Lawrence Rothman - USERS ft. Soko

What this video is

Released in December 2015 as a pre-album single from what would become The Book of Law (2017), 'USERS' ft. Soko sits within a broader mid-2010s moment when gender-fluid and queer artists—many on independent or boutique labels—were reclaiming Americana and country-adjacent sonic spaces (Joshua Tree, desert mythology, motel iconography) as sites of personal and political identity formation. Rothman's nine alter-ego…

Why it matters

Represents a significant node in mid-2010s art-pop and gender-fluid Americana, demonstrating how independent artists leveraged prestige director partnerships (Sigismondi's fine-art and major-label video pedigree) to produce music videos that functioned as gallery-quality conceptual art objects.…

The director

Italian-Canadian director, photographer, and visual artist (born 1965, Pescara, Italy; raised Hamilton, Ontario). Studied painting and illustration, then photography, at Ontario College of Art & Design. Career spans fashion photography, landmark music videos…