The ‘Public Nuisance’ In Spike Jonze’s Music Videos

Rogers explains the form of the music video as two styles combined (Rogers 2011, 402). An intermediality and synthesis of the future, as if the mediums of video art (linked with experimentation and the presentation of messages) and music (a commercial industry) (2011) were made to be fused. Video artist Spike Jonze has collaborated with many musicians to create music videos for their songs. Within three of his works, The Suburbs (2010) with Arcade Fire, Praise You (1998) with Fatboy Slim and Drunk Girls (2010) with LCD Soundsystem, there is a common theme that runs through them, which is the ‘public nuisance’. It is seen that he has portrayed this theme in three different styles, which correlate to different art movements in the history of video art. These videos show the diversity of the ‘public nuisance’ and the different cultural significance and issues related to the medium and the theme. The Suburbsuses a more cinematic/narrative style with a social and political message; Praise You is a classic performance identity work and Drunk Girls is a parody of both the music video and the performance identity form. The work made with Arcade Fire is the most cinematic in style.

The music clip for The Suburbs, in co-operation with Arcade Fire utilizes a cinematic aesthetic with a film style narrative. The video is a condensing of a short film Scenes From The Suburbs, to accompany Arcade Fire’s album. The video is in the style of a linear narrative video similarly seen recently with the rise of filmic art, which attempts to create a semi-sleep like passivity in the audience through spectacular imagery (Bishop 2005). This is shown in Viola’s work, The Lovers (2005). The temporality of the video is different to the other non-narrative works, as it is not meant to be the documenting of a public disturbance act, rather the condensing of time. This allows for the temporality to be manipulated in the video to what Jameson says is a Schizophrenic time collage, showing a series of events rather than a true indication of the passing of time (1991). Music video is a shorter medium made for a more diverse, easily distracted digital audience (Goodwin 1992, 95). The cinematic style draws on the conventions of other narrative videos and films being set in that context such as youth orientated soporific neighborhoods where dreams are discovered (Lavin 2011, 400). This then turns on its own conventions to show a more serious social message. The ‘presentness’ and truth of the medium can be questioned, as it was video’s purpose to be a more accurate representation of the real, through its immediacy in capturing the present (Rush 2003, 26). This is typically seen with the documenting of the public nuisance, however this is a film work, which is historically more formalist in nature. In terms of theme, the youth in the video are initially portraying a public nuisance that is linked to harmless immature fun, but hides a deeper social message. Rist utilized a similar tactic in the past in her public nuisance/feminist video Ever Is Over All (1992). This shows the power of the cinematic video in presenting messages to a passive audience, related to the ‘public nuisance’ and the temporal issues with the medium. The mood then changes rather abruptly in the work.

The video continues by showing the more serious cultural effects of the theme by presenting a meaningful social message. This message that is present in the artwork corresponds to the song’s concern about the effects of suburban life in relation to war. This is seen in the past with activist documentary videos where the ‘public nuisance’ can breed violent adults. These include the works of the Raymond’s The Police Tapes (1976) where the full effects of the violent teens are seen in conflict with corrupt police. The similarity between these works is that even though Jonze’s work is a fictional narrative, the nature of documentary is that it gives a perception of the truth, as seen by the artist (Ranciere in Baumbach 2010, 61).  The presenting of a message in a documentary or fictional mode has effects on the audience. Jonze’s work does not advocate itself as truth, just as the presentation of a message in the mode made for a mass audience.  What starts out as juvenile fun, quickly escalates to the army being brought into the streets and arresting children. This includes violent imagery of children being punished and fleeing from the militia. The editing pace becomes quicker to align itself with the growing action. This links into the Hollywood continuity editing style often seen in film, which aligns itself more closely with a narrative as seen with the rise of the Cinematic phase of video art (Iles 2001). It is as though society itself is taking revenge on the children. This is juxtaposed with the imagery of clouds against a sunny day that shows the everyday nature of the problem of these kids. An even more recent example of this sort of social/political narrative video can be seen with Gavras’ music video for Kanye West and Jay-Z’s No Church In The Wild (2011). With a cinematic look including spectacular lighting against darkened backgrounds, slow motion and beautiful visuals, the video tells the story of street gangs being the hyper extent of the theme in Jonze’s video. The work highlights that the presenting of such a serious message can be difficult considering its cultural effect on the audience, and its mode. The Fatboy Slim video is a more classic representation of the ‘public nuisance’.

The music video Praise You is seen as a classic performance identity work. The video was made by Jonze of a performance featuring himself as an alter ego Richard Koufey and his community dance troupe. The theme is seen as the troupe dances to the Fatboy Slim track in the entrance of Westwood California Movie Theatre. This disturbance of the peace is a classic performance style of Acconci and his work Seedbed (1972). Even though this was done in a gallery, the filling of a public space with such a personal and disturbing act highlights the theme of the ‘public nuisance’. The documenting of the process shows the second level of identity in the artwork, or the mediated self, where the self becomes the performance (Walker 2004). This is seen in the past with the archetypal performance works such as, McCarthy’s Black and White Tapes (1970-75). The nuisance in Jonze’s work comes from the reaction to the performance and it’s documenting, as the performing of the dance acts as its own installation. The reaction to the installation and the self is seen with performance identity art with works such as Campus’s Mem (1974), but the ‘public nuisance’ is more readily seen in the spectacular works of Walsh such as Contested Space (2004), which links to the phenomenological experience of the audience. However this differs from the performance aspect seen in Praise You, as installation artists leave the audience to take the role of the performers (Meigh-Andrews 2006, 243). The cultural significance of the performance work is seen that the audience determines the ‘public nuisance’ theme. By filling a space designed for waiting for a performance, with a performance; Jonze is contesting the space and its cultural ideologies dictated by the people occupying it. This is explained by Jonas and Hoffmann (2005, 43) as “works (that) make them (the audience) aware of the relationship between their own body and the film, the architecture and the other spectators.” The use of the ‘public nuisance’ in a public place highlights the importance of the self and space when it comes to performance identity art. This is seen in relation to past installation and identity works.

The purpose of the performance identity videos was to express what the artist thought of themselves and usually a deeper theme. In the case of this video the fact that Jonze is an alter ego of himself is interesting as he is showing a representation of himself, that he wants the audience to see. The fascination with the self, outlined in Krauss’ Video: The Aesthetics Of Narcissism (1986), is hardly seen because he is barely acknowledged, which is different to past performance identity works. In relation to the theme, by annoying the general public through such an immature act he does not take himself seriously like other performance artists in the past. Rist uses a similar fun approach to her feminist works. The home video aesthetic (including the low-fi resolution and the shaky hand held shooting style) perfectly suits this sort of performance, as it looks less rehearsed. It is seen by Weir that this video highlights Jonze’s auteurial style of spontaneous verite approach, which she says was inspired from his earlier photography of streetscapes (2004, 40). The video shows the sort of true spontaneity that causes annoyance in the crowd because at one point the music is stopped by an audience member. This shows the success of the artists’ intention to cause a public nuisance, rather than just represent one in society, seen in the other two works. The work presents the classic portrayal of the ‘public nuisance’ as non-violent, and has cultural significance seen in identity works, whilst highlighting the artist’s auterial style. The LCD Soundsystem music video parodies two different video art forms.

Drunk Girls, co-directed by James Murphy, parodies performance identity art. This is different to Praise You, as it does not include Jonze himself in the piece, thus is not a performance work of the main artist, however Murphy is present. The way in which the band acts throughout the video is seen to be a classic parody of this form. The way in which the group performs in a studio is reminiscent of the early tapes of artists such as McCarthy or Jonas. The classic camera style is even used, as it is handheld and documents the process of performance. The nuisance comes from the dog characters. It is as though they are from outside of the performance video world, made to interrupt the proceedings of the performance. Although on the surface they represent the drunk girls mentioned in the song, it is as though they are the physical manifestation of the Post-Modern audience, who understand the cultural significance of the art form. This is seen in the video for The Bedroom Philosopher’s I’m So Post-Modern song, who parodies form and audience expectations (Ilic 2005). The spontaneous process of the ‘public nuisance’ becomes the performance. The way in which the video looks unrehearsed, and how Murphy aimlessly wanders around, shows the serious nature of typical performance artists such as Nauman and a stronger degree of their playful side (Rush 2003, 79). The narcissism of the piece is highlighted as Murphy is always looking directly into the camera as if waiting to see himself in the work (Krauss 1986). Jonze uses anarchy in the theme to highlight serious nature of past identity performers, whilst commenting on the modern digital audience. The work also parodies the music video. 

The video is made to be a parody of its own form. It draws attention to its own style by utilising an ‘MTV Aesthetic’ (Calavita 2007). This includes its set location and the use of painted colour bars on the back wall, representing those used in the testing of early video. The music in the video draws attention to itself as there is supra-diegetic music, as well as the members of the band just singing along to it. The parody of form is seen in the works of Smith such as Secret Horror (1980). The theme is seen to be a breach in the MTV vehicle as the video highlights to the audience the commercialism and false authenticity involved in music videos. The use of hyper colours and the dog people attacking the band members is a further parody of the performers who try to create authenticity by using self-deprecation. The use of the ‘public nuisance’ to gain audience favor is seen with Kefali and Campbell’s music video for Naked And Famous’ Young Blood (2010), as anti-authoritarian/anti-commercial messages are a classic exploration in video art activists, especially to youth culture (Carter 1979, 289). The parody of a mass orientated video art form, was done to create a more active audience who participates in the understanding of the work, rather than a passive consumerist one. This was a main concern of past video artists as when Paik famously said, “Television has been attacking us all our lives, now we can attack it back,” (Hartney 1996, 23). The significance of the video is seen as Jonze uses the theme to snap passive audiences out of a viewing space, which has been seen in the past with early video artists opposition to television and consumerist culture, by parodying its own form. 

The ‘public nuisance’ as a theme has been used by Jonze in three of his music videos in different ways, to highlight its different effects of the medium, as well as the historical context. This is seen to be the highlighting of important messages and temporal issues through the use of cinematic art in The Suburbs; the importance of the self, the space and his auterial style, through a classic performance identity work in Praise You; and the issues of a modern audience in a parody of music video and performance forms in Drunk Girls. What is seen is that the cultural significance of the ‘public nuisance’ reaches across video art history.

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