The Artist Explains: GIUDI - 'Sleeping Boy'
Alt Pop singer GIUDI speaks to us about her powerful single/video ‘Sleeping' Boy’, which uses contemporary dance to explore mental health issues and feeling lost and imprisoned in our own minds.
Where was the video filmed?
The video was filmed in Prague, mainly at the Hůrka, Lužiny and Anděl Metro stations.
How does the video connect with the song?
The lyrics of the song are written in the name of my friend and it's about some of his mental issues. In the video it's performed in contemporary dance - a story of a boy who is just lost and imprisoned in his mind. For that I chose a unique dancer, he's a queer model from New Aliens Agency, Matej Psenicka. Like all of us, the Sleeping Boy has his shadowy chapters and he is looking for his freedom. He seeks the power to defeat his demons.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you can share with us?
It was quite fun to spend all day long in the Metro and just flow with the life under the surface. I met some homeless people I became a friends with and they became kind of our underground "guides", it was so nice to connect with these people so many overlook on their daily journeys.
Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
The main theme was contemporary performance in an urban, unsentimental and slightly dark atmosphere but in the same time it's very intimate and personal. The Lužiny Metro has the wonderful palms on the walls, which contrast so well with some of the harsh modernistic architecture. The juxtaposition of nature clashing with the brutality of concrete.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
It would be nice that after watching my new video, people would understand that everything they always searched for they already have inside since they was born, because we all are special, divine creatures and over time we forget that and by the consequences of that, we can collect some scars. I would like to think that the video might inspire them to lose their fear to fight their demons, to ignore the negative thoughts their mind tells them and just liberate themselves.
Interview by Karla Harris