The result of a visit to the Copenhagen aquarium and a freestyle analogue synth improvisation – channeling the Jesus & Mary Chain, 808 State, and the euphoria of early nineties rave culture. I’ve remastered the video on its thirtieth anniversary.

An anecdote

I made this video while a student at the Royal Danish Art Academy in Copenhagen.
One day, I walked into the video editing suite to find a fellow student working on a new video. She had gone to the Copenhagen aquarium and filmed an exquisite octopus which was perched – perfectly camouflaged – on its underwater rocky surroundings. I was spellbound by the shot, which was a symphony of browns, whites and greys – truly a sight to behold.
However, as I stood there watching her work, she turned the image black-and-white, and overlayed a dense philosophical text over the entire image.

Now, I love philosophy and very conceptual art.
However, having my child-like joy of seeing the beautiful octopus marred by words and thoughts, made me bolt out of the studio and head straight to the aquarium – I had to rehabilitate the beauty I had seen marred.

More text to follow…