Holly Herndon’s Chorus gets the visual treatment

Watch a frankly mind-bending video for Herndon’s new release on RVNG Intl from the artist and Akihiko Taniguchi.

Released this week, Chorus is the first recorded output from San Francisco-based Holly Herndon since she surfaced in distinct fashion with her debut album Movement back in 2012. A video for the title track has now surfaced online produced by Herndon along with Japanese visual artist Akihiko Taniguchi (who has a superbly frustrating to navigate website) and Mat Dryhurst that expands on the themes the music explores and the methods employed to produce it. As “Chorus” was constructed from Herndon ‘spying’ on her own daily trawls through the internet, “channeling YouTube, Skype and other audio sources” it seems only right that Taniguichi’s treatment takes advantage of some of the tools these sources offer.

A detailed press release has the Japanese film director explaining “one of the most striking contemporary images is that of the desktop capture, which is seen commonly on YouTube as part of software tutorials.” Having asked several friends to photograph their desktop environments, Taniguchi then “rendered these images with custom 3D software, shooting video by moving throughout this virtual space”. Both high definition and strangely retro, the video for “Chorus” has the feel of a fifth generation-era console demonstration on acid and is subtly informed by ongoing revelations regarding the NSA.