Synopsis
Set against a blinding white backdrop, Zola Jesus performs a tightly choreographed ritual that balances pop spectacle with strange, ceremonial imagery. Her angular movements unfold over a large star-shaped geometric design, while costuming, mask-like makeup, and sculptural styling create an otherworldly figure caught between the organic and the artificial. Abstract images of milk dispersing through water frame the performance, suggesting cosmic birth, transformation, and hidden patterns beneath the video's stark, minimal surface.
Factoids & Trivia
- "Seekir" comes from Zola Jesus' 2011 album "Conatus," whose title refers to the will to continue or move forward.
- The video's choreography was inspired by the Gurdjieff Movements, a system of sacred dances associated with Russian philosopher and spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff.
- The dancers' apparently simple gestures were designed to conceal intricate patterns and complex timing, reflecting the video's interest in movement as a kind of coded language.
- A large enneagram symbol was constructed on the dance floor. The enneagram is a nine-pointed geometric figure that Gurdjieff used as a model for describing processes and complete systems.
- The production connected the enneagram and the choreography to the idea of sacred geometry, or the belief that natural forms and processes can be understood through underlying mathematical structures.
- The opening and closing abstract sequences were made with slow-motion macro photography of milk dispersing in water. The filmmakers watched the patterns develop in a tank and compared the effect to miniature cosmic events and the birth of a star.
- Zola Jesus' styling deliberately combines opposing qualities: rigid geometric shoulder pieces with softer, elemental shapes, and controlled braiding with a more feral appearance.
- The video's stark white presentation was conceived as a way to merge experimental art with the familiar structure of a pop performance.
- A week before filming, the production team found a book about the enneagram in a used bookstore. Its opening page contained a line about seeking and finding, an accidental discovery that strongly echoed the video's central concept.
- The video was premiered by Dazed in July 2012 and was widely noted for bringing old-school pop choreography together with minimal, surreal imagery.