BTC: When Chris Cunningham Met Grace Jones
Dear Chris Cunningham: please come back to us. The commercial you recently created for Gucci Flora is hypnotic, and we’d never dream of calling you a sellout because we know that you need to make rent, just like us. We know that the music industry is not what it used to be, and that the budgets you had to make your legendary music videos (Bjork’s All is Full of Love, Madonna’s Frozen, Aphex Twin’s Windowlicker) aren’t easy to come by these days. Still, we implore you: come back to us. Make something new, something weird!
Any Cunningham-inspired tidbit helps the withdrawal. Your incredible shoot with Grace Jones for Dazed and Confused, a Nubian companion to your character Rubber Johnny, certainly helps to ease the longing. More images (NSWF) at Dazed Digital, the original Rubber Johnny below, and some Chris Cunningham classics after the cut.
June 29th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Chris Cunningham needs to make a feature length film. Unf.
June 29th, 2009 at 10:39 am
NEUROMANCER!!!
June 29th, 2009 at 11:33 am
ugh, my CC Director’s Series DVD’s are in storage back in the states, and this post has triggered serious withdrawal… must get them shipped over to me soon. Thanks for the post!
June 29th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Was just watching the Rubber Johnny DVD this morning asking the same thing, what the devil is Mr. Cunningham up to?
I hope he does something as fun as Rubber Johnny again though I’m not eager to see him make a movie. Like Mark Romanek I like them doing music videos…they enhance and take the songs they work on to whole new levels. Would hate to see that talent wasted or worse turned into the less than amazing stuff Michel Gondry has been working on film wise.
Small Note: The Chris Cunningham DVD is released by the wonderful people over at Palm Pictures as part of their Directors series.Like Criterion they release beautiful DVD’s and documentaries ranging from music icons like Patti Smith to assorted art house favorites. They also released the fantastic The Nomi Song. Quality stuff on all fronts! Check out their online store, you’ll go “Wow I didn’t know that was out…” quite a bit.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I absolutely love Chris Cunningham’s work and I especially love the “All Is Full of Love” video. More than is healthy.
And @Tequila, I agree with you about Mark Romanek and Chris Cunningham. I’d have to say that whenever I see their names attached to a music video I know it’s going to be something else.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:23 am
@Nadya – I was heartbroken when Cunningham abandoned the Neuromancer project (though I trust he had his reasons – creative freedom etc.). Still I think the world must see a feature length Chris Cunningham film, whatever else it may be.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:47 am
If I meet someone who knows and loves Cunningham, I’ve met a friend for life.
If I meet someone who has never heard of Cunningham, anything we were planning to do that night gets put on hold untill we watch The Directors Series DVD from start to end.
If I meet someone who hates Cunningham, I make a mental note to myself and this person and I will never truly be friends.
July 31st, 2009 at 7:40 am
OMG…..it’s so beautiful (:_: )