Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue,” 1976, dir. Bob Dylan
This video was shot during his “Rolling Thunder Revue” tour around 1976. The way it’s filmed, with close-ups of his face in the foreground, captures accurately that state of holy hypnosis with which he performs this song. Too perfect to be human, a man who does his best when stumbling through life and never fails to be true.
Waylon Jennings, “America,” 1984, dir. David Hogan
Waylon sits on his porch with his guitar, singing a love song to America. The oversaturated Kodak colors illustrate the simple good life of 1980s USA. His warm affection could have initiated the fire in the eastern hearts for upheavals and revolts to break out from the mundane grayness and visual deprivation of the communist countries during the Soviet regime. This music video must make the western heart yearn for the unwavering freedom that the USA stands for.
BLP Kosher & BabyTron, “Mazel Tron,” 2023, dir. Cole Bennett
Damn! I’m speechless. These two took rapping a notch higher by being harmless and funny! I imagine it must be hard to come up with something original regarding rapping styles but somehow BLP Kosher managed to do it with blending his Jewish devotion into the mix. God bless Jews, tennis players, chess players, and those good old American diners.
Michael Jackson, “They Don't Care About Us,” 1996, dir. Spike Lee
Shot in the slums of San Salvador in 1996, this music video shows Michael leading a flash-mob dance of street kids and marching bands in a theatrically staged musical revolt. Michael was the embodiment of a paradox: a gentle scream of the almost holy. MJ dances as the prince of the poor, miming the act of the liberator of the oppressed.
Neurotic, “Brék” (Break), 1987, dir. János Xantus
This was the first Hungarian rap song ever written by the Hungarian punk band Neurotic. The video features the lead singer, Tamás Pajor, going about his daily activities, locked up in the back of a police car and riding around a city depleted by wild and destructive nightlife and him again, pumped up by recording sessions like the Sid Vicious of Budapest. Shortly after this video was made, he was “saved” from himself by a group of American charismatic born-again Christians. He was a rebel with a cause, trying to turn rock & roll into a religion. In a way, it worked.
Koudlam, “Alcoholic's Hymn,” 2011, dir. Jamie Harley
This video always puts me in the best mood – and makes me wanna have a drink. Just kidding. Actually, this video makes you never want to experience the state of delirium tremens exhibited in these drunken footages, beautifully edited to the swaying rhythm of Koudlam’s song.
Bob Dylan, “Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love),” 1985, dir. Paul Schrader
Dylan was not in sync with the 1980s pop music video scene. It wasn’t easy for him to write hits for MTV and lip-sync in videos to sell more records. Every once in a while, he had to bite the bullet and obey modern trends. The result is this uncanny music video, with Dylan doing his “don’t bother me” act. He looks out of place, like a passerby pulled off the street into a scene from a surreal crime romance. Occasionally, he slips into acting like a rock star who just wants to sell records and doesn’t hate MTV.
RiFF RAFF, “NOW THEY MAD,” 2012, dir. Hi-Def
Is anybody funnier than RiFF RAFF? Please stand up! Haha, nobody is. This thirteen-year-old video features him in flashing hot-pink neon nightmare outfits, freestyling on a dirt jogging path. Ever since, he has kept pushing forward with his imagination, deconstructing all the visual and linguistic clichés of hip-hop. The video is shot and edited like a DIY project on iMovie, trolling the flashy productions of rap videos. “NOW THEY MAD” proves that RiFF RAFF is a visionary conceptual artist and a top-notch comedian.
Trabant, “Ott torony volt” (There Was a Tower), c. 1983/2025, dir. János Vető / NahTe53
In early-1980s Budapest, gloomy bedroom rehearsals and cassette recordings were documented in the style of Warhol’s films featuring the Velvet Underground. In a sense, these video recordings remain the visual documents of the great Hungarian underground band Trabant. The band was never able to put out a record, restrained by Communist censorship, but their basement tapes kept circulating until Trabant’s unique sound became the most sought-after music from behind the Iron Curtain. I love this video because it captures that steadfast melancholia that compresses into a strange, playful lightness of harmony. It made me want to sing.
The Platters, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” 1959 / “SMOK GTS N YR EYS,” 2023, dir. Jaxon Ray
The young and ultra-talented video director Jaxon Ray shot this clip in Atlanta for his short film On & Off, featuring a very real love story – so pure, so clean, always full of hope and optimism, amplified by the romantic tunes of a 1950s doo-wop pop song. The sound and the vision merge into a state of unity, making it feel as if they had never existed apart from each other. This “touch” should be attributed to the sly editing style. All eyes are on Jaxon. This kid is the future.
— Read Alice Blackhurst’s portrait of Rita Ackermann, “It Begins and Ends with a Line,” in Spike #74 – AFTER BEAUTY —
Rita Ackermann
“Vivre Sa Vie”
Galerie Allen, Paris
17 Oct – 28 Nov
Rita Ackermann x Lizzi Bougatsos
“HANDLE WITH CARE”
THE GALLERY by Odo, New York
6 Oct – 15 Nov 2026