Chris Cunningham

After researching Warp Films and finding out all about Chris Cunningham's work i have come to the conclusion that he is a bit of a creative genius. his work albeit very disturbing and viewed by many people as disgusting has really appealed to me as I am thoroughly intrigued by the gothic, hideousy that is found in nearly all of Chris Cunningham's work, also i am really intrigued by all the cultural, social and political issues he manages to pack into every single piece of work he does. I love it!





Take this music video he made for Aphex twin called 'Come to Daddy' is one of my favorite pieces of his work, due to the gothic images that are really original and the hidden messages and stereotypes, like the old lady having a pit bull which is not the usual species of dog that an old lady would have; smashing the stereotypes of the elderly and of the 'hard man' dog that have a tendancy to be quite brutal. On top of this the little children are shown as out of control thugs just like the popular phrase 'I blame the kids' suggests. However the images of a middle aged creepy man's face suggest that blaming tennagers or children is not always correct and often that the blame should be put on the older generations. in addition to this the faces that are all the same but with different bodies gives the video and especially freaky feeling which Chris Cunningham was aiming for.

I found this one paragraph about the 'Come to Daddy video that captures its essence and meaning perfectly (http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/aphex1.html):

'Its nature as a Richard D. James piss-take aside, Chris Cunningham's "Come to Daddy" is, as it was ten years ago, the story of technology and how we are becoming it. In the video, the faces of Aphex Twin chuckle at us with the same soullessness that occupies the man in the television. When he is borne of that television, we discover him to be a product of his environment: a vaporless void, a mere reflection. He has no soul, and he wants ours. And he is asking us to gather 'round and worship him.'


Come to Daddy was named the 3rd best video of all time in a January 2005 by a poll by The Guradian. As of 2003, the Warp releases of Come to Daddy and Windowlicker together sold 90,000 copies. This immense popularity may have been an aftermath of the controversy it caused; it was banned from showing on any music channels on television till past the watershed and was marked by many people as being grotesque ans should be banned totally, this and also the fact that this video is just very good!