Reframing the art of music video: “mismatched eyeballs” and reanimated collaborators

Abstract

Just as music videos have been studied through many frames, so too, has David Bowie. When undertaking research for my book David Bowie and the Art of Music Video, a reframing process was necessary. This entailed starting from the premise that music videos are functionally diverse, complex audiovisual configurations that go well beyond serving as ­ a promotional tool for a musician or as a stepping stone to auteurism for a director. This act of ‘reframing’ also involved examining Bowie’s creative process through a fresh lens. Through a combination of contextual research, interview materials, audience research, and multimodal analysis of Bowie’s videos, I demonstrate that Bowie played an important part in helping develop music video as a collaborative artform ­ with diverse functions, affects, and contributions to social, cultural, and political understandings. By reframing the art of music video, this book firmly places the spotlight onto the relations between collaborative process and audiovisual assemblage, demonstrating that music video is a flexible form for transmedia storytelling, intertextuality, and the remediation of numerous artforms – all of which supports my argument that music video is a form worthy of deep analysis. By reflecting on my response to unique challenges (such as limited opportunities to interview music video directors), this presentation will discuss my research process as an example of reframing the art (and research) of music video.