New Black Asteroid Video is a Battle Royale with Dark Forces from MPC Creative and Timothy Saccenti

Director Tim Saccenti (Run the Jewels, Depeche Mode, Warp Records) collaborated with Alan Bibby (Pharrell, Rihanna, Ariana Grande) and Andrei Juradowitch at visual effects powerhouse MPC to create a sci-fi tinged occult ritual-cum-boxing match for the Black Asteroid techno-sleaze anthem 'Tangiers' ft. Michele Lamy, wife and muse of fashion icon Rick Owens. 

The video premiered exclusively on Sept. 7th on the website of W Magazine.

Produced by MPC Creative, the video is inspired by Michele’s obsession with boxing and runs through the futurist lens of Bryan Black’s sinister production, the chromed-out visuals finding Michele invocated into an in-between space – a stark, electric and suggestively intellectual one – to do battle as robed figures nod their heads and clap to the minimal beat in a savage, thoughtless way, creating strange tensions.

Bryan Black, the genius behind Black Asteroid, first got his start in Minneapolis as an engineer for Prince and quickly rose to techno stardom as MOTOR – playing venues from Berlin's storied Berghain to major festivals across the world. Most recently as Black Asteroid, he has been playing and collaborating with artists including Zola Jesus and Depeche Mode. His long creative history with Michele Lamy and Rick Owens includes creating the music for Rick’s fashion shows, DJing at intimate Rick Owens events and, most recently, performing at Venice Biennale atop a floating studio on Rick’s barge. Collectively these spawned the initial collaborations that became the 'Thrust' album and the track 'Tangiers.'

Tim Saccenti (Radical Media), an award-winning director and photographer, is responsible for many of the most seminal music videos and commercials over the past 20 years. This includes genre-defining films and images for Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand and PlayStation. “We built a concept around Michele’s authentic and mysterious nature and contrasted that with her love of boxing, twisting in the ceremonial aspects of sport,” explains Saccenti. “We ran that idea through the grinder of the Black Asteroid aesthetic, resulting in a visceral, world-crushing feel to create something visually powerful with a dose of humor.” 

Featuring a rich graphic tapestry and a cabal of machine elves, the film itself involves Michele's creative collaborator and real life sparring partner director Katya Bankowksky in a gritty, brutal match to the finish, replacing the ontology of our dusty world with a beautiful, unified and fractal one.

Alan Bibby, whose work in advertising, music and fine arts, has garnered him much international acclaim. His portfolio ranges from working with artists like Rihanna, Pharrell and Stevie Wonder, to having films exhibited at the Tate Modern in London, Palais Tokyo in Paris and MOMA PS1 in New York City. "This was literally a dream come true,” he says of the making of this “Tangiers.” “Working with my friends and creative collaborators, for my musical and fashion heroes, with no constraints, to make something utterly raw and emotional, a direct visual parallel to the musical collaboration it spawned from.”

“Our approach gave nods to art pranksters/techno pagans The KLF,” say the directors, frequent collaborators and co-conspirators on music and film work for the last 15 years. “The video is built to mirror the gut punch sound of Black Asteroid, literally. To us, that’s the power and meaning of the song; something as primal as violence but wrapped in the beauty of transcendence.”

The footage was then taken to MPC’s studio in New York and lead by Creative Director Andrei Juradowitch (MPC Creative, Kygo, Zaha Hadid). Juradowitch says of the process, “I wanted to bring a sculptural element to the piece that reflected and transcended the work I’ve done with fashion brands and architects over the years – making the fragmenting and shattering obsidian shards, and the fractal molecular elements complement each other and push the film from the real to the unsettling abstract.”

The MPC visual effects team created over 300 VFX shots for the final video, from simple cleanup to explosive 3D fragmentation, to convey the power and brutality of the final sequences.  Colorist James Tillett at MPC Color then gave the video its final grade to perfect the black and white chrome visuals, completing the video’s dark and dreamlike finish.