We are very honoured to be able to present this exclusive premeiere of Arborea’s official video for Pale Horse Phantasm taken from their stunning new album ‘Fortress of the Sun’ (read our review here). Shanti & Buck of Arborea along with an art collective consisting of Laura Prada, Jarly Bobadilla and Brendan O’Keefe all provided a rare ‘behind the scenes’ glimpse of the making of this video which you can read below. It all just serves to highlight the passion they have for their music and their art.
CREATING THE FILM
The film you are about to see is all real.
No human hearts were spared in the making of this film, nor were the people in the film or behind the cameras spared from frigid cold, hunger, fatigue, artistic obsession, sleepless nights, bruises, blood and near-blindness and near drowning.
This was a collaboration of six people, with different talents, visions and dreams that somehow melded together in a perfect way. It took more than three months of work to have this finished film. We spent weeks designing the costumes, the dress in the beginning represents waking into a tattered wretched state. The vision of Death was many hours in the making… we wrote out story boards and shared ideas through email, we stayed up late into the night stitching together clothes from old blankets and curtains, we borrowed mirrors and carried them on our backs through snowy forests at midnight, Brendan and Jarly designed and built a steady camera out of scraps of metal and wood, we drank too much whiskey to try and stay warm in the elements…we were make-up artists, set designers, costume designers, choreographers, film editors, lighting technicians, carpenters, writers, more…
I know I could never say all that we did in one paragraph, but the strongest concept that stays with me even now is this- We could never say ‘No, it can´t be done´. We would come up with ideas and someone would always top it with something even more challenging and instead of trying to make is easier or more simple, we would sit together and figure out ways it could be done… we had no choice…and that was a discovery of the joy of a shared passion and vision! For some of us, this film meant coming to terms with our own fears, we did things we were afraid to do… From dancing on the edges of high cliffs to setting free finally the poetry of our own limbs, to believing in oneself in spite of what anyone could ever possibly say.
We laughed a lot, and we cried from separation from the dream when it was over. We were sincere in all that we did, we stripped away the ego and chaos of our minds through physical exhaustion and discomfort and we fell in love with what we were doing, and then our hearts were broken because time would not stand still, and we could not exist forever in this little universe. It felt as though we had separated the seams of the known world and stepped into another place that was only there because We created it!
The song and film, like the album itself is about rebirth, overcoming and always moving onward, never allowing yourself to become paralyzed by fear or even apathy. In the film, I play the part of a person who is waking to an understanding of her own darkness, her own mortality… at first not even knowing what the struggle is, but slowly becoming aware. Laura plays the part of death, who is always in pursuit, and in the final scenes Death and I come together in an understanding of life and rebirth. Buck represents the storyteller but more importantly, he is the deepest part of the subconscious mind…that part of you that knows what your awake mind does not- the truth of the matter. I know I left so much out of this already too long paragraph, but I have to give it up and trust that this is where the story should end. ‘And cut!’
–Shanti Curran and Buck Curran
OUR GROUP
We are an Art Collective based in Bar Harbor, Maine. Spawned from the need to make art production a reasonable means of living and an unmeasurable love for nature, this collective is about loving what you do and living where you love. Our goal is to create a space for visual artists, filmmakers, musicians and performers to come together in creative works of art inspired by our roots.
This is our first collective project and in the process of making this film we have come to understand the elements that will shape what we become. In this, everyone had a voice, we all listened and nothing felt impossible.
Thank you Shanti and Buck Curran for you’re wild minds, constant inspiration and sacrifice and to Joanna Weaver for your intimate view of the world. Until our next wild idea!
–Laura Prada, Jarly Bobadilla, Brendan O’Keefe.
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Fortress of the Sun is released on Esp Disk Ltd April 30th.
Visit Arborea’s website for tour dates and more news:
http://www.arboreamusic.com/
Photo Credit: Buck Curran (main image) and Shanti Curran