Atlas air

Massive Attack has showcased the video for its new single Atlas Air on the website of moving image festival Onedotzero.

The Edouard Salier-produced and directed video premiers on Ondotzero’s website in anticipation of Wavelength, a festival programme which explores the latest developments in music video design.

Massive Attack's Atlas Air, produced and directed video by Edouard Salier
Massive Attack’s Atlas Air, produced and directed video by Edouard Salier

Wavelength is part of a full Onedotzero festival programme set to run in November at The BFI  under a ‘Utopian Futures theme.’

On first viewing, the Atlas Air video seems at odds with the theme, as we see a red eyed Donnie Darko type rabbit bounding through a dystopian war torn landscape.

A still of the bounding rabbit protagonist
A still of the bounding rabbit protagonist

Hellish imagery includes subliminal split second skeletal air hostesses backdropped by a slave ship.

Coming on like one of Watership Down’s more unsavory characters, it is however quite beautiful to watch our protagonist bound over an impossibly angular landscape.

Skeletal air hostesses in the band's video
Skeletal air hostesses in the band’s video

However the film, which explores a ‘rendition’ theme, follows on from the video of the band’s single Splitting The Atom – the first from latest album Heligoiland – and is part of a bigger work.  

Sailer says, ‘I decided to make a prequel to the Splitting The Atom clip, while leaving interpretation to the viewer to a certain extent, but mixed with the real sense of the song and the text of Robert Del Naja. The song is about rendition so that was certainly an inspiration.’

Salier's video is filled with beasts
Salier’s video for Atlas Air

Onedotzero takes place on 10-14 November and will show Wavelength work including The Johnny Cash Project, a crowd sourced music video project, and Anthony Schepperd’s The Music Scene for Blockhead. 

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