The Artist Explains: Waldo Witt - 'Carteret'
Electronic pop artist Waldo Witt speaks to us about his music video for his dreamy single, ‘Carteret’, which combines improv with a poignant clown themed storyline.
How did you decide on the video treatment/visual for the ‘Carteret’ music video?
The concept was the brainchild of my good friend and videographer Sefárdico. I think this ‘clown-pocalypse’ universe is one that is quite fitting to our own times, so I’m glad to have had the chance to work with him on this concept. He and I had worked on a video together with my old band, and have collaborated on a few things in the meantime. We knew that we wanted to work together on a new video, and that we wanted it to be a bit more complex and introspective than the last one. So I basically gave him the album and said, “let’s do a video for whichever one you like”. Carteret is the one we chose.
How does the video connect with the song?
When I originally wrote this song, what I had in mind was a setting not unlike the universe that the video explores. Not in an aesthetic sense, really, but there is a sense of both foreboding and hopefulness that I meant for the song to convey. The foreboding feeling I think many of us have that things will get worse in the world, in many different ways, but at the same time, we always have the beauty and peacefulness of this present moment no matter what happens.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you can share with us?
Yeah, it was quite an interesting experience. There were a few times where it really felt like there was someone behind the curtain playing a joke on us. Sefárdico’s direction style is quite off-the-cuff to begin with, so most of the scenes were improvised. We had a scene with three clowns dancing in what I would best describe as a ‘taco truck graveyard’. This was a private lot where, I guess, taco trucks were stored when they broke down. The two older people sitting there were two of the owners who also lived on that lot. So we just had a ‘ready, set, go’ type improv scene, and it felt like all types of life wanted to be involved - out of nowhere a chicken joined in, a cat, and midway through their daughter just ran out from their trailer and started dancing along. Filming my scenes was surreal as well, which were all improvised. None of my shots were set up in any way, we just found whatever was already there and used it.
Could you tell us more about the ideas/themes used?
The story follows the protagonist, a young clown named Rosa. We don’t know much about her history but we do know that she has lost one of her loved ones, as we watch her place flowers on a grave. As she makes her way along, she encounters members of different multicultural clown gangs, each with their own distinctive faceprint, which is meant to represent different ideologies or different backgrounds. Each of these gangs seem to sympathise and help her along her journey, offering her different objects - a weapon, a book, as well as offering her safe passage as she makes her way to her destination. Finally, she enters into a seedy hideout of the “Kadabros” gang - meant to symbolise the current oppressive order, and confronts their leader.
To me, the final confrontation is not really about revenge or physical violence, but more about breaking the spell of division that keeps us fighting with each other. As long as we are divided, we won’t be able to move past our differences and progress as a society. The clown face and the setting are devices used to point out the absurdity of our situation, which can be difficult to talk about. But, by making it into this absurd universe, it can be a little easier, even humorous, to talk about.
What do you hope people take away from watching the video?
There are different ways you could watch it so I wouldn’t say there’s one lesson the video is meant to convey. It can mean different things to different people. I can talk about what it means to me. I find myself getting upset and worried about the state of the world. Whether it’s the climate, politics, economic issues, there’s a lot to be concerned about. Underneath it all though, I think there is a beauty even in the ugliness, in the anxieties that this world creates. If we can see the ugliness and the suffering as what they are, and observe them we may also find that progress and beauty can arise from that same ugliness, that in fact the ugliness itself is beautiful. That’s what I get personally from the video.
Interview by Karla Harris