The Duo Explains: ba:zel - 'SITUATION'
We chat to darkwave pop duo Ba:zel (Ewelina Chiu and Daniel Vlcek) about their gripping visuals for ‘SITUATION’ which uses dark, majestic imagery to explore the themes of capitalism, commodity fetishism, the bond between humanity and the natural world, and freedom and captivity, amongst other things.
Where was the video for 'SITUATION' filmed?
Half of it was filmed in Bohemian Paradise, about 100 km from Prague. Mika Johnson (the director, Tommaso Montaldo (cinematographer), Daniel and I all got up at dawn to get drone shots of the imposing Trosky Castle and mysterious sandstone rock formations the region is known for. The second half of the video was filmed in a tiny village near Ceske Budejovice in South Bohemia at Milan Zales’, the bird of prey trainer’s, home.
How does the video connect with the song?
Daniel is originally from South Bohemia. One summer day he and I were visiting the Rabi Castle and the birds of prey that put on regular summer shows for tourists happened to be out in the castle courtyard, just sitting on individual stools they were chained to. As soon as I saw them I connected them with ‘SITUATION,’ which we were working on at that time. It just clicked as the perfect metaphor for our own entrapment within cycles of capitalistic drive and commodity fetishism. Mika in turn elaborated on this idea by suggesting we create birds eye drone shots of monumental natural and human made landmarks.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you can share with us?
I think that it’s rather beautiful and humorous how we ended up working with Mika. Daniel and I had been wanting to make this video for a while, but we had yet to find someone who was inspired by the idea and had the vision to film it. Thinking over who we knew who worked in film, I suddenly remembered Mika, who I had sold a camera lens to three years ago and who had casually mentioned that he makes music videos. I looked him up and sent him a message and the track, completely out of the blue. But he responded utterly enthused, moved by the song and captivated by the concept.
Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
Within each of the images there is a multitude of meanings, layers that unfold the closer you look. Birds are traditionally used as symbols of freedom and so showing them in captivity is a gesture towards freedom being somehow inhibited. But it is also important to note that birds of prey are often born into captivity, they know no other life. Do they therefore long to be free? Can you miss that which you’ve never had? This is deeply applicable to our own lives, cluttered as they are by a capitalistic, contemporary society constantly sending out messages on how to live, what to want and how to get it.
It’s also important to note the last scene showing the birds’ keeper. This is not to villainize him, far from it. When we went to film the birds we had had no intention of filming Milan. However, for some reason, when we got there we decided to ask him if he minded doing a few shots with his birds for us. When we looked at the footage later we were struck by the tenderness there, a moving connection that perfectly portrayed how both keeper and captive are bound to one another in a way analogous to how we are bound to our desires.
The natural landmarks are dreams of doing that which is truly free and innate while those of the castle are visions into the demands of power, desire and ultimately greed. It would also be wrong to simply assume that the birds are merely metaphors of ourselves. They are also present in the video as themselves, as nature, dominated and exploited by humans in our relentless journey of excess.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
‘SITUATION’ is a contemplation on the idea of free time as a commodity, blooming out of Situationist theory (hence the name) from the 1960’s and in particular Guy Debord’s seminal work The Society of the Spectacle, strikingly relevant even today. We all struggle with how to process all the stimuli and messages constantly being thrown at us. On the one hand, we’re very lucky because having to process these things means that we are living in a privileged sector of society and we must maintain a level of gratitude for that. But on the other hand, this bombardment often leaves us confused, incapable of truly enjoying the experience of having all of our basic needs (food, shelter, safety) met and instead becoming obsessed with chasing material dreams implanted within us as our own desires.
The message is simply a call to contemplation, to taking a step back to examine our situations and become open to gratitude for what is while quenching the anxiety to have more of what we don’t need. The message is to reexamine what it means to earn and how to measure success.
Interview by Karla Harris