Massive Attack commissioned
seven low-budget videos by both established names and those with little
experience of directing. "We are always keen not to be in the videos, and not
to compromise the idea by having to make an appearance," says Del Naja. "But on
the whole it has been a case of carte blanche with the directors, to the extent
where we said: 'We will give you the stems of the tracks and you can use
whichever components you want, loop some parts, take the vocals out...' We have
always been totally unprecious."
The film looks at human rights with a sonic,
scientific slant; imagine sitting inside a perfectly silent space - a room so
quiet you can actually hear your own nervous system functioning. Now, imagine
the opposite - a dissonant, freezing cold concrete chamber with extremely loud
music blaring for hours on end. These two extremes come together in Adam
Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin's new film for Massive Attack's "Saturday Comes
Slow".
The film
was shot in the anechoic chamber at Cambridge University (designed to create
total silence) and featuring former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Ruhal Ahmed. The
film is a reflection on Ahmed's experiences whilst in detention, particularly
how he was interogated using high volume music, and about the physical effect of sound on the human body.
