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music video

Santigold Taps Kara Walker for a Silhouette-ified Music Video

Santigold and Kara Walker play with shadow puppets in the recording artist’s latest music video directed by Ari Marcopoulos.
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One night in Milan, at a Gucci fashion show, recording artist Santigold and her husband Trevor “Trouble” Andrews sat down next to visual artists Kara Walker and Ari Marcopoulos. The foursome went on to spend the rest of the evening together which ultimately kickstarted a collaboration between Marcopoulos and Walker on Santigold’s latest music video, "Banshee." The nature of the music video is probably best summed up in Walker's statement to The New York Times: “Ari said we could do this video shoot in a day and I was a little unbelieving at first, but it was essentially true. The goal was to keep it simple and trust each other and trust the music, since the music is the point of this film experiment.”

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Walker recreates her signature silhouettes using black paper shadow puppets and multi colored spot lights. One of the dolls shares an obvious resemblance to the singer, while the others echo the animated characters in Walker’s installations. Both Walker and Santigold are shot pulling puppet strings, manipulating their limbs to make amusing, undulating dance moves. Scenes with the puppets are occasionally interrupted by brief shots of the singer on the street holding a cardboard sign that reads, "Will Work For Blood," and "Will Blood For Work." As Marcopoulos told The New York Times, “We decided to just all get together in the studio with the puppets, a bunch of lights, and just have a good time and made decisions as we went.” The video’s light and playful attitude complement the song's festive, upbeat sound, while seamlessly merging the distinctive styles of three established artists.

Watch the video below:

"Banshee" appears on Santigold’s third studio album, 99¢, which you can check out on her website.

Related:

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Santigold Makes You the Co-Star of Her Latest Video

"Whachadoin?" featuring Spank Rock, MIA, Santigold, and Nick Zinner