I always find it morally confusing when my favourite artists cosy up with major brands. When Kenneth Anger made a promo film for Missoni, I didn’t know quite how to feel. Sure, I reported on it, but it made me feel icky.
David Lynch, in my opinion the greatest director of all time, has joined this new club de ick. From The Laughing Squid:
Limited-edition champagne bottles of Dom Pérignon 2003 and Rosé 2000 will feature labels designed by director David Lynch. The collaborative project is called The Power of Creation and it was recently launched at a party in Los Angeles, California. Both will be available to purchase at the end of 2012. The Dom Pérignon site describes their world and Lynch’s world as having the following points in common: “mystery, intensity, commitment, time, the constant reinvention of the self, and above all, absolute faith in the power of creation.”
You see? It’s icky! In the video (below), Lynch extols the virtues of drinking the product, and champions the ‘hard work’ that goes into its specific taste.
Am I alone in this? Is my general unease seeing stalwarts of the ‘avant garde’ and underworld film unite themselves with major products just me being pretentious?
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Comments
David Lynch has a long history in advertising. The “mainstream current” or “puppets of the illuminati” have always flirted with the edges because they think it gives them credibility. The problem is when people think this detracts from the credibility of the artist. The fact is, it’s just as possible for an artist to sell out by placating a small group of hardcore fans as it is to momentarily engaging in a large scale mainstream product that would probably finance five years worth of personal products.To not sell out, the artist should do what has meaning to them, even if that means Dom Perignon. As for the outrage of the fans, this is probably because they define themselves as countercultural by their tastes in artists rather than any concrete acts of transgression themselves. I agree, David Lynch is the greatest living director BTW.
Yeah, I think in this case though, it’s the delivery of the advertising that icked me out. I don’t for one second imagine that Lynch is intentionally ‘selling out’, except for that one moment I mention in the piece where he bangs on about the hardwork being evident in the taste, that seemed false for some reason.
On the subject of Kenneth Anger, however, I do think he sold out a little. He’s always been very vocal about independence, and been very anti-mainstream.
To clarify, I don’t like the film-makers any less for these acts either. I’m not one of these guys that retro-actively hates on previous work, just because the artist has done something that I disagree with.