Mia Doi Todd has recently released the video for her song “Open Your Heart” directed by Michel Gondry. The clip features the singer dancing in collaboration with the Riverside Community College marching band.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the idea of dancing in bright colors was on the French filmmaker’s mind for sometime. And after having fallen in love with the soul singer’s music, a color-coordinated choreography was then carried out against the architectural backdrop of west Los Angeles.

It may be a stretch, but Gondry’s cinematography reminded me of Matisse’s La Danse de Chtchoukine, the revolutionary combination of dance and potent colors, and La Danse de Merion that explores the two in contrast with concrete archways.

Above: still shot from Gondry’s video
Below: Henri Matisse La Danse de Merion, 1932-1933. Oil on canvas
3 panels, Barnes Fondation, Merion, Pennsylvania

When Matisse commented on the creative process behind the two paintings, he stated having to recreate the vision as a director would, “J’avais dû reconcevoir constamment mon oeuvre comme un metteur en scène. Quand je travaille, c’est vraiment une sorte de cinéma perpetuel. Mais là, je n’en restais pas moins lié à l’architecture, car c’est elle qui commande.”*

The dancers’ movements and saturated hues were determined according to the surrounding pillars, invigorating the entire composition with rhythm and song. In Gondry’s video, it looks as though he’s reversed Matisse’s concept as each of the frames is orchestrated in light of a Fauvist painting.

Above: still shot from Gondry’s video
Below: Henri Matisse La Danse, 1909-1910. Oil on canvas, 260 X 391,
Saint-Pétersbourg, Musée de l’Ermitage

At other times, shots were also similar to French artist Djamel Tatah’s depictions of contemporary urban life. The angles and fragmentation of Tatah’s figures – like Gondry’s – can be seen as staged motifs played against geometric spaces and unequal textures.

Djamel Tatah Sans Titre, 2003. Oil and wax on canvas , 3 X 250 X 200 cm
Collection privée © karin Maucotel/ paris-musées

And to further this stance, see Passion Pit’s approach to the same concept in their new video for the single “Sleepyhead” directed by the Wilderness – a premature attempt at color blocking that reminds me of the Teletubbies intro and Honeycut’s “Tough Kid” clip (visuals below). Still love Passion Pit though.

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* MATISSE, Henri, Ecrits et propos sur l’art, testes, notes et index établis par Dominique Fourcade, Hermann, Paris, 1972