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Whether it’s the infamous, dystopian stories like 1984 and Brave New World, or the more fantastical (and fun) ones like The Jetsons, artists have always been intrigued by the future.
Anvil is a music video by Hélène Jeudy and Antoine Caëcke, who work together as GERIKO, which explores humanity in the year 2100. The video, made for electronic musician Lorn', was picked as an SXSW official selection and featured as a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Using only black and white, it tells the ominous story of a woman living in a nightmarish future. “Since the problems caused by overpopulation were never resolved in the long term, Anvil is the solution imposed on us all,” says GERIKO.
“Right from birth, people receive a robot for their daily needs – cleaning up, games, education, social and sexual life – until the day it signals the end of their right to live on Earth,” the duo explains.
“The robot then follows his owner to one of the Anvil facilities, activating the machine that will end the citizen’s days. During this transition, the body is destroyed and a part of the robot is recycled as a server/funerary urn.”
GERIKO paints a clear picture of our daunting future – one of lonely disconnection and technological domination. The film’s main character is all alone throughout the video, surrounded only by robots and buildings in a stark monochrome world.
It is quite a haunting story, and the music definitely adds to this eerie feeling. Lorn’s track seems to come straight out of a thriller’s score and the duo has made sure the animations closely follow the rhythm of the beat.
What helped was that the musician gave them total freedom over the creative process, freeing them of any visual constraints.
“Working with Lorn’s music is just incredible. Images come out immediately, it’s very inspiring. His compositions are very cinematographic and convey a strong narrative,” Hélène and Antoine say.
And even though the future GERIKO predicts might not be what you’d wish for, the duo’s incredible visual language definitely leaves us wanting more.
