Iamamiwhoami is the confused and confusing nom de plume of Swedish artist Jonna Lee, who works with music producer Claes Björklund and the visual collective WAVE.
The origin of the this sound and vision project began in 2009 with the release of short snippets of instrumental music and film.
Blue is her third audiovisual album, following the debut of “Bounty” (2010) and its follow up “Kin” (2012).
The overriding theme this time is water and her stated ambition is to create "an emotional, expressive and timeless album, close to nature”. If all this sounds very pompous and arty-farty, that's because it is.
Her enigmatic alter ego is described as a unique and spontaneous fan-led initiative and a mysterious world that "offers both an escapist fantasy and a palpable community".
Musically it is plodding synth-pop of a kitschy 80s character with singing learnt from the Kate Bush school of freaky female rock. Tracks with the strongest disco beat, like Ripple work the best,
Each song comes with an elaborately story-boarded video shot in icy landscapes, dense woodland or on an idyllic tropical beach.
Lee swans around with very little on or else models something from a glam-rock leisure wear catalogue; mostly in white to match her hair. The effect is part new-age pantomime, part shampoo commercial.
|
Needless to say, we see her interacting with water a lot, occasionally plunging beneath the waves perhaps with the aim of visually evoking the philosophical concept - 'I sink, therefore I am'.
She is pursued by men in black morphsuits; presumably the shadows that dog her thoughts and threaten to restrict the freedom she craves. Other representations of entrapment are ships in bottles, fishing nets and tight leotards.
A fish is symbolically released from its tank into the ocean and in the final instalment (Shadowshow) we see the shadowy figures disappear underwater.
To date, Lee's Youtube channel has gained 30 million hits so she is certainly achieving her goal of making an impact in the digital world where she plays out her fantasies.
There's plainly a market for this self indulgent theatrical wackiness but whatever the target audience is, I'm not part of it.
To Whom It May Concern label's website
|
