So imagine this:
You’re part of a successful Dutch rock band with a celebrated last album and loads of fans. On that last album there’s a song, slowbeat, intense, let’s say: romantic. Even the title screams love – ‘You & I’. A song that your friends call a ‘bedroom soundtrack’. When brainstorming about a new video to match that particular song, it comes to no surprise that ‘intimacy’ should be a key factor. Right?
Exactly. And there it is, the idea of DI-RECT to create the most intimate music video ever in a project called The Love Tapes. Real people, real excitement, real friction, real love.
Di-rect asked the public to videotape their moments of what they consider is intimacy and as we speak Frank (Van der Steen, the director), is slowly receiving the first footage of people sharing their most affectionate moments. An unique idea that got picked up by international websites like The Next Web, calling it ‘typically Dutch’. Not really sure what that is supposed to mean, bass player Bas van Wageningen explains what this is all about: “When we brainstormed about the video to match our song ‘You & I’ with a group of creative people, the idea about it being a bedroom jam kept on coming forward. First we laughed about it, but later on we started to think about this theme more seriously. Marcel (leadsinger) has a part in this, because he experienced guys in a talkshow that started to talk about condoms – topic at that time – very convulsively. While he justly states that sharing that kind of intimacy is something beautiful.”
So unlike the first impression that this has everything to do with plain old sex, it’s more about the creation of a compilation in which people show their intimacy. Towards each other, themselves or even their passion. “Let’s say there’s a dancer who want to share her vision of intimacy through a dance, that’s fine as well. Since this is an experiment, we’re curious about what people make of this”, Bas says. “We’re not out to make another porn movie, the internet is full of porn as it is. We want to create something beautiful, something close to home. Also, with this we touch upon current topics such as the pornofication of pop culture and the fact that young people live in a time that sharing images is an important part of daily life.”
Not a day goes by when you’re not confronted with the huge behinds of either Nicki Minaj or Jennifer Lopez. Hell, even Kim Kardashian’s butt is glorified. With that we’re not even talking boobs or the excessive use of sex metaphors in your favourite lyrics. But it seems to work, and this other side of ‘love’ is an experiment the boys of DI-RECT realise all too well. The possibility of this concept to crash and burn is real. “We don’t know what the result will look like. But the fact that EriKa Lust (a directress from Sweden known for her porn for women) has shown interest in working with us on this project says that people believe that there’s something beautiful to make out of this. That’s also why we work with Frank, since he is an amazing director. He will make this look good and use the images discretely.”
But, as with every great idea, it needs a good example to lead the way. Will the boys from DI-RECT join their fans in sharing intimacy on screen? “We’re kind of obliged to do so right?”
Yes guys, you are. So spread the love.
Want to share your vision on intimacy? Follow this link and make it pure, sincere and affectionate.
Little up-date:
The Dutch show ‘Man Bijt Hond’ already looked for some true love, check out what they found:
http://www.npo.nl/man-bijt-hond/13-11-2014/KN_1661952