Synopsis

Emerging from a forest fire, a solitary figure begins a stark journey toward the sea. She crosses windswept Icelandic landscapes, pilots a small boat through cold water, and performs on the shore while wrapped in translucent plastic. A white cube burns in the flames, papers scatter across the waves, and sand or ash is released into the sea. The imagery turns escape into a ritual of renewal, with the protagonist leaving familiar ground behind and allowing the ocean to wash away the past.

Factoids & Trivia

• "fountain" premiered online on January 21, 2014, with the digital single following on January 22.

• The video is the opening chapter of BLUE, iamamiwhoami's third audiovisual album. The album eventually paired ten songs with ten corresponding films.

• It was the project's first new audiovisual release in roughly two years, making its appearance feel like the beginning of a new era after the earlier kin and bounty cycles.

• The production was filmed in Iceland, including locations around Dyrholaey and the Strokkur geyser area in Haukadalur.

• BLUE represented a more self-contained visual phase for the project. Jonna Lee and cinematographer John Strandh took greater control of the filmmaking process, despite having no previous experience directing a full series of videos.

• The song was issued independently through iamamiwhoami's own label, To whom it may concern., rather than through the larger label arrangement used for some earlier releases.

• "fountain" runs for more than six minutes, allowing its repeated images of fire, water, movement and release to unfold at an unusually deliberate pace for a single music video.

• The video was also a format change for the project: it was presented in widescreen 16:9, rather than the narrower framing associated with several earlier iamamiwhoami films.