This is an important video for us. The Spinto Band were the very forst band to be filmed on a Take Away Show. It was in a dirty bar in Paris. Six years later, we film them in Times Square
In New York City, especially in the epicenter of its cliche, spectacle is not in short supply. When we took The Spinto Band to Times Square on a rainy day in May, we knew that the usual wonder, surprise and happy accidents of our method would be mutated by the circus side show that awaited… what remained to be seen was how.
Times Square is a kind of no-fly zone for native New Yorkers. Its pedestrian walkways are dominated by tourists attempting to distill a hard-fought experience of a storied city from a single stroll. They are used to spontaneous performance, engagement, interaction and, unlike most other areas of an urban centre, willingly accept it, even seek it, knowing well that the intent of the performer is not simply to please, but to gain compensation, emotional or monetary, by their public display.
Chloe, Katherine and the men of The Spinto Band then, with their performance for us and for themselves, become a forgery of sorts in the environment. Their dance and song are meant as an expression free of exchange. Briefly, they give of themselves, and then just as quickly as they have arrived, they leave, requesting nothing. In a sea of authentic salesmen of kitsch, they are the impostors.
Originally published June 18th, 2012 // La Blogotheque