman, caked in mud, writhing around naked in a forest where some of the trees sprouted human limbs. These ambiguous, unsettling images were set to the ethereal whisperings of a woman’s voice often over heavy synths and layered vocals. Gradually the videos morphed into what could more easily be defined as music videos, yet not the kind we are accustomed to – these being part of a fragmented narrative that could not quite be totally comprehended.

What compelled the thousands of viewers to discuss on forums, on Youtube and on music blogs, were the mysteries inherent to the project. Who was this woman, unrecognisable in the first few teasers? What were these grotesque suggestions of a kind of primal sexuality with Nature really about? Where had it come from, and where would it go?

The questions kept thousands of viewers from all over the world hooked, gaining more and more attention throughout the year. Gradually the identity of the mysterious blonde woman was revealed to be Swedish singer Jonna Lee, and the occasional other characters her band mates. But by then the trick had worked; tens of thousands of people were rooted to their computer screens as Iamamiwhoami announced a concert and asked its followers to elect a representative from among their ranks. We then followed the supposed unknowing representative in a series of video diaries as he telephones, flies and drives his way towards the concert.

When the concert was broadcast through the new but predominantly featureless Iamamiwhoami website, the young representative was led by Jonna Lee around a forest, performing the now famous songs, before taping him into a cardboard coffin and appearing to burn it in a cardboard fort. The concert was not live as such; it was more like footage of a live event that was then uploaded to the site, but it was as close as onlookers were going to get. And now all the tracks, including versions from the ‘concert,’ are available to buy on iTunes.

It is interesting to note the way this phenomenon has upended the notions of live and recorded in popular music. It usually works in reverse; the artist plays a great deal of live shows and eventually gets a record contract, records their music and makes a promo video. Iamamiwhoami have worked precisely the other way around, utilising the power of the Internet to reach a wider audience while maintaining their mystique. The poor representative may very well have been a plant to draw us in – and it worked. Unlike television, where there is no dialogue between creator and audience (except in the highly controlled reality TV format), with a project such as this, there is constant communication between the two. At least, there would be, had the Iamamiwhomi team not continued to be so guarded with their identities.

This project clearly had some money and industry pull given the quality of their offerings, but totally unknown members of the public have likewise achieved international stardom from their bedrooms, entertaining their followers with wit, music and talent that would never have been discovered in the pre-WWW. era. Unlike reality television, people on the Internet only achieve fame if they actually have a talent worth watching. In this way, there is nothing more democratic than a media form based largely on merit, instead of money or private connections. 19 year-old American musical comedian Bo Burnham burst onto the worldwide comedy scene this year, all via his Youtube channel, quickly taking Edinburgh Festival by storm – success that would never have been achieved had the Internet not been a tool there to be utilised. Other Youtube success stories include pop musician Little Boots, who posted videos of her playing covers and original material on the site before gaining a record deal. And we have all seen the infamous satirical Gap Yah sketch, the protagonist of which spent much of the year ‘chundering’ across office computers and personal laptops worldwide.

While now, sites like Youtube have been the kingdom of young musicians and comedians, I suspect it is not going to be long before the older members of the media have to really re-think the way they – and we – use the Internet. Jordan and the shark eye still come at too high a cost.

***

You know what's great about articles online? The links! You can go all over the place with an online article, where as on the page you are left wandering what in the hell did that mean?, continuing the next sentence are forgetting all about it. Yeah, come on internet - who needs to get published in a stupid magazine anyway?? I'm not bitter, I'm not bitter, I'm fun to be with.

To Whom it may concern...Iamamiwhoami's insane video concert broadcast last night

[NOTE: This post covers the streamed 'live' Iamamiwhoami concert from 2010. For their first UK live performance in 2012 as part of Ether Festival at the Southbank Centre, London, please visit HERE or HERE.]

The recurring message adopted by Iamamiwhoami

I do not think that it is often that we feel truly part of an Age. Usually we potter along in our daily lives and then, fifty or sixty years on, look back and say, ‘Oh yes! I lived through that time! It really was revolutionary!’ For want of sounding like the Smirnoff advert on Spotify, last night I felt like I really and truly was there. Last time I felt like that was when a friend and I stayed up all night to watch Obama win the general election.

This time, however, it was for the sake of music that I lost sleep. If you have been reading this blog for a bit you will have noticed my increasing OBESSION with the musical video youtube mystery that is only known as Iamamiwhoami (that’s right, I’m chatting about them again!)

An arm beckons from a tree in Prelude

Since 31st January 2010 the youtube user Iamamiwhoami has been releasing these cryptic videos. Firstly they were little minute-long teasers, full of blurred dark images of a blond woman caked in mud, writhing around in dark liquid in a forest of trees with human limbs, or six black dogs or cats frolicking through snow or undergrowth. Always there were suggestions of birth and a kind of primal sexuality with nature. Always also, the videos were set to the unsettling but beautifully composed tunes comprised of a woman’s ethereal whisperings and electronic beats of the Nordic variety (it has been suggested that everyone from The Knife to Christina Aguilera are involved musically. I have a secret suspicion that the visuals may be something to do with Chris Cunningham.).

The promo video designed by Chris Cunningham for
Aphex Twin's song Come To Daddy

After two months the videos turned into full music videos. Previously titled in codes comprised of numbers (each spelling the name of an animal – goat, wasp, etc) where as now they were titled with letters, eventually spelling out BOUNTY. These videos (most of which I have already posted!) were full of imagery made from paper, cellophane and cardboard, always suffused with that dormant, creepy sensuality. They are sort of like going to Sigur Ros’ wake, I imagine.

Anyway, after Y, the plot thickened! Youtube users were asked to select an advocate. The narrative of Y then continued as the lead female (now free from sludge and cellophane, also identified as Swedish singer Jonna Lee, see the previous post about her below) walked down a bleached out spiral staircase and rang the user SHOOTUPTHESTATION on a phone attached to the wall.

Jonna Lee covered in cellophane in B

The weird courtship of the cardboard doll and gaffer tape king in U-1

Duplicates of Jonna Lee dancing on a tin foil car in T

Jonna Lee writhing around the tinfoil forest in Y

Then, in increasingly more frequent installments, we followed SUTS' journey via plane, car and hotel to what was advertised on their now dormant WEBSITE to IAM IN CONCERT.

This ‘concert,’ was broadcast last night at 12am Swedish time. The anticipation of watchers and commentators on youtube was pretty crazy. When the video was streamed from their website fifteen minutes late, the outcry through comments was insane. This just goes to prove the enormous power of the internet. I know we all know this, but I have never experienced it in quite the same way. After one comment was posted, three seconds later twenty more would instantly appear. This commentary continued throughout the ‘concert’s’ duration of one hour and ten minutes.

I assume after the six-hour window given by Iam, they then removed the video, which saw SUTS being led through a dark forest by Jonna performing all the now famous video-songs and eventually taping him into a cardboard coffin and burning it in a cardboard fortress. She also premiered a new song at an electric organ in the middle of a field, before donning a cardboard monkey mask and taking a toast with other dark-clad people wearing cardboard masks of the other featured animals.

A creepy still from 20102204

IT WAS ALL VERY MYSTERIOUS.

What amazed me about the entire thing was that, despite having no idea what was happening for almost all the time, hundreds of thousands of people have been following this for an entire year. Indeed, surely it is the element of not knowing that keeps us interested (not to mention the catchy songs and well-produced videos). It really made me feel like I was part of the so-called Digital Age. Thousands of people from all across the world tuning in on the Internet for this potential explanation or reveal. The Internet is increasingly taking over from Television, and I think it is partly due to the inherently conversational quality that it posses. The interactivity has certainly worked in favor in the case of Iam.

It is also interesting to note the way this phenomena has upended the notions of live and recorded in popular music. It usually works in reverse; the artist plays a great deal of live shows and eventually gets a record contract, records their music and makes a promo video. Iam has worked precisely the other way around, utilising the power of the Internet to reach a wider audience while maintaining their mystique. Their ‘concert’, while more ‘live’ than their previous offerings, was also evidently edited and not streamed, as we were led to believe. And SUTS may very well have been a plant to draw us in, the pin-board-black-cat aesthetic of his youtube channel matching the aesthetic requirements that have become synonymous with Iam.

Jonna Lee performing to only SUTS during the 'live concert'
Well, and a few hundred-thousand youtube addicts.

Is the next part in his logical backward sequence an actual live tour for Iam?? It would seem ridiculous to waste the interest they have spent the last year generating, to just drop off the pop map altogether. Whether they will or not, I, along with many thousands of others, have enjoyed the ride. It is inspirational, I think, the way artists can continually surprise us, utilising a medium we had perhaps become blasé about. In the case of the Internet, its ubiquitous quality has here been used to subvert what we thought we knew about pop music and what it could be, and what maybe, it will become. In short, I feel they have brought a very live, fleshy, human element to the cold mechanics of the Digital Age, as the ghost in the machine is still eluding us.

new song from iamamiwhoami from The Glitoris on Vimeo.
Insanely, someone has already made a video of
stills from the concert and put it to the new track.

And, if you want another Iam remix, HERE YOU ARE. It was sent to me after the online concert and is of O by Fleshteque (Einmeier & Ovenbröd Remix). Rather compassionately, it was released just before the concert began (during the 20 minute wait) to make the period of expectation more bearable. Isn't it glorious the way this musical mystery can bring people together??

This guy cracks me up

This is partly here due to the Richard Dawkins quote, 'Science is the poetry of reality.' But also because this guy, Alex Day, makes funny and some might say inspired videos over on our favorite video hosting sight, YouTube. Although my favorite group of videos he makes is the 'Alex Reads Twilight' section, where he reads and gives insightfully offensive breakdowns of the language, plot and characters that circulate Edward Cullen's broodingly attractive vampire jawline. I think he's on chapter 22 so far.

This is the remix

Mysterious viral video makers Iamamiwhoami are getting ready to drop something over on their Youtube channel on 1st Oct. They're asking for subscribers of their channel to elect a representative by then. It all sounds a bit cultish for me, but I love the element of theatre and anticipation they have brought to something as cold and mechanical as Youtube. So lets enjoy a remix.