Synopsis

In an austere gallery, St. Vincent appears as a gigantic, eerily lifelike figure displayed for curious museum visitors. Her expression remains fixed as the crowd studies her body from below. When the pressure of their attention becomes unbearable, the enormous figure begins to break apart, gradually collapsing into fragments. The surreal presentation turns the singer into both an art object and a spectacle, while the disintegration suggests an escape from an oppressive gaze rather than a defeat.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in February 2012 as the second video from St. Vincent's 2011 album "Strange Mercy."

• Its central image was influenced by the hyperreal, oversized human sculptures of Australian artist Ron Mueck. The contrast between realistic detail and unnatural scale gives the gallery scenes their unsettling quality.

• Much of the footage was created with green-screen compositing. Annie Clark was filmed separately, including sequences in which stagehands pulled her upward with a rope, before the surrounding gallery and visitors were added.

• To make Clark appear enormous, the production used slow-motion photography, borrowing a technique associated with older giant-monster films such as "Godzilla."

• The track had to be played at roughly twice its normal speed during filming so that the lip-sync would work after the footage was slowed down. Clark reportedly joked that the sped-up version sounded like poppy surf rock.

• The ending was designed to feel like a release rather than a death. The collapse allows the figure to escape the oppressive relationship between performer and audience.

• Production credits listed for the video include Jason Baum as producer, Larkin Seiple as director of photography, Isaac Hagy as editor, and Bonnie Brae with Pete Sauvey, Marc Steinberg, and Steve Drypolcher on visual effects.