The Brutality of Fact

For this project, Producer Lucy Nordberg teamed up with ART-O-MATIC, a band formed by David G. A. Stephenson with his collaborator of many years, Mike J. Gosling, to celebrate art, artists, architecture, photography, and design philosophy. Lucy obtained authorization from the Estate of Francis Bacon for permission to use the images of the paintings alongside photographs of Bacon’s studio. To match the haunting weight of the lyrics, I approached this edit as a study in kinetic horror. I chose a square aspect ratio to trap the band within a tight, claustrophobic frame, then used Adobe After Effects to bring a fluid, nightmarish movement to the existential paintings of Francis Bacon. The result is a highly stylized visual narrative that amplifies the song’s trapped, uneasy energy.